At the end of August, Lara Neumeier succeeded in redpointing the difficult multi-pitch route Headless Children (8b, 260m) on the Schijenfluh in the Rätikon. The German is probably only the third climber to achieve this, after Nina Caprez and Babsi Zangerl.
Headless Children at the Schijenfluh in Rätikon is a real challenge with its 260 meters of climbing up to the difficulty level 8b and the infamous Mantle in the seventh and hardest pitch. Recently Lara Neumeier accepted the difficult multi-pitch route and managed to complete the redpoint ascent without falling on her first attempt on day 5.
What a day! What a fight! On August 30th I was able to lead all the pitches of Headless Children on my first attempt.
Lara Neumeier
Mantle as a sticking point
Lara Neumeier says she had had the idea of attempting Headless Children for a long time. At the end of July, she finally went up to Schijenfluh to check out the first four pitches together with her close friend Nadine Wallner. "Although we didn't get very far on our first day, we were motivated to come back soon."
The duo did just that in mid-August. This time the focus was on the upper pitches up to the crux. During these two days they were able to do all the moves except for the famous mantle in the 8b pitch.
"After we had looked at Kilian's video and Babsi Zangerl's photos, we came back at the end of August with a better beta and tried again." When the Mantle then worked, it was clear to her that she was ready to attempt a climb, says Lara Neumeier.
«Two days later was one of those days that probably all multi-pitch climbers wish for: With the full support of Nadine, I was able to climb all the pitches on the first attempt in lead climbing.
Headless Children: Testpiece from the 90s
The route Headless Children was set up in 1997-1999 by Marco Müller, Koni Mathis and Rüdisser Bruno and was first redpointed by Mark Amann. After that, nothing was heard about the nine pitches on the Schijenfluh for a long time.
It was only in 2016, when the Austrian Kilian Fischhuber repeated the tour for the first time, the route was discussed again. "A friend showed me photos and I immediately wanted to know everything about the route. At that point, however, I hadn't thought about trying it. That only happened a few days later," says Kilian Fischhuber.
That might interest you
- Nina Caprez climbs 8b multi-pitch solo tour Headless Children in Rätikon
- Jonas Schild and Yannick Glatthard score headless children in Rätikon
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Credits: Cover picture Nadine Wallner