Nemuel Feurle has repeated Alex Luger's testpiece Seventh Direction (8c, 220m) on the Drusenfluh east face. On Lacrux, the young Vorarlberg climber shares his experiences with the extremely difficult and, for Rätikon conditions, atypically steep route.
Experience report by Nemuel Feurle
Seventh Direction is a multi-pitch route through the east face of the Drusenfluh. It was Alex Luger drilled from below and then redpoint climbed.
From stories and pictures it became immediately clear to me that this is not a classic Rätikon route.
Untypically but borderline brilliantly, Seventh Direction with its five steep and difficult pitches traverses exactly that part of the wall which, when you look up, seems to be falling towards you.
Nemuel Feurle
A feeling of the possibility of being possible
Although I had found the right rope partner in Jakob Scheiter last year, there was no sign of the right solution. The second difficult pitch was my downfall, which is why I started this year even more motivated.
What we thought was impossible last year, we managed to do on the first day of this season, as we were able to climb all the pitches.
Full of euphoria, we wrote to Alex during our descent to tell him what another fantastic route he had managed.
Nemuel Feurle
The motivation was huge, which is why I focused heavily on refining the pitches and practicing the movements in August. I increasingly had the feeling that it was possible. I was highly motivated and made an attempt on August 22nd, but I didn't manage the first difficult pitch straight away, but only on the second attempt.
After I was able to climb the second difficult pitch straight away, the crux pitch was waiting for me. I tried it full of anticipation, but spontaneously changed my solution because of some wet holds and tried to give it my all. Just before the crux passage, however, I grabbed a wet underhand grip, which meant I could no longer hold the following ledges and slipped.
Not at all disappointed, I flew into the rope because I now had confirmation of this feeling of possibility.
Nemuel Feurle
I decided not to make another attempt because of the little time we had left before sunset. I preferred to take another look at the second to last pitch, but this more or less ended up being a training exercise for falls and after a few outbursts of footsteps I decided to call it a day. Satisfied and happy after another day in the mountains, but definitely hungry for another attempt, we abseiled down.
With a risky move through the key point
Less than two days later we found ourselves again in front of the key pitch, and up to this point I hadn't fallen today. Although I had a slight headache, I was motivated to give it my all. The holds were dry, so I quickly found myself just before the key passage. Once again I took the time to visualize the moves in order to achieve a perfect sequence of movements.
Less than a minute later, I grabbed the last ledge on my left, grabbed the small sloper with my right, realized that I was too pumped to pull on it and made a risky move on a good hold. I clipped the last quickdraw and climbed the last, slightly brittle meters of the key pitch to the belay.
Only at the end is it really over
I was still two rope lengths away from the climb. What I didn't know was that I would need another attempt for both. After I fell for the first time on the last rope length and looked at the moves up to the belay again, I was overcome by the thought that my attempt to climb could be over here and now.
The last moves were by no means easy for me. As it began to get dark, I decided to give it another try. Without thinking that it would be the last one, I climbed solidly from the belay and found myself relatively quickly and surprisingly fit before the last difficult moves.
Without thinking much, I got the left bar on my shoulder and grabbed a small sloper underneath, but with both holds I had the feeling that I could no longer hold them.
Instead of flying down, I snapped up and actually hit the sloper and got stuck. I draped myself over it and was now standing at the top.
Nemuel Feurle
On the one hand, I had two handfuls of fantastic days on one of the best routes I have ever climbed. However, I feel like I have lost all the moments that accompany you on such a project. So there is nothing left to do but look for a new project and enjoy the experiences and moments to the fullest. THANK YOU Alex!
That might interest you
- Film tip: Alex Luger in Seventh Direction
- Nemuel Feurle repeats Sardinia classic Hotel Supramonte (400m, 8b)
- Nemuel Feurle in an interview about his ascent of Sangre de Toro (8b +): "That's exactly what I never wanted to experience."
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Credits: Cover picture Jacopo Larcher