The Alpinist has posted an excellent trip report on ice climbers Robert Jasper and Bernd Rathmayr who recently put up a trio of routes while climbing the Swiss Alps in the beginning of January.
Jasper, of Germany, joined forces with Rathmayr from Switzerland, to climb three challenging faces including a first ascent on B.A.S.E. (WI6), the first ascent of Almendudler (M9+/10-), and then capped off their trilogy with a climb on Crack Baby (WI6). The climbs were all accomplished over a three day period that the men spent in tje Bernese Oberland area of Switzerland.
More details on each of the climbs can be found in the article at The Alpinist. It sounds like all three climbs was a very unique and challenging experience for the two men. When they were done, they had managed to climb more than 1000 meters over the course of the three days in the mountains. Very impressive stuff. Oh, and that picture kicks ass too!
Thanks to The Hardwear Sessions for this one.
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That is an amazing accomplishment…
It has been a few years since our last ice routes, but I do have some idea of what this would take!
DSD
These look like three very tough routes. Fortunately there has been a lot of snow and ice in the Alps this year to allow for some of these climbs to take place. Global warming may make ice climbing, or at least a lot of the popular routes, a thing of the past.
From what we have seen this season, that warming hasn’t been an issue, but the long term will tell… Those routes do look tough!
DSD