Dani Arnold during his stay in Cologne

Once again, he has almost sprinted up a wall. Last August, Swiss Dani Arnold climbed the Grandes Jorasses North Face solo and without rope in the new record time of 2:04 hours. In 1938, it had taken the first climbers (led by Italian Riccardo Cassin) three days to complete the route via the Walker Spur. Since 2015, the 34-year-old is also holding the speed record for climbing the North Face of the Matterhorn (1:46 hours). Dani had made his first bang in 2011 when he broke Ueli Steck’s record in the Eiger North Face by 20 minutes and reached the summit after 2:28 hours. Steck had regained the best time in 2015 (2:22 hours).

Dani Arnold is a mountain guide and lives with his wife Denise in the canton of Uri in the 4,000-person village of Bürglen, where more than 200 inhabitants (no joke, he confirmed it to me) bear the name Arnold. I met Dani in my hometown Cologne – before his appearance as the main speaker of the Cologne Alpine Day.

Dani, how do you like the name “Usain Bolt of the classical north faces in the Alps”?

I think it’s a bit exaggerated. I am certainly very fast, but there are many other very, very good climbers. I think it’s just not true that I’m the best.

Grandes Jorasses North Face

But perhaps the fastest. After all, you hold the speed record on two of the three classic north faces in the Alps. When you climb so fast, do you sometimes get into a state of intoxication, like when running, when at some point a flow sets in and everything seems to go by itself?

Yes, there is such a feeling. I then feel free and light. If you, for example, climb the Waterfall Chimney, the Fragile Band and the Fragile Crack in the Eiger North Face, it usually takes you a lot of time. But when you’re doing it solo and at speed, you just follow one spot after the other. And then you really have the feeling that it’s fast.

Last summer you climbed the Walker Spur on the Grandes Jorasses in two hours four minutes, 17 minutes faster than the previous record holder Ueli Steck. You climbed completely without rope and other security equipment. How much risk is allowed from your point of view?

It’s not possible without risk, that’s quite clear. On the other hand, it was my goal to climb the Walker Spur without any security equipment. It was just to be the mountain and me. I first had to find out: Do I dare at all? Is it still safe? Then I decided upon this route. And I never had the feeling that I was taking a huge risk. I don’t think you can say in general that less equipment means higher risk.

How did you prepare yourself? Did you know every climbing move of this route?

The route is 1,200 meters long. I have the talent to remember places and climbing moves very well. I know, for example, how the grips look like at the Rebuffat-Corner, one of the difficult spots, and which hand I have to use on which grip. You also need a “rolling planning”, as I call it,  and a lot of self-confidence.

In the wall

You once said that there was a right to risk. What did you mean by that?

If you live for something, prepare seriously for it and then enter a danger zone, society will not accept that. I don’t think that’s right. After all, you don’t just approach these things negligently, out of ignorance or stupidity. If you really prepare yourself for something and take it seriously, you can also take a little risk, because it’s one hundred percent worth it.

Dealing with your speed records means also coming across the name Ueli Steck, because it was his records that you broke. He fell to his death at the age of 40 last year on Nuptse. Was that a warning, a reminder for you?

He did exactly the same as I do now. And of course you immediately think: Hej, that can also happen to you. I believe every accident – not only Ueli’s, but also those of other climbers – remains in the brain. That doesn’t mean that you are going a completely different way now. But I’m sure that I take not as much risk now as I did five or ten years ago.

Dani shortly before leaving the wall

When climbing at the highest level, there is always the danger of overtightening the screw one day. How do you protect from this?

The danger of going a step too far at some point is obvious. This also scares me a little, because of course I always try to reach the optimum and a little bit more. In order to counteract this, I go fishing, for example, or I simply spend time with friends and family, where we don’t talk about the subject of climbing at all. That helps me to get away from it a bit. Otherwise everything would be about climbing and also about this more, more, more. I have to have other thoughts and also to leave it well enough alone.

