Hard David Lama Alpine Route Sees First Repeat
Sagzagn Verschneidung climbs Sagwand in Austria's remote Valsertal valley
Martin Feistl and David Bruder have repeated and freed Sagzahn Verschneidung V M6 WI4, a hard alpine mixed route up the Sagwand in Valsertal valley, Austria, first climbed in 2018 by David Lama and Peter Mühlberger.
Over the years, Lama had visited the Valsertal valley many times to establish difficult alpine lines, often solo. He first visited in the summer of 2008 when he teamed up with Jorg Verhoeven to climb Desperation of the North Face, an 800-metre rock climb up the north face of Sagwand.
In 2012, he soloed the new 700-metre Badlands 5.10 M5 WI4 A1 on the unnamed face between Sagwand and Hohe Kirche. In 2013, he climbed three new routes, one with Hansjörg Auer and Peter Ortner; then in May he soloed Sagwand via the Mittelpfeiler route; and in December he returned to the Hohe Kirche and soloed the new Nordverschneidung.
Sagzahn Verschneidung splits Mount Schrammacher from Sagwand. Lama first attempted it in 2014 with Clemens Holzleitner, and again in 2015 with Uli Czopak but bailed due to conditions.
Lama said it was among the hardest lines that he’d climbed on the Sagwand.
Lama died on Howse Peak in spring 2019 on Howse Peak in Canada, along with partners Auer and Jess Roskelley.
Sagzagn Verschneidung FA
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