The six big north faces in just two weeks - Roger Schäli in an exclusive interview

The term of the six great north faces of the Alps has existed since the 1930s: Grosse Zinne, Piz Badile, Eiger, Matterhorn, Grandes Jorasses and Petit Dru. From east to west, Schäli and Gietl ticked off one north wall after the other in just two weeks at the beginning of September, relying solely on their own muscle strength. In an exclusive conversation with Roger, we talk about the project and his future plans.

After completing the project, Roger Schäli called it “probably the best experience” he has ever had as a mountaineer. We wanted to know more about it and talked to Roger exclusively about his experiences, delicate moments and future plans.

Details about the project

The two actually wanted to start in spring, but the turbulent weather with lots of precipitation and the still tense corona situation spoke in favor of postponing the project to autumn. At the beginning of September they started with the big pinnacle, whose north face they climbed via the Comici route.

Gietl and Schäli then followed the Alpine ridge to the west using their own muscle power: on racing bikes, hiking or paragliding. They climbed Piz Badile via the Cassin route, followed by the Eiger (Le chant du cygne), Matterhorn (Schmid route), Petit Dru (Allain Leininger) and Grand Jorasses (Linceul).

They only needed 14 days, whereby the whole project lasted 17 days (3 days of rest or bad weather). However, due to the weather, they could not climb the planned route everywhere (the Heckmair would have been planned on the Eiger and the Walker pillar on the Grand Jorasses).

Roger Schäli and Simon Gietl followed this route along the Alps.

The project in numbers:

  • 30.770 vertical meters in the ascent
  • 29.470 vertical meters in the descent - partly also with a paraglider 
  • 1.011 kilometers on a racing bike
  • The entire project period extended over 18 days.
  • Roger and Simon mastered the specific challenge in 14 days
  • The remaining 4 days were due to a rest day and bad weather days with rain and snow (over 2.000 meters)

You might be interested in:

Do you like our climbing magazine? When we launched LACRUX, we decided not to introduce a payment barrier. It will stay that way, because we want to provide as many like-minded people with news from the climbing scene.

In order to be more independent of advertising revenue in the future and to provide you with even more and better content, we need your support.

Therefore: Help and support our magazine with a small contribution. Naturally you benefit multiple times. How? You will find out here.

+ + +

Credits: John Thornton (cover picture)

News

00:14:44

More helps more? | Why "climbing more" doesn't make you stronger faster

Some swear by training plans, others prefer to improve by spending as much time on the wall as possible. One myth is particularly persistent: If you simply climb a lot, you'll get stronger faster, even without targeted training.

Bouldering World Cup Curitiba: Info, program & live stream

For the first time, a World Cup will take place in South America this weekend. At the event in Curitiba, southwest of Sao Paulo, everything will revolve around the discipline of bouldering, following the lead and speed competitions of the past few weeks.

120 meter rope team fall – one survivor, three dead

A serious climbing accident occurred in Washington State, USA, in which four climbers fell approximately 120 meters. Three of them died, while one man survived despite serious injuries and was able to alert emergency services.

Rock fall in the Denti della Vecchia climbing area

On Sunday, around 50.000 cubic meters of rock collapsed in a hiking and climbing area near Lugano. According to experts, the brittle rock favors further rockfalls.
00:14:44

More helps more? | Why "climbing more" doesn't make you stronger faster

Some swear by training plans, others prefer to improve by spending as much time on the wall as possible. One myth is particularly persistent: If you simply climb a lot, you'll get stronger faster, even without targeted training.

Bouldering World Cup Curitiba: Info, program & live stream

For the first time, a World Cup will take place in South America this weekend. At the event in Curitiba, southwest of Sao Paulo, everything will revolve around the discipline of bouldering, following the lead and speed competitions of the past few weeks.

120 meter rope team fall – one survivor, three dead

A serious climbing accident occurred in Washington State, USA, in which four climbers fell approximately 120 meters. Three of them died, while one man survived despite serious injuries and was able to alert emergency services.