The 6,142-meter-high Shiva in northern India

Shiva has rough edges. On the one hand he is the god of creation for the Hindus. But he is also feared for the fact that he smashes everything to bits, if he is in a real peeve. The same applies to the 6,142 meter-high mountain of the same name in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Sometimes Shiva attracts the world’s best climbers with its steep walls and beautiful shape, then again it is unruly – as the Swiss climbers Stephan Siegrist and Jonas Schild as well as their photographer Dominic Fischer had to experience this fall. Siegrist, aged 45, and the 26-year-old Schild had actually planned to climb the North Face of the mountain. But somehow everything went wrong.

At a snail’s pace

Lots of snow

First, the Indian kitchen team that had traveled ahead erroneously set up the base camp on the south side of Shiva instead of the north side. The climbers lost time because they had to go around the mountain to get to the foot of the Shiva North Face. Then the weather changed. For days it snowed down to 2,500 meters above sea level. “We were stuck,” writes Stephan Siegrist. “Through 60 centimeters of fresh snow we finally reached a place at 3,900 meters on 26 September, suitable for a base camp.” Two days later they started to the foot of the wall. “Partially sinking down to the hip, we fought like snails towards the foot of the North Pillar. Without backpacks we reached an altitude of 5,000 meters on the same day, crossing below a serac. We felt good.” But again it began to snow. For days. Avalanches swept down into the valley.

“Senseless, dangerous, fun-free”

Stephan Siegrist climbing a crack

The conditions on the mountain worsened daily, reports Stephan. Finally the team pulled the rip cord and gave up their plan to climb the North Face of Shiva. “With the amount of fresh snow, it would have been anything but climbing, a senseless, dangerous digging in the snow without any fun,” says Siegrist. The trio started another attempt in the direction of the still unclimbed Shiva West Ridge, but the same picture over there: “Again we sank into the deep snow. For the next two hours we slowly dug our way forward until it became clear that it was senseless here as well. It was frustrating.” The Swiss broke down their tents. At the end of the expedition there was still a little consolation. In the lower Jobri-Nala valley, Jonas Schild mastered a 20-meter-long finger-wide crack on an overhanging wall (which he rated as grade 8a+ on the French difficulty scale). “I think it’s the hardest crack climb in India right now,” Jonas writes on Facebook.

Piolet d’Or 2013 for Shiva route by Fowler and Rampsten

Shiva, which was so stubborn this fall, was first climbed in 1988 by a Japanese women’s expedition from the south via an easier route. The team also included Junko Tabei, the first woman to climb Mount Everest. In November 2012, the two British Mick Fowler and Paul Ramsden mastered the extremely difficult Northeast Ridge of Shiva. In 2013, they were awarded the Piolet d’Or, the “Oscar of the Climbers”, for this amazing climb.

In the Northwest Face

In the pictures, it almost seems like they were climbing on the legendary granite walls of El Capitan – were it not for the snow and the chilled faces. In mid-October, the two Swiss Stephan Siegrist and Julian Zanker and the German Thomas Huber first climbed the central Northwest Face of the 6,150-meter-high Cerro Kishtwar in the Indian part of the crisis region Kashmir. The three top climbers needed two attempts before reaching the summit on 14 October. It was only the fourth ascent of the remote mountain. Overall, the trio spent ten days in the extremely steep, partially overhanging wall – three days on the first attempt, seven on their successful second one.

From start to finish difficult

“The wall outdid my expectations regarding its difficulty,” enthuses Stephan Siegrist. “There’s probably no other wall with that height and such homogenous grades anywhere else.” The 44-year-old Swiss had fallen in love with the central Northwest Face, when he had succeeded with his compatriot Denis Burdet and the Austrian David Lama the second ascent of Cerro Kishtwar on a new route to the right of the wall. In 1993, the Briton Mick Fowler and the US American Steve Susted had climbed the six-thousander for the first time. The year before, the Brits Andy Perkins and Brendan Murphy had tackled the central Northwest Face, however, after 17 days, had had to give up completely exhausted 100 meters below the summit.