In the general public you are known above all because of your speed ascents. And yet you are a complete climber. For example, you are one of the first winter ascenders of Cerro Egger in Patagonia and you were also on expedition with the Huber brothers in the Karakoram. Does it bother you that you are often reduced to speed climbing in public?

It bothers me a bit. On the other hand, speed climbing allows me to make a living from climbing because there are enough lectures and sponsors. That’s why it’s important. When I do a 90-minute lecture on an evening, I use the fame for speed climbing to tell my heart stories, for example about mixed climbing in Scotland, these very, very difficult climbs.

Dani Arnold (3rd from r.) in 2015 with Thomas and Alexander Huber, their Pakistani companion Rasool, Mario Walder and Seppi Dabringer (from right)

Will you go on big expeditions again in the next few years?

Definitely. In terms of difficulty and speed, things won’t go on this way forever. Then new stories on new mountains in unknown regions will come up. With the Huber brothers I really found two great guys with whom I really enjoy traveling. This is almost more important to me than being extremely strong. You have to have a good time together. And that’s what we have.

Would an eight-thousander also be interesting for you?

Certainly. Up to now I never felt the need to climb up there, but it’s developing slowly. I would like to experience what it feels like.

Do you have a dream destination, a mountain you absolutely still want to climb?

Actually not. The Eiger North Face, for example, wasn’t this one and only goal for me. I have many, many ideas. When it becomes more concrete in preparation, I focus on a mountain. And then it suddenly becomes my mountain, and there is no other one.

Dani while ice climbing in the Helmcken Falls in Canada

You have climbed the three big north faces of the Alps solo and at great speed, so a circle has closed – unless you want to regain the Eiger record. Are you going to tick off speed climbing now?

With the record in the North Face of the Grandes Jorasses, it’s a bit over. Most likely I won’t go back to the Eiger again. But I want to keep the whole topic open. I don’t really have a concrete speed project at the moment, but that can change suddenly for me. I think I haven’t quite finished that yet.

When will we see you again on a big expedition?

In winter I want to go ice climbing in Russia or China. I have never been there in high winter. I also want to meet the people living in these extremely cold regions. That fascinates me too. There are certainly cold fingers there! (laughs)

Can you climb a mountain just completely normal, without any ulterior motive on an extreme route?

Yes, there are those days when I have no ambitions and can just enjoy it. I still love this being outside. 

Ogre II and I (r.), they reached the col

Three attempts, then it was over. As reported, Alexander Huber, the Swiss Dani Arnold and the two East Tyroleans Mario Walder and Christian Zenz abandoned their expedition on the 7285-meter-high Ogre I in Pakistan and returned home. They had wanted to reach the summit of the mountain, which so far has been scaled only three times, over the still not mastered East Pillar. I spoke to Alexander, aged 48, the younger of the two Huber brothers, about the failed expedition.

Alexander, you wrote on Facebook that you knew what the mountain wanted to tell you. What was the message?

We set off to the mountain three times and were able to control the situation with maximum risk management three times. But we noticed every time that we were running extremely late. There was only a very short time window to move safely on the mountain. In this case you have to be en route with full steam to get out of the danger zone on time. We did it three times, and it turned out well. But one day it won’t work so well, and then you are in the middle of this extremely dangerous terrain and can not get out.

In addition, we had such a bad snow. We fought through slush, at 6,100 meters, and in the middle of the night! Those were brutal conditions. This is clearly due to climate change. So better stay away if you want to survive.

Alexander Huber

Was it an unanimous decision to abandon the attempt?

Absolutely unanimous. It was clear to all of us that under such circumstances we do not even have the slightest chance of coming close to the summit at all. And if I know I’m not going to reach the summit, because the snow is so lousy, it’s better to leave it be. We have also seen the snowfields above and realized that an avalanche had swept down there. Of course, it doesn’t ensure a good atmosphere if you see that the snow conditions above are still problematic and very dangerous.

