Between Nov. 9 and 16, Simon Gietl and climbing partner Vittorio Messini established a new line on the northwest face of 2,952m Sass Pordoi in the Dolomites.
Called Eywa, it is an ice and mixed route that combines several old routes on the wall. The lower part is about 330m, with a difficulty of WI6, M6, while the upper part is 240m of WI5, M5.
The northwest face of Sass Pordoi. Photo: Simon Gietl
According to Gietl, snow covered the entire face. After three pitches, they reached the ice, where Gietl set up a belay. Then they climbed five more pitches until the pair had to decide whether to go left or right. Ultimately, they went left to the summit in a staggered manner to avoid falling ice.
Simon Gietl works his way up to partner Vittorio Messini. Photo: Simon Gietl
Simon Gietl on ice and mixed terrain. Photo: Simon Gietl/Vittorio Messini
The new route also combines Snowboard (established Jan. 19, 2022, by Josef Hipold and Norbert Weiss) and Avatar (established Dec. 10, 2022, by Simon Gietl and Andrea Oberbacher).
Details of the route and marked the previous lines on the northwest face of Pordoi. Photo: Isidor Poppeller.
Gietl and Messini have been friends and climbing partners for many years. Four years ago, the two South Tyroleans established another route, Pandora, here on the northwest face of Sass Pordoi. And in 2017, they made the first ascent of Shiva’s Ice, a new route on 6,543m Shivling in the Indian Himalaya.
Vittorio Messini, left, and Simon Gietl after topping out on Sass Pordoi. Photo: Simon Gietl/Vittorio Messini