Having underestimated the wall

Route through the wall

Siegrist, Zanker and Huber entered the wall on 1 October, with the goal of reaching the highest point within five days. “Looking back we can say that we underestimated the wall and our project,” reports Thomas Huber. After three days they “hadn’t even climbed a third of the wall”. The team, says the 50-year-old, then reconsidered the tactics: “It was we either radically reduce our food rations or we put everything into a new attempt. We decided to discontinue our attempt.”

Frostbite on toes

With renewed strength and motivation, the trio started their second attempt on 8 October. The weather was stable, however anything but cozy: cloudless in the morning, but snowfall in the afternoon, temperatures down to minus 20 degrees Celsius. The extreme conditions left marks: Stephan suffered from a tenosinovitis on his left hand, all three climbers got frostbite on their toes. “It hit Thomas and Julian pretty hard. That’ll accompany them for quite a while,” says Siegrist.

Unique moment at the summit

At the finish: Stephan Siegrist, Julian Zanker, Thomas Huber (from l. to r.)

When they finally reached the summit, “the emotions really got to us,” recalls Stephan. This is confirmed by Thomas Huber: “The days were always variable but like a miracle we had the best weather on summit day. We almost felt like we weren’t alone and that we were being rewarded for all what we had gone through with a unique moment. Cirrostratus clouds were passing just 500 meters above us in the jet stream and we were standing there, in the complete calm. We all knew we were only able to make it because we felt like one courageous alliance!”

“Get a grip!”

Total commitment required

Julian Zanker, who will celebrate his 27th birthday on Sunday, was by far the youngest in the team. For him, it was “a huge opportunity” to be en route with the routiniers Siegrist and Huber, says Julian. “It was six weeks filled with wonderful moments, new experiences, and a beautiful line on an amazing mountain to top it all off.” The three climbers named their new route after the title of a popular Hindu song “Har-Har Mahadev” – “in Bavaria we’d say: Get a grip!”, as Thomas Huber explains.  Cerro Kishtwar “enriched my life with a wild story,” summarizes the older of the two Huber brothers. For Stephan Siegrist, Cerro Kishtwar is now finished after two ascents on new routes. “But Kashmir in general is not yet completed for me,” the Swiss climber adds. The remote region still offers many untouched peaks and walls. Were it not for this endless smoldering conflict between India and Pakistan.

The West Face of Cerro Kishtwar (© Stefan Schlumpf)

They have been on the road for the last three weeks and are expected to have meanwhile arrived at the destination of their expedition. The Swiss climbers Stephan Siegrist and Julian Zanker and the German Thomas Huber want to tackle the still not mastered West Face of the 6155-meter-high Cerro Kishtwar. The mountain, located in the Indian part of the crisis region Kashmir, has been scaled only three times so far. In 1993, the British Mick Fowler and the American Steve Susted succeeded the first ascent via the Northwest Face. In 2011, Siegrist, his Swiss countryman Denis Burdet and the Austrian David Lama reached the summit of Cerro Kishtwar as the second rope team, after opening a new route on the edge of the West Face. The third ascent was made in 2015 by the Slovenes Marko Prezelj and Urban Novak, the American Hayden Kennedy and the Frenchman Manu Pellisier. They were awarded the Piolet d’Or, the “Oscar of the Climbers”, for their first ascend of the South Face.

Always in his mind

He just could not get the West Face, “the largest still unclimbed rock face in the Kashmir Himalaya”, out of his head since 2011, Stephan Siegrist wrote to me before leaving to India. “At that time we climbed an ice route on the right side of the main wall. Again and again I looked at this amazing wall. The idea of ​​tackling this line did not let me off.” According to Stephan, the trio is also planning to free climb some rope lengths of the route. The 44-year-old has infected Thomas Huber with his enthusiasm. The older of the Huber brothers was raving to me about “one of the most beautiful, coolest unclimbed walls of the world”, with best quality of granite: “When I saw pictures of the Cerro Kishtwar West Face, I said: Actually, this is the second Cerro Torre,” the 50-year-old told me.