Climate change leaves traces

You mentioned climate change. Once again, it was extremely warm in the Karakoram this summer. Do you think it’s an alternative to arrive at a later date?

I experienced it two years ago on Latok, last year in Greenland and now again: Climate change is so clearly noticeable that it almost hurts. As in the Alps, mountaineering will also have to change in the Karakoram. Probably in the future climbers will first acclimatize on an easy seven-thousander and then travel to such a difficult mountain as Ogre towards the end of August, for only two or three weeks. This is the only scenario I can think of so far, so that you can tackle such a dangerous mountain with the strength you need. For sure, I’m going to do it this way next time.

So, you will try for the third time to scale Ogre I?

Maybe. In 1993, I first envisaged this mountain as a goal, along with some friends from the Bavarian town of Traunstein. However, in the end we decided to go to Latok II, where I went with Thomas in 1997. [With Toni Gutsch and the American Conrad Anker, they succeeded the first ascent via the West Face of Latok II]. In 1999, we tried to climb Ogre I [With Gutsch and Jan Mersch, they tried in vain to climb via the South Pillar to the summit]. This was the beginning of my thinking about mountaineering and climbing on the very high mountains. That’s why Ogre is somehow anchored in me. If it fits, I’ll go back there. But if I do so, then certainly with completely changed tactics.

East Pillar of Ogre I

This summer, there was hardly anything to be gained on Ogre I. “The weather was almost always rather bad,” German top climber Alexander Huber writes on Facebook about his expedition to the 7285-meter-high mountain in Pakistan. The conditions were marginal. “A little old snow from the winter and a lot of fresh snow from early summer in the structure of the snowpack. In addition always high temperatures. Summing up, piles of slush.” The 48-year-old, the younger of the Huber brothers, had wanted to reach the summit along with the East Tyroleans Mario Walder and Christian Zenz and the Swiss Dani Arnold via the still unclimbed East Pillar. Even before departure, Alexander had described Ogre I to me as “one of the most exclusive peaks of our planet, one of the most difficult spots to reach”. This was confirmed: Climbing was only possible after night schedule.

Terminus at the foot of the pillar

Dangerous ascent to the col

“During our three ascents to the col between Ogre I and Ogre II, we had to expend much energy to control the objective risks, “ reports Alexander. “Seracs, collapsing snow cornices, rockfall and wet snow avalanches, the first at 6 a.m., left us little room. Every activity had to take place between midnight and 5 a.m., then we had to wait in the tent for 19 hours until next night’s action.“ The plan to be en route only at night “unfortunately worked only half way”, writes Dani Arnold on his website, “because it took a few hours before the snow got hard in the night and until the sunrise we had little time to climb.” Finally, the decision was made: The entry to the East Pillar was the terminal stop of the night train – “far from the possibility to get close to the summit,” says Alexander Huber. “We are ready to give very much for a mountain: energy, motivation, willingness to suffer, commitment, risk tolerance. But if it is hopeless, we realize quickly that it is time to say no.”

Only three ascents

So the number of successful ascents on Ogre I remains at only three. The first was made 40 years ago, on 13 July 1977, by the British climbers Chris Bonington and Doug Scott. The descent became a drama with a happy end: Scott broke both ankles, Bonington two ribs. Nevertheless, both of them, supported by the other team members, reached the base camp one week after their summit success – one of the great survival stories on the highest mountains in the world.  In 2001, Alexander’s brother Thomas and the two Swiss Urs Stoecker and Iwan Wolf succeeded the second ascent of the mountain, in 2012 the Americans Kyle Dempster and Hayden Kennedy the third one.

