UKC

27 year old Swiss climber Dani Arnold has speed soloed the North Face of the Eiger in 2 hours and 28 minutes.

Arnold, who lives in the Swiss town of Bürglen, has been climbing since he was 14 years old.

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=61851

In reply to UKC News:
Are there any rules on what constitutes an attempt at a speed record? While still a great achievement it can't be meaningfully compared to what Steck has done free in winter. Can this really be counted as 'the' Eiger speed record if its done in poorer style?

In reply to UKC News:

Not a new record in my eyes. Steck freed the whole route so that is the way it has to be beaten! (still, an incredible bit of climbing! Good effort!)

In reply to Kyle Warlow:
I'm sure Dani will be devastated by both comments above from such highly skilled, talented and respected alpinists.

The Nose speed ascents are not free yet the route has a free ascent, does this detract from these achievements?
Bottom of the face to top by any means, his is the fastest time... ergo a speed ascent.
Ueli can nip back and beat it any time he is ready and yard on the fixed ropes if he wants.

In reply to creag: I agree that it is exceptionally difficult to compare the two ascents in terms of difficulty or achievement though.

Surely both outstanding feats, but too many factors come into play to truly say one is better than the other, though of course, it is easy to declare the most recent the quickest.

In reply to UKC News:

running along the summit ridge in crampons looks sketchy as f*ck to me!!!

good job that man.

In reply to creag:

Did you read what I wrote? I take no objection to Dani's ascent. Its more the reporting that this is a new speed record when in fact it might not be so. Each speed challenge generally has its own rules (i.e. Cuillin speed traverses need to visit all the munros for instance but some minor summits can be skirted round). Hence my question about whether there are any commonly held rules regarding an Eiger speed ascent. Does it need to be free? Does it need to be in winter? According to Jack's write up of the route it would seem that the Ice Bulge isn't putting up much resistance this Summer. For ascents to be fairly comparable then surely they need to be done under roughly the same conditions?



As above, the NIAD speed ascents all follow roughly the same route. Freeing The Nose involves an alternate route via the Jardine Traverse so the Nose free and the current Nose speed route are not entirely comparable.

In reply to creag:

Get up on the wrong side of the bed did you buddy? You dont have to be a 'highly skilled, talented and respected alpinist' to have an opinion. And mine is that Steck has thrown down the gauntlet and as yet no one has stepped up. Not completly anyway. As I said, Dani's effort is incredible but Stecks is still more impressive to me because of the way it was undertaken.


Yeah, he could. But he doesnt need to in my eyes

In reply to UKC News:

The way I see it, they are 2 totaly different records, for 2 totaly different ascents.
Steck's has not been broken, and Dani has added a new record.
Comparing them is ludacris.

Allan

In reply to creag:
Ergo nothing.
One free, one aid.
We all play by the same rules and until someone makes up new ones free trumps aid. And in his wee Swiss heart-of-hearts, Arnold knows that.

In reply to UKC News:

Torre Egger in winter...... wow!
Eiger in a couple of hours........ who cares? (unfortunately rather a lot of people, not to mention sponsors, judging by the relative media hype of the two climbs)

In reply to UKC News: given that he beat the time by such a margin and he is such a talented climber, i'm sure he could have beaten the steck record if he climbed it all free. he didn't and has been clear about how he climbed, personally i find it very impressive and leave it at that.

In reply to UKC News: having recently done the 1938 route I can say that both ascents are truly astounding. I've no idea how either of them managed to do it so fast.
I'm still more impressed by ueli's record though as it takes about about 4 minutes to monkey across the fixed ropes whereas freeing it is difficult, dangerous and exposed requiring time and a lot more effort.
Also ueli only attempt's record when there is no track which means he would have been breaking trail for a lot of the route.
Good effort to both though.
Its inspring to see what can be done when you put your mind to it.

In reply to UKC News:

What Dave Searl and vincentvega said.

In reply to Robert Durran:


The fact that the same guy has done both suggests a climber with a range of skills as diverse as his outlook. It's the same with Ueli - speed ascents are just one facet of his climbing cv, even on the Eiger, where he's put up (and subsequently soloed) the likes of The Young Spider, and is currently working towards a second ascent of Metanoia.

Considering that articles are being produced about climbing a 73-year-old route over two days, I think news of the same route being done in just over two hours is a nicely modern take on things.

In reply to Dave Searle:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I though there was a clear track in the video of Steck on his ascent?

In reply to RKernan:
youtube.com/watch?v=hQburTBH8Yo&
1:17. Although in retrospect I now realise it was probably recreated after the event.

Still an incredible achievement for both guys. How it's possible to keep a cool head and not make so much as a slip over the duration of the face I don't know.

In reply to Tom Knowles:

I've nothing really against these speed ascents. The point I was trying to make is that it seems a shame that the media and sponsors are making so much more of them than the "proper" climbing of Arnold on Torre Egger or Steck on The Young Spider; it just seems like fast-food journalism, giving a distorted view of mountaineering to the general public,or perhaps more worryingly to mountaineers.

In reply to Robert Durran:

I don't see it as a "shame" as such; we have the ability to select the news we want to read about. Regardless of activity, the media will always cater to the majority, they're not doing their job correctly otherwise. Even in much of the specialist climbing media, reports will be geared towards news that is easily quantifiable and quickly devoured. There are always exceptions of course, but they're few and far between.

I remember a non-climbing friend of mine asking to read my copy of "The White Spider"; he only managed the first few chapters, stating that he wasn't enjoying it as he didn't really understand the climbing language. For him, a piece of junk-food journalism on the history of the Eiger would have been preferable. Luckily, there's enough coverage out there that we can have both.

In reply to Tom Knowles:

You may well be right, but I don't recall any headlines on UKC about the first winter ascent of Torre Egger (actually, I have just done a search and it was mentioned later in a piece about Siegrist and there was later a short video - it certainly didn't get any headlines!)

Maybe I just need to take out a subscription to "Alpinist" rather than rely on the junk-journalism of UKC to keep me up to date!

In reply to UKC News:

I could be wrong, but yesterdays article here is the first time i have heard suggested that ueli steck freed the 1938 route when he set his speed record. Can anyone find any other source that substantiates this?

In reply to stevebarratt:
He also wrote it in his book "Speed"
To circumvent critical comments he decided to do it all free without using any material in the wall.
afaik you can also see him freeing the hinterstoisser traverse in the movie...

In reply to stevebarratt:

He said so himself in a presentation I saw last year.

Steck went back after he first set the record for a range of reasons, if memory serves me well:

- he thought he could go faster;
- he thought he could free the whole thing and was a bit irritated he'd pulled on gear;
- and he wanted to do it without the track left by other climbers.

That's why for me Steck's speed ascent remains the more impressive.