Instinct required

Thomas Huber (left) and Stephan Siegrist

The third in the trio is the Swiss climber and mountain guide Julian Zanker, who was already en route with Siegrist in the Indian part of Kashmir in fall 2016. Both were then temporarily detained by the Indian police because they were wrongly accused of having used a satellite telephone. The use of private satellite equipment is prohibited in India because of the fear of terrorist attacks. “Concerning weather you have to rely on your instinct again. This will be very exciting,” said Huber. “We have drawn up a strategy, and I believe it will work.” He really likes to be on the road with Stephan Siegrist, says Thomas: “Stef is an incredibly great rope partner. You always have fun with him in the base camp and on the mountain. There is always something to laugh about. But he knows exactly when it gets serious. And then he pushes it through.“

“Live as intensively as possible!”

Siegrist and Huber have something less pleasing in common. Both suffered fractures of the scull after falls. Stephan had to abandon an attempt on the eight-thousander Makalu in 2013 due to the long-term consequences of the injury he had sustainde several years ago. Since then, he has chosen his goals mainly on difficult six-thousanders. Thomas had suffered a skull fracture at the beginning of July 2016 when he had fallen 16 meters deep from a rock wall in the Berchtesgaden region. He had received an emergency surgery. Only a month later, he had set off for an expedition to a seven-thousander in Pakistan. “I just accepted this incredible fortune. I do not question that. And this is the reason that I’m well,“ Thomas told me recently. “I’m no longer afraid of my death. The more important thing is: Live now, as well, as intensively and as beautifully as possible!”

Thomas Huber at the ISPO

Thomas Huber radiates pure joie de vivre. “I’m doing well, more than in a long time,” says the 50-year-old German top climber, as we meet at the ISPO sporting goods trade fair in Munich. On 30 December, the older of the two Huber brothers had provided another highlight of his career: Along with the Swiss climbers Stephan Siegrist and Roger Schaeli, Thomas succeeded the second ascent of the legendary route “Metanoia” in the centre of the Eiger North Face: “How can a year end better? I have just taken this flow with me,” enthuses Huber.

“Wow, it’s okay!”

Jeff Lowes legendary route “Metanoia”

2016 was an extreme year for him. First the 16-meter-fall from a rock face in the Berchtesgaden region in Bavaria, which he survived with incredible luck; then the almost miraculous turbo recovery from the scull fracture he had suffered; the journey to Pakistan to climb the North Face of the seven-thousander Latok I; the unsuccessful rescue action for the US climbers Kyle Dempster and Scott Adamson at the nearby Ogre II; then the veto of his companions against an attempt on Latok I. “These were all difficult moments, which I had to work up mentally,” Thomas admits. “I have accepted my fall, and that I had made a mistake there. I have also reflected that I simply need to be more conscious. Maybe I too – like Jeff Lowe – have become a new person through climbing Metanoia, because I can say now: Wow, it’s all right. I am strong. We had so much fun, although we were pretty close to the limit.”

Rare illness

For 25 years, the extreme route that Jeff Lowe had opened in winter 1991, climbing solo, without bolts, had been a too hard nut to crack for many climbers. The American had come to the Eiger North Face in a life crisis. “I’m not sure that he really wanted to return home,” says Roger Schaeli in the video on the second ascent.

Not for nothing, Lowe called his route “Metanoia”, which means “repentance”. Today, the climbing pioneer, who has made more than 1000 first ascents in his career, is sitting in a wheelchair. The 66-year-old suffers from a rare, still incurable illness, with similar symptoms like MS or ALS. Thomas Huber had visited Jeff Lowe before his expedition to Latok I. In 1978, Lowe had belonged to a rope team of four, who had climbed via the North Ridge of Latok I to a point not far below the 7,145-meter-high summit, when a storm had hit them back. 22 days after setting off, the quartet had returned to the base camp, completely exhausted, but safe.

Awe and gratitude

Huber, Schaeli and Siegrist (from l. to r.)

