Thomas Huber is on the legendary North Face of the Eiger in the Swiss Alps, trying to finish a route called Memoriam.
Huber, his brother Alex, and Jonathan Siegrist first attempted it in 2019 as a tribute to Julian Zanker, David Lama, Dean Potter, Hansjorg Auer, Ueli Steck, and Jeff Lowe. All shared Huber’s style and vision of climbing and lost their lives in the mountains.
The North Face of the Eiger in winter. Photo: Thomas Huber
“Five years ago, we started this line with great motivation, failed, tried again, but gave up in the end,” Thomas Huber said. “Now we have revived the project because we want to keep our friends’ stories alive. And most of all, because it is one of the best lines on the Eiger…from the best rock to scary fractures to steep ice.”
Three-day push
Huber enrolled Siegrist for the mission again, and Jonas Schild has also joined the team. Huber and Schild started the climb yesterday. The latest pictures and videos suggest that in the end, Siegrist is not part of the team.
Huber and Schild pitched their first bivouac right above the Hinterstoisser Traverse. “We have spotted a new and safer line from the bivy point to the second ice field,” Huber wrote.
Today, they posted a short video from the face. Their progress suggests that they might summit tomorrow, keeping to Huber’s original plan to climb the route in a single three-day push.
Siegrist and Schild recently opened a new route on Bhagirathi III in India’s Garhwal Himalaya. Thomas Huber attempted Latok I in Pakistan’s Choktoi Valley for the second time.
