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First Winter Solo Ascent of Troll Wall in Norway

Polish climber Marek Raganowicz made the first winter solo ascent of Norway’s Troll Wall in January. His alpine-style ascent took him 16 days and he followed a route first climbed in 1996 by Kyrre Østbø and Halvor Hagen up a large pillar.

Marek Raganowicz said in an interview with PlanetMountain.com, “Troll Wall isn’t the warmest place in Europe!. But to be honest, the real cold I experienced was when it thawed, water dripped down like rain. I was absolutely soaked and frozen.” Read the full interview here.

The Troll Wall. Photo Wikicommons
The Troll Wall. Photo Wikicommons

The Troll Wall is in the Romsdalen Valley on the west coast of Norway and is the tallest steep rock wall in Europe at 1,100 metres. The top overhangs 50 metres out from the base of the gneiss wall. The wall is known for its shattered rock, long cracks and big roofs.

The first ascent was in 1965 by Norwegians Ole Daniel Enersen, Leif Norman Patterson, Odd Eliassen and Jon Teigland after a race with a British team. The Norway team bean them by one day., but the Brits established the now-classic route on the wall called the Rimmon Route. A 2003 rockfall made it nearly impossible to repeat the line.

The first winter ascent was in 1974 by Polish climber Wojciech “Voytek” Kurtyka with three partners after 13 days on the French route. There are a number of routes up the face including hard winter lines and steep A4+ pitches. Watch the first free ascent of the Troll Wall in the 1980 film below.

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