Tom Ballard’s New Mixed and Hard Solo of Gogna Route

Tom Ballard jumped onto the scene a few seasons ago when he climbed the great six north faces of the Alps in winter and solo. At the end of 2016, he continued to push himself with a new hard route up the north face of the Eiger.

A few weeks later, he opened a new route solo in Val di Fassa called Dust in the Wind M8 100m. A few days later, he soloed the big Gogna Route on Punta Rocca in Marmolada in nine hours over two days. The 800-metre south face route has difficulties up to 5.10 and is climbed in 29 pitches. See a topo here.

So where next? During my 'slow' ascent of the "Gogna" route on the majestic Marmolada. Cold despite the sun! #climbing_pictures_of_instagram #winteralpinism #camp1889 #calzegm #scarpaspa #montaneofficial

A photo posted by Tom Ballard (@tom.ballard) on Jan 2, 2017 at 6:10am PST