“I met Jeff and saw him confined to his wheelchair,” says Thomas. “I realized at once that I would like to repeat his route Metanoia. I wanted to roll out a red carpet to tell him: Hey, guy, what you did at that time was a doozie!” After the many failed attempts to repeat it, Lowe’s Route had become a “mystery”, says Thomas. “At some point everybody said: Metanoia, crazy, strange.” The American had spent nine days in the wall. In their second run, Huber, Siegrist and Schaeli needed two days to repeat the route. “We were three, Jeff was alone then. During every pitch, that I led, I tried to imagine how it was for him climbing alone. He must have been totally stressed. But he did it!” Thomas wonders. “I have left the route with a great deal of awe – and also gratitude: that I am still living.”

Siegrist on the highline on Kilimanjaro

“In terms of safety a 20- or 30-meter highline is comparable with climbing in the sixth or seventh grade,” Heinz Zak told me some time ago. The extreme climber, photographer and filmmaker from Austria is a slackline pioneer in Europe and a recognized expert in balancing at dizzying heights. Highlining is very popular in the climbing scene – the Swiss top climber Stephan Siegrist is also doing it from time to time. The 43-year-old has now set a new high-altitude world record in this discipline – most likely because there are not yet record lists. On Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, Stephen tensioned a 21-meter-long highline at an altitude of 5,700 meters between two rock towers above the “Arrow Glacier Camp” and balanced across the line in a height of about 150 meters above the ground. Until now the Hungarian Bence Kerekes was said to be the record holder, who had crossed a highline at about 5,300 meters in Indian Ladakh in 2015.

Difficult to find the right balance

Balancing in thin air is a particular challenge, says Siegrist, who had tensioned his highlines previously at Swiss mountains such as the Matterhorn (in 2012) or the Dufourspitze (in 2013): “In spite of acclimatization, it was difficult to find the balance. At this altitude everything slows down, apparently getting into balance too.” It was very tiring to get up with one leg in order to begin the crossing at all, said Stephan: “It was also interesting to see how the highline responded to the slightest tension. If I’m not fully relaxed, immediately the line is getting nervous.”

Stephan Siegrist

Who says that there is nothing left to explore! During their expedition in northern India this fall, the Swiss mountaineers Stephan Siegrist, Dres Abegglen and Thomas Senf first climbed three shapely mountains, all of them almost 6,000 meters high: Bhala (also called “Spear”, 5,900 m), Tupendeo (5,700 m) and Te (translated “Crystal”, 5,900 m), each of them on challenging routes. Indian Kashmir is still regarded as an insider tip among climbers. Because of the conflict with Pakistan, the mountain area had been closed to foreign visitors for a long time, until it was reopened in 2003. “The region was simply somewhat forgotten”, Stephan Siegrist tells me. The 42-year-old top climber has become almost an expert for Kashmir in recent years.

Stephan, three first ascents during an expedition cannot be matched by many other climbers. Have you been on a roll?

The motivation was very high. We climbed the first two peaks rather quickly. It is a great advantage that the time you need to acclimatize for altitudes up to 6,000 meters is much shorter, you almost don’t need any time. And the weather conditions were great.

“Crystal” – with the distinctive secondary peak

How did it happen that you climbed as many as three mountains?

First we climbed Spear. We had a picture that showed this mountain from the north side. It was technically much easier than we had thought before. Then we set off to climb Tupendeo. We still had time, the weather was fine. So we tried it three days later and were successful. We found that it was exactly the mountain we had seen and photographed from Kishtwar Shivling last year. After two and a half weeks the good weather was over and it was snowing for a week. But we had still enough time left, our expedition was planned to take six weeks. Further down the valley, there was another very aesthetic, distinctive mountain, the Crystal. Our primary goal was not the main summit but the secondary peak that really looks like a crystal. It has steep rock walls on all sides and a snow cap. After we had made it up to the top, we abseiled and climbed up to the main summit.

Siegrist, Senf and Abegglen (l. to r.)

That sounds like real adventure. Did you feel like explorers?

