German climber Solveig Korherr has made the third female ascent of Jungfraumarathon (9a), in Gimmelwald, Switzerland.

It is her second route at 9a, after a 2021 ascent of La Cabane au Canada (9a).

First climbed by Simon Wandeler in 2006, the route is physical and bouldery, with dynamic moves and little opportunity to recover.

Whilst there is a rest before the crux, in the words of former ascensionist Cédric Lachat, 'you already have the first half of the route in your arms'. The crux then comes in the form of a series of small moves on small holds with slippery feet, eventually leading into an explosive move off a high right foot into an undercut pinch.

Sharing news of her ascent on instagram, Korherr said:

'I'm still feeling over the moon at the moment after having clipped the anchors of this incredible line one week ago at the majestic cliff of Gimmelwald'.

'I first tried Jungfraumarathon last year for a few days. I was immediately really psyched and felt quite good on it, but I stopped trying it when I injured one of my fingers'.

'This year, I wanted to eventually come back to it. I was quite nervous before trying it again because I didn't focus on sport climbing the last half year as I usually do. I was bouldering during the winter, did some trad climbing in between, and mainly some shorter sport climbing routes in the Basler Jura'.

'I wasn't sure what to expect, and I couldn't tell if I was in shape. The first time I got on the route this trip, I was surprisingly shocked at how good all the singles moves felt. I guess the bouldering season worked out very well. I felt much better than last year'.

'From this point on, I was totally committed to the route. Over two and a half weeks, I optimized my beta, learned the moves a lot better, and gained more endurance. I climbed one-day-on, one-day-off since the Gimmelwald style is super powerful and demanding'.

'Every day I felt better on it, and I was falling higher and higher. On the day I sent it, everything felt perfect and I couldn't have wished for a better way to finish off this route'.

Korherr's ascent is the third female ascent of the route, after Katherine Choong's in 2019, and Anak Verhoeven's in 2022. The ascent makes Korherr the nineteenth woman to have climbed multiple routes at 9a or harder.

Check out the video below to see Korherr's 2021 ascent of Cabane au Canada, which made her the third German woman to climb 9a.