This Speed Solo Climb on the Piz Badile Will Make Your Palms Sweat

If you were not aware, the Piz Badile is totally mega. The only thing that rivals it? Apparently, climber Filip Babicz.


This article was originally published on GearJunkie.


The peak pierces the Swiss/Italian border in the Bregaglia range and rises to an altitude of 3,308m — most of it in sheer granite.

There’s one ridgeline that affords more or less express access to the top. If you’re in pursuit of a speed ascent, that’s where you’re going. Make no mistake, it is not a walk. Just ask rock climber Filip Babicz, who captured the speed record on the mountain September 10.

Babicz alternately scampers up horrifically exposed slabs, trots across broken granite knife blades, and edges along narrow ramps on his way to the summit.

When he got there, the watch read 42 minutes, 52 seconds. Watch til the end; you won’t want to miss the aftermath, which focuses on a clearly delirious Babicz at the summit marker. Seeing him collapsed and panting below the monolith, it’s hard to believe he didn’t miss a step along the way — and pay the price.

Sam Anderson

Sam Anderson takes any writing assignments he can talk his way into while intermittently traveling the American West and Mexico in search of margaritas — er, adventure. He parlayed a decade of roving trade work into a life of fair-weather rock climbing and truck dwelling before (to his parents’ evident relief) finding a way to put his BA in English to use. Sam loves animals, sleeping outdoors, campfire refreshments and a good story.