Top Female Alpinist Dies in Switzerland
Line van den Berg was with two other climbers when they were reportedly killed in an avalanche in the Swiss Alps
Three Dutch alpinists who went missing in the Swiss Alps last week have been found. The three climbers included two men aged 32 and 40 and a 30-year-old woman. While the identity of the two men hasn’t been released, the woman who died was Line van den Berg, a highly accomplished alpine climber.
Van den Berg and her partners hadn’t been heard from since Thursday after departing for the Schmadri mountain lodge in Stechelberg en route to climb Grosshorn mountain. After police were informed they went missing, a search and rescue mission was launched. The three climbers were found on Sunday morning at the foot of the Jegi Glacier. “According to the initial findings, we cannot rule out that the three people died in an avalanche,” the police statement said.
Van den Berg had accomplished several difficult ascents over the years, including one in January 2022 with Fay Manners up Phantom Direct on the north side of Grandes Jorasses. The 1,600-metre route is graded ED VI/5/6 and they climbed it in a 31-hour push, read more about their climb here and watch van den Berg’s film about it below. van den Berg also made the first ascents of Dutch Direct TD+ on the north face Pik Alexandra (5,290 m) in Kyrgyzstan, which was long-listed for a Piolet’s d’Or; and Line of Decline TD- on the north face of Pik Currahee (5,025 m) in Kyrgyzstan.
This week, Iker Pou, Eneko Pou, Fay Manners and Andres Marin established a new route in the Trango Towers, and after learning of van den Berg’s death named it in her honour. Our condolences to the family and friends of van den Berg and her climbing partners.
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