Having taken the risk seriously

Nothing to be gained

For Alexander Huber it was his second failed attempt on Ogre I. In 1999, he had tried with his brother Thomas, Toni Gutsch and Jan Mersch in vain to climb via the South Pillar to the summit. The decision to turn around again was anything but easy, Alexander admits: “But I think we understood what the mountain wanted to tell us. And the mountain will be there even longer!” Dani Arnold also bears the failure on Ogre with dignity. “I am disappointed now,” writes the 33-year-old. “I am convinced, however, that it won’t turn out all right some day if you take an objective risk too often. Apart from that, I also think it is stupid if you don’t take serious what is foreseeable.”

Alexander Huber

Ogre has on the Huber brothers almost the same effect as the singing of the Sirens in Greek mythology: the two German top climbers can hardly escape the call of this fascinating granite giant. Time and again in their long careers Alexander and Thomas Huber have set off to the Ogre massif in the Karakoram or the nearby peaks of the Latok group. In 1999, they failed in their attempt to climb the 7,285-meter-high Ogre I. Thomas succeeded the second ascent of the mountain in 2001, along with the two Swiss Urs Stoecker and Iwan Wolf. The first ascent was made almost 40 years ago, on 13 July 1977 by the British climbers Chris Bonington and Doug Scott. The descent became a drama with a happy end: Scott broke both ankles, Bonington two ribs. Nevertheless, both of them, supported by the other team members, reached the base camp one week after their summit success – one of the great survival stories on the highest mountains in the world.

Easier doing it with friends

Yesterday Alexander Huber set off to Ogre. His team includes the two East Tyroleans Mario Walder and Christian Zenz and the Swiss Dani Arnold. With Dani (and Thomas Senf), Alexander had opened a new route through the Matterhorn North Face last March. With Mario and Christian, he had succeeded  the first ascent of a route on the mountain Ritterknecht in East Greenland in summer 2016. “It’s good to be on the road with partners you know,” says Alexander Huber. His three companions are not only good, competent climbers, but also friends, says the younger of the two Huber brothers. “You have to spend a lot of time together, often moments of tension. The better the human chemistry fits, the better it is.” I talked with the 48-year-old about his expedition before he left for Pakistan.

Alexander, you are heading to Ogre, a seven-thousander in the Karakoram. What exactly are you planning?

Ogre I (l.) and Ogre II, the East Pillar leads from col to the left

We would like to climb the East Pillar. This route has not yet been completed. (Several attempts on the east side of Ogre failed, e.g. in 1992, a Spanish team turned around in a snowstorm at 6,500 meters.) But it is not so much the idea to create a first ascent on this mountain, but to reach the summit at all. It is one of the most exclusive peaks of our planet, one of the most difficult spots to reach. Thomas realized the second ascent of Ogre in 2001, since then there was only one further ascent (in 2012 by the Americans Kyle Dempster and Hayden Kennedy). That shows, this is not an easy summit, but that’s exactly why we want to go there.

Only three ascents – and there was no lack of attempts, there were well above 20 expeditions on this mountain. What makes it so difficult?

The Ogre is simply an incredibly complex mountain with many objective dangers, arising from the seracs, which are practically on all sides. That’s why the East Pillar is our goal – because, from my point of view, it is free from objective dangers. Seen from a distance, I believe we can avoid all the seracs on this route. We will see what happens in reality. But I hope that we can explore and realize the maximum safe way to the summit of Ogre.

Ogre means “man-eater”. Does this mountain justify its name?

The first ascenders of Ogre, Bonington (l.) and Scott (in April 2015)

Actually you cannot really say that. There was an accident in which a climber was killed. (On a German expedition, which tried in 1993 to climb via the Ogre South Pillar, the Swiss Philipp Groebke fell to death.) However, it’s certainly not the man-eater in itself. For this, the mountain is too challenging. Meaning that all of those who try to climb Ogre are  competent, strong climbers who know exactly what they are doing. Usually mountaineering becomes dangerous when incompetent people try to reach a summit. The best example of this in the Himalayas is surely Mount Everest. There will be a lot of fatalities in the future too because many people want to climb the mountain without having the necessary skills. In this respect, Ogre doesn’t deserve its name. It’s not a man-eater.

