80 Alpine Pitches in 45-Hour Push
Salbitschijen has some of the best ridge climbs in the Swiss Alps
Swiss climbers and IFMGA mountain guide Michi Wohlleben and Luka Hinterberger have linked three classic ridge climbs on Switzerland’s Salbitschijen (2,985 m) in a 45-hour push.
The two accomplished alpinists had attempted this triple-ridge enchainment last spring. Wohlleben said, “Throughout the approximately 80 pitches, we found everything you are looking for as a climber: a lot of perfect rock, often covered by snow, ice or humidity, disgusting avalanche slopes and an incredible amount of challenging terrain.”
Wohlleben and Hinterberger first climbed the south ridge and rappelled to bivy. After a short sleep, they climbed the west ridge and then the east ridge. The three ridges are some of the most sought-after alpine lines in this part of the Swiss Alps.
In 2017, Wohlleben and Lukas Binder made the first free ascent of Stirb Langsam (Die Hard), a 200-metre M11+ WI6+ in Austria. In 2020, Hinterberger, Nicolas Hojac and Stephan Siegrist made the first ascent of the northeast face of Cerro Cachet in Patagonia.
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