“The distance separating the start at Eibsee and the summit is almost exactly 2,000 vertical metres.”
— Fritz Miller | LOWA ACTIVE Team
First ascent of the Zugspitze’s North Wall
Germany Fritz Miller and Michaela Schuster opened a new test route on Germany’s highest mountain: the “Direct North Wall”.
Finally at the top – at 10 p.m.
The “Direct North Wall” is a daring and demanding winter climbing route that combines elements of winter mountaineering, modern mixed climbing and big wall climbing. It was the perfect challenge for both athletes. Even though they had a direttissima in mind, the route was always intuitive and exploited the special weaknesses of the individual wall areas. In the area of the “cable-car traverse” and the rock face above it, the route merges with a line that Jörg Pflugmacher and Peter Anzenberger used in December 2004.
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The view of the direct North Wall of the Zugspitze.
After three days of preparation, the adventure begins …
Fritz and Michaela spent 21, 22 and 25 November finishing their preparations and finally set off on 28 November.
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Precarious snow cover on rock slabs.
The technically climbing-relevant portion of the ascent is 1,150 metres long. The grade is in the area of M6, 5+ and A3. On the first day, the pair climbed four pitches and bivouacked in a small cave 20 meters above and to the left of the starting point. The two climbers really got to work on the second day. And they reached the top.
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Stuck snow repeatedly created some tricky passages.
“We climbed the last five hours in the dark.”
— Fritz Miller | LOWA ACTIVE Team
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Finally at the top – at 10 p.m.
They finally reached the summit, where they bivouacked and enjoyed a breathtaking panorama view the next day.
The shoe
“The distance separating the start at Eibsee and the summit is almost exactly 2,000 vertical metres. The ALPINE ICE GTX is perfect for the job.”
The facts
- Duration:
- 15 hours
- Difficulty:
- 1150 m, M6, 5+, A3
- Altitude:
- 2 km
- Climate:
- Polar