However, Ogre is not its original name, but Baintha Brakk. Baintha is a meadow on the edge of the Biafo Glacier, from where the highest point of the mountain can be seen as the dominant peak. Brakk means peak. So it is the peak that you can see from the meadow Baintha. In any case, I think we should return to the original names of the mountains. Mount McKinley is Denali, Mount Everest from the Tibetan side Chomolungma, from the Nepalese side Sagarmatha, K 2 is Chogori, and Ogre is Baintha Brakk.

Alex, Mario and Dani (from l. to r.) on the summit of the six-thousander Panmah Kangri in 2015

The past summers in the Karakoram were very warm. This led to the failure of many expeditions. What kind of weather will give you a real chance on Ogre?

If we have the same conditions as two years ago (then the Huber brothers were en route with Mario Walder and Dani Arnold in the Latok group), when the zero-degree line was at 6,500 meters and higher over several weeks, we will get into trouble again. I think mountaineering will change in the future due to climate change anyway. The mountaineers have to adjust to this. If the zero-degree line continues to move up, we will have to switch to the fall or spring season. I have now chosen the summer season again, because I am convinced that on the way to the summit of Ogre it is important that you do not have low temperatures in the summit area. Perhaps we are lucky that this time the conditions fit. The weather is difficult to interpret. But these are the challenges we are now confronted with.

You have already canceled an expedition to Pakistan in 2014 because of the explosive political situation. Do you go there again with a queasy feeling?

Unfortunately, you cannot travel in Pakistan like you did 20 years ago. I have been able to get to know Pakistan at a time when the division did not exist between the Western world and the Muslim, Arab world. At that time you could move freely in this country. If you are traveling across the countryside today, you can never be sure that there will not be any terrorist attacks, especially against tourists. That’s why there is no more tourism in Pakistan. The people who still travel to the country are exclusively mountaineers who have a very specific goal. When we go there, we are really undercover on the road, which means we are not visible.

Steck on top of Eiger

While I got footsore during my “Power pilgrimage for Nepal”, Ueli Steck “ran” fleet-footed through the Eiger North Face (look at the video below). “Speedy Ueli” climbed the Heckmair route – the way of the first ascender in 1938 – solo in just two hours and 22 minutes. Thus, the 39-year-old top climber from Switzerland regained the speed record in this legendary, 1800-meter-high wall that he had lost in 2011 to his compatriot Dani Arnold (2:28 hours). In 2008, Steck had climbed the wall in 2:47 hours. “I had a good track and good conditions”, Ueli said after his tour de force through the North Face adding that it was “a beautiful experience and a great day”.

Soon in less than two hours?

The new record holder remained modest. “Climbing is not a competition. There are so many other factors that count like conditions, temperature, weather”, Ueli said. “Being six minutes faster than Dani, I think, that’s nothing. That’s not a big step.” He expects that the Eiger North Face will be climbed in less than two hours very soon: “I think that’s possible under good conditions, but the athlete has to take quite a lot of risk.” That might sound as if he himself is not willing to risk so much. But you never know – until Ueli’s next coup.

Thomas Huber on Choktoi Glacier, behind him the North Face of Latok I (l.) and Ogre (r.)

It was a hot, but from the climbers’ perspective a meager summer in the Karakoram: Most expeditions left Pakistan without summit successes. The German “Huberbuam” Thomas and Alexander, the Swiss Dani Arnold and the Austrian Mario Walder also returned empty-handed, but alive and “in one piece” – which was not a matter of course considering their experiences at the Latok group. Thomas, aged 48, the elder of the Huber brothers, told me the story.

Thomas, this summer you actually wanted to tackle the North Face of the 7,145-meter-high Latok I which has not yet been climbed. This did not happen. Why?

