Matilda Söderlund scores the most difficult route in the Alpstein: Parzival (8b, 150m)

The Swedish professional climber Matilda Söderlund succeeds in the red point ascent of the route Parzival an der Dreifaltikeit in Alpstein. She is the first woman who was able to climb the demanding red point line - and only the fifth person ever. We will soon publish an interview with the Swede on Actiontalk TV.

Matilda Söderlund Söderlund has so far primarily attracted attention by climbing difficult routes and boulders. In October 2019 he climbed into the 9a women's club and went one better in April 2020 with the ascent of the 8b boulder Armstrong assis. Few women combine the ascent of such a difficult boulder and a 9a route on their account.

Well, it seems, Matilda wants to make a name for herself on the big walls too. Before one, she traveled to eastern Switzerland to plan the most difficult multi-pitch route on the Alpstein.

Multi-pitch training has paid off

After the initially high temperatures, Matilda took a break due to the bad weather. With the worse weather came the lower temperatures and thus better conditions. The Swede had already bouldered out all the relevant places and found the best solution for her. So it was time to try seriously. That was in the middle of last week.

Already on Saturday Matilda informed us that she could climb the route freely. She is only the fifth person who was able to climb the demanding tour freely. The first free ascent was done by professional alpinist Michi Wohlleben in 2017. Last year the Belgian Siebe Vanhee and the French-speaking Swiss Nils Favre visited the Trinity. We accompanied the two of them on the day of their heavy ascent. In the worst possible conditions - it was as hot as an oven - both climbed the route. Another repetition goes to the account of the Austrian Philipp Geisler.

Söderlund in the key point of the Parzival route

But back to the strong Swede. How is it that she turns to multi-pitch climbing? Why did she choose the Trinity as the first multi-pitch tour? We spoke to Matilda Söderlund.

History of the Parzival route in Alpstein

The western Dreifaltigkeit was climbed as early as 1950. At that time still in the technical style. At the end of the 90s, Markus Hutter was attracted by the wall, who, with many years of commitment and with the support of friends, started bolting the route and finished it in 2008. The professional alpinist Michi Wohlleben got the first free ascent of the route in 2017 (LACRUX reported).

That might interest you

• Nils Favre and Siebe Vanhee climb the multi-pitch route Parzival (8b)
• Nicolas Favresse and Sébastien Berthe get the Alpine trilogy
• Sébastien Berthe criticizes the evaluation of European multi-pitch routes

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Credits: Cover picture Mans Gullgren