UKC

Austrian alpinists David Lama, Peter Ortner, and Hansjorg Auer have made a bold first winter ascent of the Sagwand, located in Valsertal, in Austria's Zillertal valley.

The trio climbed the formidable Schiefer Riss (VI, M7, 80-degrees) and endured friable rock with bad protection and one sleepless, bitter-cold night while making the ascent.

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=67930

In reply to UKC News:

Great stuff, but isn't Auer Italian?

In reply to Franco Cookson:

Another good report on planetmountain:

http://www.planetmountain.com/english/News/shownews1.lasso?l=2&keyid=40...


Apparently not: Hansjörg Auer (* 18. Februar 1984 in Zams) ist ein österreichischer Kletterer. (wikipedia)

(Why do Americans have to be so parochial? "Hansjorg Auer—perhaps best known to Americans [for] the first free ascent of the Black Canyon's Hallucinogen Wall" He soloed the f*cking Fish fergodsake!)

So all these folk who like to say " when are these strong young things from the climbing gyms going to transfer their talents to the big mountains" need to look no further than David lama. I remember reading a mag report about him climbing 8c's when he was about 12, before we'd heard much about ondra. I know he (lama) got a lot if stick for the cerro torre saga, but he seems to be doing a good job of clawing back his reputation. I don't know an awful lot about the alpine scene, but he seems to be becoming one of the best. Good on him.

In reply to AlanLittle:


And more importantly, he onsighted Strawberries!

In reply to GDes:

I totally agree.

In reply to UKC News: Sounds incredible!

Fairly impressive ascent but very underwhelming reporting. Why so much hyperbole?

"With temperatures below -8-degrees, the Austrians settled in for a difficult night."

Hardly the coldest night a bunch of alpinists have had to endure!

"Each member of this powerful alpine trio contributed to this bold ascent. Lama climbed the first block of the route and navigated difficult terrain, while Auer skillfully surpassed the loose rock of the route's second half. Ortner, who followed behind the entire first day, led the team through unknown terrain to the summit of Schiefer Riss."

Really? Really?? Can I have a can of Red Bullshit with that???

In reply to Fultonius: Ah...now I see...-8 FAHRENHEIT! I will accept that this is a little cold :P

In reply to AlanLittle:

I thought Auer was from South Tyrol? I could be wrong though.

In regard to Llama and Cerro Torre. I don't think anyone on the continent cares about the bolts up there. I think it's a very britsh/american thing. But again, I could be wrong about that! You never hear a bad word said about him in western Austria though.

In reply to Franco Cookson:

Either you are, or wikipedia is, 'cos Zams is definitely not in the Occupied Territories

In reply to AlanLittle:

hah! Quite a statement.

In reply to Franco Cookson:


After decades of having lived and climbed on the continent I think this is broadly true. By and large they seem to view rock as a non-sentient object devoid of moral status and therefore ethics don't apply. At least not if it makes the difference between being able to climb something great and not.

In reply to gritstoner:

Regardless of ongoing controversy about bolting/retrobolting in Austria I sadly have to concede you are right. I still think it's unfair to put young Lama in that box though, as the whole bolting story was quite a unique case with sponsors/film team/morons involved. Maybe some of the decisions to take were out of his depth at the time - but it has all come to a good end.