We have seen the North Face only from afar. We realized pretty soon that is was impossible to climb the wall under these conditions. It would have been possible to tackle the North Ridge. But this did not happen too, because another mountain battered us so that we lost our motivation and courage to push ourselves to the absolute limit again.

Latok III (arrow shows the pillar and the huge serac above)

Which mountain did batter you this way?

It started with the fact that there was a lot of snow in the Karakoram. We had about one and a half meters fresh snow in our Base Camp. At the same time it was very, very warm. This led to wet snow avalanches. We tried in vain to climb a 6000-meter-high mountain that we had chosen to acclimatize. We then switched to Latok III to acclimatize for Latok I. Latok III is nearly 7,000 meters high. We wanted to take a safe route via the south pillar. At night in Camp 1 at 5600 meters, we were surprised by an ice avalanche. Although it hit the ground 500 meters from our tents, the blast wave literally blew us in our tents from our campground. We stopped just before the abyss. We all were ashen-faced. Dani Arnold, who has already experienced a lot, said that never before in his life it had been so close. We then digged our tents one meter deep into the snow and fixed them. During the night, three more ice avalanches came down from the serac. In the morning, we saw the huge avalanche cone below our tents and only said: “We descend. Let’s get out of here!” We lost a backpack with crampons and all the other staff. So we were also forced to continue our descent.

Nevertheless you have already experienced many dangerous situations such as this. Why did this impress you so much?

We have already experienced a lot, but we’ve never before been so much in the hands of fate. That was a new experience in our lives as climbers.

On the left, the serac from where the ice avalanches came down

Did all four climbers feel like this?

Yes. We sat in the Base Camp and talked about what had happened. We were glad that we had survived. But then there were also discussions. As the temperatures were not decreasing but the weather was incredible good, I said: “We should dig ice caves for our tents and always climb at night. Then we might have a chance to climb Latok III.” But Alexander, Dani and Mario opposed. It was clear that I had to accept the team’s decision.

Then we tried a second time to climb the mountain that we had chosen for acclimatizing before, but failed again, because it was just too hot. I proposed to bring the material down and move to the North Ridge of Latok I because I thought it was safer. This was rejected again. At the end the weather forecast was so bad that we finished our expedition two weeks earlier than initially scheduled. I climbed alone to Camp 1 on Latok III to recover our material. Alexander, Dani and Mario could warm their climbing hearts with a summit. At the third attempt they were able to scale the 6000-meter-high mountain that was probably still unclimbed. They named it Panmah Kangri.

Latok I

Had you already written off Latok I when you experienced the ice avalanche on Latok III?

We realized at a very early stage early that it was impossible to climb the North Face of Latok I. We also talked to the Slovenians with Luka (Lindic – The Slovenians also quit their project to climb the wall). They called it the “Suicide Line”. It would have been like joining a death squad to climb one the two possible lines through the wall. We are climbers because we love life and not because we want to be dead heroes. In my opinion, the North Ridge would have been feasible because it is later illuminated by the sun. But there was a 3: 1 team decision against me. I was a bit unhappy, but in the end also grateful and happy that we survived. We have returned as friends, and that was okay.

Have you now given up the project Latok I North Face?

In this style, definitely. But you can not forget this wall. If you’ve ever stood below it, you, as a climber, are thinking: How can I make the impossible possible? I have some ideas about it, but I still have to think about it a bit longer. Never say never! Maybe I will go back there again.

Survived!

Alexander has three children, you too. Does that hold you back in extreme situations like now on Latok III?

I’m a family man for already a long time, so I can not say that it has the effect to hold me back generally. I know this situation for 16 years. I don’t think about my family any more when everything is going well on the mountain. But they are in my mind again when the danger lies directly in front of me. I definitely believe that in this case I decide, because of my children, with a more positive approach to life, rather than simply saying: “Go on! It’ll be all right!” I think, I start saying no earlier now. But if something happens like on Latok III, I can assess this very rationally afterwards. Seracs can just collapse. Whenever you go to the mountains or anywhere else, life itself is life-threatening. But I think, if you are really aware of the danger, you can handle even extreme situations in a safe way.

