Jonas Schild and Silvan Schupbach have freed Komplexe Komplexe, a trad route in Switzerland’s Stockenflueh with difficulties up to 8a+. Schild describes it as “pure old-school slab climbing.”
Schild admitted he was out of training and started by trying to free-climb the most complex pitches. Once the 8a+ rope length was done, he knew they were on track for a complete free ascent of the route.
“Since we didn’t really believe our attempt would succeed, we skipped the two 6c opening pitches slightly to the left,” Schild explained. “That’s why we had to climb those as well after rappelling down.” They ended the climb by the light of their headlamps.
Silvan Schupbach is currently climbing new routes on what he calls the “forgotten north faces” of the Alps. The fifth of them was Zebu on the Klein Fiescherhorn, together with Phlippo Sala and Olivier Kolly, a couple of weeks ago.
Solo new variation
On March 24, the restless Filip Babicz soloed a new variation of the Lafaille Gully on the east face of Mont Blanc du Tacul.
Babicz soloed the couloir opened 41 years ago by the legendary Jean-Christophe Lafaille. He then turned left toward the route’s direct exit, entering new terrain toward the so-called Diable Ridge.
“In the meantime, night fell,” the Italian climber recalled. “I was alone, nothing stood in my way, I was the master of my destiny and of my choices. I felt good, in my element. At night, the entire mountain was mine. It was an almost mystical feeling as I continued, pitch after pitch, toward the summit of Corne du Diable (4,064m).”
Unfortunately, he was unable to summit the Corne du Diable because of a difficult headwall at 4,000m. He rappelled down and stepped on his skis again, 18 hours after the start of the climb. It took him six more hours to reach the Torino mountain hut.
Ski traverse
Jacquemoud’s ski+bike route. Photo: Mattheo Jacquemoud/Instagram
“Beyond the numbers, what I take away from this crossing is an incredible human, sporting, and mountain adventure,” he wrote from the Mediterranean coast, his skis leaning on a palm tree. “I enjoyed every day, never pushing myself too hard, never suffering, simply at my own pace. I savored the moments of solitude as much as the times shared with the friends who joined me.”
Fellow alpinists, skiers, and photographers documenting the project joined him during parts of the journey.
Jacquemoud had a good source of inspiration for his traverse. Two years ago, he accompanied Kilian Jornet on part of the Spaniard’s Alpine Connections traverse that linked all the 4,000’ers of the Alps.
