Dani Arnold and Roger Schäli fire Exocet at Lauterbrunnen

After establishing our first route together, Egidius in Brunnital last December, on Tuesday 19 January Dani Arnold and I made the first ascent of Exocet, a 300m mixed climb in the Lauterbrunnen valley.

The line is located at the very end of the valley, on the east face below the Mürren - Gimmelwald Bahn. The first two 60m pitches are relatively straightforward, Wi3 and M3, but they provide the highlight of the route, climbing underneath the characteristic wedged block. Since Dani and I have both already climbed Exocet on Cerro Standhart in Patagonia, where you climb under an almost identical block, we realised right away what name we'd give the route.

The third pitch begins with an overhanging chimney past moderately good rock. After two section of aid, using a pecker and a hook, the pitch changes to three-dimensional climbing up a drip. The belay is located safely in a niche. The next pitch is the most psychologically demanding with WI 6+; Dani took the lead and failed to place a single piece of gear on the entire drip as the ice was never secured adequately to the rock above. From here the route led past vertical ice, a spectacular traverse and a solid pillar to the top.

From the top we made five 60m abseils back to the base. All belays and abseil stations were equipped with one bolt.

by Roger Schäli

Links
Arnold: www.daniarnold.ch, Mammut, Petzl, La Sportiva, Victorinox
Schäli: rogerschaeli.ch, La Sportiva, Petzl