The entire team

Last year, you cancelled your Latok I expedition shortly before departure – due to the uncertain situation in Pakistan. How did you experience the country this time?

I have experienced Pakistan in a very nice way, not to say in a completely unspectacular way. Sure, you have to get used to the armed police. On every street corner, someone is standing with a Kalashnikov. But we were always safe, even driving twice over the Karakorum Highway. Actually, I can only recommend to anyone who has a good travel agency: Go to Pakistan! It’s an incredibly beautiful travel destination, especially in the Karakoram. For me it’s one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Unfortunately, the media often wrongly call Pakistan a terrorist country. In the meantime there is terror all over the world. You have to act correctly, choose the right place and the right route. Then you can travel in Pakistan in very safe way.

Without a queasy feeling?

I hadn’t this feeling this time. And I’m sure that I won’t have it the next time. I think the Pakistani military does a very good job and has the situation more or less under control.

Dani Arnold

The Matterhorn was his first four-thousander. Dani Arnold was 18 years old when he first scaled the prestige mountain of his home country from the Höernli Hut on the normal route in 2002. Today the 31-year-old is one of the best climbers in Switzerland. Since then, he has been „maybe eight times on top“ of the Matterhorn, Dani writes to me from Pakistan, where he is currently trying to climb first through the North Face of the seven-thousander Latok I, along with the German Huber brothers and the Austrian Mario Walder. In recent years, Arnold made headlines in particular with his speed records. Since 2011, he is holding the record on the Eiger North Face. He climbed the wall on the route of the first ascent in two hours and 28 minutes. Thus Dani was 20 minutes faster than the previous record holder Ueli Steck. This April, he also broke Steck’s speed record on the Matterhorn North Face. It took Arnold an hour and 46 minutes, spending ten minutes less on the wall than Ueli did in 2009. The Matterhorn, 150 years after the first ascent, from the perspective of a professional climber:

Dani, all over the world the Matterhorn is a symbol for Switzerland. How do you see this mountain? Or in other words, what does it mean to you?

In terms of shape, it is one of the most beautiful mountains. Climbing it, is okay, but not very special. The rock often is not solid.

150 years ago, the Matterhorn was first climbed by the roped party of the Briton Edward Whymper. How do you value their performance, taking into account the equipment from then and considering that the group climbed into the unknown?

Of course it was an impressive performance. Respect!

The first ascent ended tragically: Four climbers fell to death. Did this disaster establish the myth of the Matterhorn?

Dani on the summit of the Matterhorn after his speed record

I think so. Mostly tragedies and accidents are the reason that mountains get mythical. Actually, it’s in some way weird, that something has to happen before the public takes notice.

The Matterhorn is a commercial mountain. About 3,000 summit aspirants per year try to climb it. Does the Matterhorn share the fate of other prestige mountains like Mont Blanc or Mount Everest, attracting people who actually do not belong there due to their lack of climbing skills?

It already belongs to this category of famous mountains that attract many people simply because of its name. And thus there are many climbers who actually have no business to be there.

Not a year passes without fatalities on the Matterhorn. Does it make sense to limit the number of ascents?

No, the important thing is that mountaineering has to remain free. That means, anyone can climb where he wants. This is a huge privilege. But everyone has to bear the consequences himself.

Is climbing the Matterhorn, especially via the North Face, still a classic that should not miss in the career of a professional climber?

Everyone should have climbed the wall. However, that must be qualified. The North Face is a classic tour that many people are able to climb. But for us, (professional climbers) it is rather simple compared to current projects. Otherwise alpinism would not have developed since the first ascent of the Matterhorn North Face.

