Five Big Alpine and Wall Sends from 2018
While there were many impressive sends of hard sport routes and boulders, there were also a number of memorable big wall/alpine accomplishments in 2018.
The climbers who go after these high consequence grade VI ascents are highly skilled, well-rounded climbers with years of experience.
Big wall and alpine climbers deal with shorter weather windows than crag climbers and have less time to project the route, if any. Here are five memorable climbs from up high this past year.
Pineapple Express
Sonnie Trotter made the first free ascent of Pineapple Express VI, a three pitch 5.13b/c variation to the 30-pitch El Nino 5.13c on El Capitan.
Trotter had worked on the wall with Alex Honnold and eventually made the first ascent, leading every pitch with Tommy Caldwall assisting and belaying. It’s the first free ascent of the wall between Dawn Wall and Zodiac.
Lunag Ri
David Lama made the solo first ascent of Lunag Ri, a 6,907-metre mountain on the border between Nepal and Tibet on his third attempt.
“The three days climbing Lunag Ri have been some of the most intense I’ve ever spent on a mountain,” said Lama. “Being alone certainly added to this experience and so did the journey that had unfolded for me ever since my first encounter with this unclimbed peak back in 2015 together with Conrad Anker.
Lama set off from base camp on Oct. 23 and, after two cold bivouacs, summited at around 10.00 am before quickly descending and waiting for the cold of night to freeze the face and return safely to base camp.
Slovak Direct
Chantel Astorga and Anne Gilbert Chase made the first female ascent of the Slovak Direct, a 3,000-metre grade VI on Denali in June.
It took the strong alpinists four days to climb Slovak Direct 5.9 X M6 WI6+. Chase said of the nearly two-mile-long route, “It’s extremely steep with a lot of mixed climbing and a bit of everything.
“There is also a lot of water ice up to WI6 and difficult rock. Though not extremely hard off on the ground, climbing at 16,000 feet with runouts and with a pack on added to the challenge.”
Babsi and Jacopo on Eiger
Babsi Zangerl and Jacopo Larcer climbed the three hardest routes on the Eiger’s north face this summer.
Climbing ground-up and in a single push, they made the second ascent of Odyssee, a 1,400-metre 5.13 first climbed in 2015 by Roger Schaeli, Robert Jasper and Simon Gietl.
The week before, they climbed Deep Blue Sea 5.13 and Magic Mushroom 5.13 during their first trip up the big north face.
Cassin Ridge
Colin Haley, one of the world’s most accomplished alpinists, made the fastest solo ascent of the Cassin Ridge VI on Denali in a mere eight hours and seven minutes from the Bergschrund to summit. Most climbers take between three and five days.
Haley said after, “The crux was getting off-route near the top of the second rock band and accidentally climbing a more difficult variation.
“I’d say that many solos are very mentally taxing for me, especially things like Torre Egger, but since the technical climbing on the Cassin is pretty easy for me, it was more of an athletic challenge than a mental one. For training, I spent six weeks in Chamonix beforehand, just doing a lot of alpine climbing and ski mountaineering.”
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