Yes, that’s exactly what we are interested in. It’s not just about performance but adventure and experience too. We have not looked for the simplest possible routes. There would have certainly been easier ones. We also wanted to test our abilities. Then it may happen that your attempt is a complete flop. I think we do some kind of exploring where a good performance is needed too.

There is only a single village in this remote valley. I assume that it is very rarely visited by western climbers. How did the local people receive you?

It is still an adventure to visit remote villages like Kaban in this Kashmiri valley. Especially the children have most probably never before seen a Westerner wearing these funny clothes and carrying climbers’ equipment. We are always trying to take enough time for these contacts. We had a liaison officer who spoke the language of the locals. The people there are extremely helpful. Immediately, you are invited to eat and spend the night in the village. The locals are also interested in what you are going to do. But they can hardly understand why you want to climb this or that mountain.

Stephan in action

You’ve been in Indian Kashmir, a political conflict area. Didn’t you worry about your safety?

I was in this region for the third time now since 2011. There are members of three religions, living absolutely peacefully in their separate valleys. But on our way back, there was a new conflict between Muslims and Hindus. You must be aware that you are traveling in a not entirely stable region. If you behave not arrogant but quite normal and cautious, you – as a visitor from the west and as a Christian – are not affected. But it’s no longer really dangerous. In Kathmandu, it is no less dangerous. I would even go there with my family.

In 2014, you found your destination for this year’s expedition. Did you pick out a new goal again?

There are still very interesting mountains in the north.

Means that you have not been there for the last time?

(He laughs) It is very possible.

Last metres to the summit of Makalu

Many are familiar with the view of Makalu, without being aware of it. On pictures taken from the summit of Mount Everest in direction of the Southeast Ridge you see in the background the shapely fifth highest mountain on earth. Just a few kilometres linear distance are lying between the two 8000ers, but actually they are worlds apart. This spring the headlines concerning Everest were overturning: first the brawl in Camp 2, then the 60-year-anniversary of the first ascent. Because of this I lost sight of an expedition of four German and a Swiss climber to Makalu.

Siegrist left expedition

David Göttler, Michael Waerthl, Hans Mitterer, Daniel Bartsch and Stephan Siegrist wanted to climb the mountain in Alpine style via the challenging west pillar. Siegrist had to cancel the expedition because he got severe headaches and vision disorders,  possibly due to a skull fracture that he had a few years earlier. The other four abandoned their original plan and ascended via the normal route. Waerthl returned because of icy fingers about 200 metres below the summit. The other three climbers reached the highest point at 8485 metres.

I reach David Göttler on the phone while he is on the way home from the Bregaglia Valley where the mountain guide from Munich has led two clients. In recent years the 34-year-old mountaineer was repeatedly on expedition with Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits. With Gerlinde he i.a. ascended Dhaulagiri in the 2008 and Nuptse in 2012.

On top: Mitterer, Goettler, Bartsch (f.l.)

David, on 21 May you, Hans Mitterer and Daniel Bartsch stood on the summit of Makalu. Was it a perfect summit day?

We had been climbing fast. We were extremely fortunate because only we and a Finnish climber (Samuli Mansikka) were up there. The weather and snow conditions were perfect: almost no wind, normally warm for such a high 8000er, which means not too cold. It was incredible. It would be nice if every summit day was like this.

Makalu was your fifth 8000er. How do you classify this ascent in your personal ranking?

Especially the last stage up to the summit is challenging. There were only old fixed ropes, which you really don’t want to use. It was certainly one of the more demanding climbs.

On your summit day a large group of climbers of commercial expeditions turned back about 200 metres below the highest point. Afterwards some of them complained that contrary to the agreement the Sherpas had not secured the final passage to the summit with fixed ropes? What was the problem?

We caught up with the group that had started much earlier at 3 a.m., about 8200 metres high. When it got light the Sherpas said that they had not enough ropes to fix the route and that all should turn back. They had already been climbing for a long time. Maybe it was a wise decision of the Sherpas, at least for a majority of their clients. Perhaps they used the lack of ropes only as an excuse. I proposed to fetch up ropes from below to fix the last 200 metres. I had about 40 more metres of rope in my backpack. The Sherpas totally blocked my proposal and meant that it would take too long. But I can only speculate what was really going on there, and therefore I have reservations about commenting it.

