Keyword: first free ascent

With Projekt Lama (250m, 8c+), Louis Gundolf frees one of the most difficult multi-pitch routes and one of the last David Lama projects.

The crack specialist Pete Whittaker succeeds in the Norwegian Jossingfjord the first free ascent of Eigerdosis (8c) in trad style.

Last winter in Patagonia, a strong rope team attracted attention: crack specialist Pete Whittaker and Patagonia veteran Sean Villanueva. During their time together, the duo managed, among other things, to wring a first free ascent from two hard crack lines.

In mid-January, Facundo Saubidet, Jeremías Castaña and Santiago Scavolini opened a new route on the west face of Guillaumet: Anda pa'alla. At the beginning of the week, Pete Whittaker and Sean Villanueva managed to complete the 500-meter line with difficulties up to 8a and to climb completely free for the first time.

In the summer of 2018 and 2019, top Austrian athlete Alex Luger opened the multi-pitch route Seventh Direction (8c+, 220m) on the Drusenfluh east face. On August 6, he managed the first free ascent of the heavily overhanging line. We spoke to the man from Vorarlberg about his mega-project, in which he invested five years of his life and which culminated with the red point ascent.

In the third attempt, the Briton Tom Livingstone got the first free ascent of the 850 meter long mixed route Voie des Guides in the Dru north face. Strong alpinists like Korra Pesce and Jeff Mercier had already tried to free the direct line through the steepest part of the north face before him and his climbing partner Tom Seccombe.