Skiing the Eiger- Last line of the season.

 

The Eiger presents me with challenges at my limit. It’s a mountain which hosts multiple demanding routes in all of the mountain disciplines: alpine and rock climbing, skiing, and alpine wingsuiting. A mountain everyone has heard of. The playful alpine meadows below completely contrasting the steep ice shadowed on the North face. Three years ago I woke up on the summit of the Eiger. I shuffled around in my sleeping bag to feel the fresh air on my face while I looking down the West flank. My eyes focused on 2 figures. I watched them swap their crampons for skis and ice axes for poles. My new Eiger challenge would be a ski descent.
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The North face of Piz Badile.

You don’t know until you know. I recited this in my head as we walked in the rain and then later as we bivvy’d in the howling wind. At 7am Nick lead the first pitch and the conditions were the best we could have hoped for. The rock quality was superior. The conditions were not going to be an excuse to bail. I knew we were going to complete the route.

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Comfort in light

Light in the mountains provokes various thoughts and considerations. Natural lights, stars and the moon promise a settled night, ideal for an unplanned bivi halfway up a route, while the lights of a mountain refuge can give you assurance after several long days on a route. Sometimes the lights from bedrooms, street lamps and porches give me entirely different thoughts:

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Chasing conditions and my Solo BASE jump off the Eiger

The Eiger is an extreme playground that I’ll keep on returning to. From the history of the North face, hard rock climbs, steep skiing and BASE jumping, it has it all. Over time people have pushed the boundaries of these sports on the Eiger, and throughout their history the mountain has also changed. The original ascent was done at the height of summer, while now spring is your best chance to climb the north face. Even now prime conditions can be hard to find. When we reached the summit from the 1938 route we had been on the face with 7 other teams all making the most of the rare, opportune conditions.

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