Last April, you set up a new speed record on the North Face. You climbed the wall on the route of the first ascent by Franz and Toni Schmid (1931) in a time of one hour and 46 minutes, thus being ten minutes faster than Ueli Steck. Have you reached your limit or is it possible to climb the wall even faster?

The Schmid route via the Matterhorn North Face

It is always possible to climb faster. Many things have to match. I have to be fit enough. The conditions must be okay. The psyche has to be right, and I have to be highly motivated. My climbing time was short, but actually it was strenuous too.

In 2010 and 2011, the Italian climber Hervé Barmasse opened two new routes on the Matterhorn South Face. But such first climbs are seldom. Is the Matterhorn largely exhausted? Is there next to nothing to do for climbers?

I do not believe that. The obvious lines have been climbed. But there is still a lot of room. Many think that you can experience extraordinary things only in the Himalayas. But that’s not true.

If you could make the Matterhorn a present for the 150th anniversary of its first ascent, what would it be?

I’ve never really thought about what you can give to a mountain.

P.S.: That was the last part of my little Matterhorn series.

Thomas and Alexander Huber, Dani Arnold, their Pakistani companion Rasool, Mario Walder, Seppi Dabringer (from right)

The eternal attraction of Latok I. There is hardly another seven-thousander that has been such a hard nut to crack for top climbers from all over the world for the past decades. The first ascent of the highest of the four Latok summits was made 36 years ago. The Japanese Tsuneo Shigehiro, Sin’e Matsumi and Yu Watanabe succeeded on 19 July 1979. They had climbed up from the south via a buttress to the east East Ridge and from there to the highest point. More famous because notorious are the still unconquered North Ridge – and the also unclimbed North Face. This summer, the “Huberbuam”, the German brothers Alexander and Thomas Huber, will try to master this big wall.

Only postponed

Already last year, the Huber brothers had wanted to tackle the North Face of Latok I. “The project has already been tried many times by really good climbers. But so far, the wall has resisted vehemently”, Alexander told me then. “We need a lot of luck to be successful. But my goodness, if you do not try you can not make it.” Just before the scheduled departure the climbers called off the expedition due to the uncertain situation in Pakistan. Not canceled, only postponed.

Strong team

The North Face of Latok I

Yesterday the team of the Huber brothers left Skardu in Baltistan heading for Latok I, where they are expected to arrive today or tomorrow. The team includes the Austrian cameraman Seppi Dabringer and two more climbers: the 37-year-old Mario Walder from Austria and the 31-year-old Dani Arnold from Switzerland. Mario has already been on expedition with the Huber brothers several times. In 2009 they succeeded in free climbing the legendary route “Eternal Flame” on the 6251-meter-high Nameless Tower in the Karakoram, doing it for the first time redpoint, means in one push without fall. Dani has recently made headlines in particular with his speed records on Matterhorn and Eiger in Switzerland. In 2013 he made the third winter ascent of the legendary 3128-meter-high Cerro Torre in Patagonia, along with Thomas Huber (and Stephan Siegrist and Matias Villavicencio). Thus it is really a strong team that will try to climb the North Face of Latok I.

Their next coup on Choktoi Glacier?

The 48-year-old Thomas and the 46-year-old Alexander Huber have pitched their tents on the Choktoi Glacier several times during their long climbing career. So in 1997, when they succeeded in first climbing the 2.000-meter-high West Face of Latok II (along with their compatriot Toni Gutsch and the American Conrad Anker) – a milestone in big wall climbing. In 2001, Thomas (and the Swiss Urs Stoecker and Iwan Wolf) made the second ascent of the extremely challenging 7285-meter-high Ogre, a neighboring peak of the Latoks. All Ogre expeditions before had failed since the first ascent by the British climbing legends Chris Bonington and Doug Scott in 1977. Maybe the next coup of the “Huberbuam” in this area will follow this summer: on the North Face of Latok I.