Originally, you wanted to climb Makalu in Alpine style via the west pillar. Then Stephan Siegrist, one of your team members, had to cancel the expedition because of health problems. Why have you abandoned your plan then – four climbers remained and you were a powerful team?

There were several reasons. Without Stephan we were a strong man down. In addition the conditions were brutal: glare ice. You don’t get ahead. During the exploration of the west pillar we had to secure some lower passages which were really flat, due to glare ice. Above the rock was fragile. We weighed our options. The chance to reach the summit via the west pillar was minimal, the chance via the normal route relatively well.

You were three of only seven climbers who reached the summit this spring. Have you experienced Makalu as a lonely mountain?

Yes, compared to my last expeditions to Lhotse and Nuptse where I pitched up my tent in Everest Base Camp. I have never had such a beautiful basecamp like ours below the West Pillar of Makalu. It was below the basecamp of the normal route, green, with views of Lhotse, Everest, Makalu and Baruntse. We were alone in our camp, on an 8000er! Also on the mountain, I did not feel that many climbers were on the route. We enjoyed meeting these people and chatting with them. We had much fun with the Sherpas on the normal route. It was always a friendly and nice atmosphere.

David Goettler

On Everest, about 10 km linear distance away, at the end of April Sherpas attacked  European top climbers Ueli Steck, Simone Moro and Jonathan Griffith. Has that news gotten around to you?

We were doing some climbing to acclimatize. We had just pulled a Sherpa out of a crevasse into which he had fallen. He thanked a hundred times and said we had saved this life. We didn’t feel that way, for us it’s quite normal to help each other. Then we came down to the basecamp, and our kitchen team heard in a small radio the message that was broadcasted by the local ‘Khumbu Radio’. Incredible, we asked ourselves: What must have happened that the situation could escalate like it did?

Like the three climbers on Everest you were climbing on Makalu without Sherpa support. How did the Sherpas behave towards you?

They have always been nice. When we turned to the normal route, they asked: ‘What are you doing here now?’ We told them that we had decided to climb up via the normal route. For their work in the lower parts of the mountain we paid them with some ice screws and ropes. That brought this matter to a close. We have always helped each other. For example, we passed on the weather forecast. The Sherpas provided us with other informations. It was a pleasant, friendly cooperation.

Do you think that the relations between Sherpas and professional climbers are sustainably clouded by the Everest incident?

I don’t hope so. I’m not afraid to travel again to the Khumbu region. I firmly believe that the good relations will continue. I think Everest is a very special terrain where extremes collide. Compared to Makalu and other mountains Sherpas on Everest are under enormous pressure:  A lot of money is involved, so many climbers are on the mountain, and they expect that the fixed ropes are laid quickly.

By next spring season a team of the Nepalese government will stay in Everest basecamp to control whether the climbers comply with the rules. Do you think that all the problems will be solved by this measure?

I don’t think that all problems will be solved. The question is whether the dispute really escalated because rules were broken or whether unwritten laws on Everest were interpreted in a different way by the Sherpas on the one hand and Western climbers on the other hand.

The real problem that there are too many climbers on the route is very difficult to resolve. If you would stop climbing with supplemental oxygen, the whole thing on Everest would regulate quickly, and there would be no more problems. But you cannot dictate that. Whoever wants to try his luck there, in whatever style of climbing, shall try and be happy. It’s up to each climber.

Is it still an attractive target for you to climb Everest?

Yes. To climb Everest via the normal route without supplemental oxygen is challenging enough. That would be interesting.

Stephan Sigrist (l.) with old equipment

Hinterstoisser Traverse, Swallows Nest, Death Bivouac. When I was a boy of ten I sat on holidays in Grindelwald using my binoculars to study the Eiger North Face. I had devoured “The White Spider”, Heinrich Harrer’s well-known book. I was so fascinated that I got up at night and looked on the route for bivouac lights. On this Wednesday 75 years ago the Eiger North Face was climbed successfully for the first time. The four pioneers of 1938 are dead. The last of the German-Austrian team who died was Harrer in 2006.

I ring Stephan Siegrist up. The 40-year-old mountaineer from Switzerland has a special relationship to the Eiger North Face. He has already climbed the wall 29 times, opened two new extremely hard routes together with his compatriot Ueli Steck – and climbed on the trails of the quartet of 1938.

Stephan, 75 years ago the Germans Anderl Heckmair and Ludwig Vörg and the two Austrians Heinrich Harrer and Fritz Kasparek climbed the Eiger North Wall for the first time. What do think about their performance?

For me it’s still one of the greatest things that have ever been made in the Alps. You have to imagine that the strain was very great. They knew that many climbers before had died in the wall. And climbing it with the material of these former days was truly heroic.

The Heckmair route (1938)

Eleven years ago you climbed the North Face together with Michal Pitelka using the equipment from 1938. Did your experiences open your eyes for the quality of the pioneer’s performance?

Of course I had already great respect for these pioneers before we started our project. But after this experience with the old equipment my respect has increased still further.

What are the main differences between old and today’s material?

For the pioneers their equipment was then certainly top material. But the 30 metres long hemp ropes could only carry 400 kilos, which for us today is dangerous to life. The shoes had rubber soles with small nails. The climbers had bad crampons, classic ice axes without prongs.  In addition the old karabiners, no helmets, just hats and caps. From A to Z it is hardly conceivable for us today to climb with this equipment.

Even today, the Eiger North Face is still often referred to by many as “murder wall”. Isn’t that a bit excessive?

Yes. Fortunately, nowadays tragic accidents hardly occur in the Eiger North Face. Today you can compare it with other major walls in the western Alps.

What are the specific risks of the wall?

If we, as right now, have high temperatures of 30 degrees, we must be alert to rock fall. The wall is long, you have to be physically fit and experienced in rock and ice climbing. Most climbers need a bivouac, where they don’t sleep well. It’s physical stress, which shouldn’t be underestimated.

Have the risks shifted in recent years due to climate change?

Even earlier, there was rock fall in the Eiger North Face. What has changed is the season to climb the wall. Today more and more climbers arrive in winter or in spring, when there is a lot of snow in the wall – as it was in July 1938. In this respect, the mountaineers have adapted to the changed circumstances.

Stephan Siegrist

On mountains like Everest or Mont Blanc you find many people who actually don’t have the necessary climbing skills. Does that also apply to the Eiger North Wall?

Fortunately not, because everybody knows the technical challenges of the wall. Normally only climbers try the North Face, who know that they have these skills.

You yourself climbed the Eiger North Face 29 times, you opened new routes and climbed them free. What does attract you again and again?

For me, the wall is still spectacular, it offers difficulties. The Eiger is a beautiful mountain and easily accessible for me. That’s why I’m happy to go to this area, especially to the North Face.

The wall is almost like a big stage. Tourists have their binoculars and camera lenses directed to it. If you climb the North Face, do you feel like living in a goldfish bowl?

Once you’re in the wall, you’re really in a different world. You hardly register the tourists, much more the surroundings. You hear the cowbells, you see the cable car (to Kleine Scheidegg) driving up and down. You don’t feel that you are being watched – although in fact it’s like that.

Heckmair and Co. took about three days for their first climbing of the Eiger North Face. Since 2011 Swiss climber Daniel Arnold is holding the record with two hours and 28 minutes. Is it the end of the road?

No, a competition like that doesn’t simply stop. But it’s not like someone starts climbing the wall in the morning and tries to break the speed record. There must be a plan, you have to be very well prepared.

Apart from these speed records, what new challenges the wall still holds?

For me personally, the north face now has so many routes that there is hardly any new, unique,  logical line that you can open. Sure there will be the one or other new variant, because the Eiger North Face is just media-effective. But real great new trips are hardly conceivable.