Dani Arnold receives Paul Preuss Award 2024

Swiss mountaineer Dani Arnold is the twelfth recipient of the Paul Preuss Prize, awarded each year in memory of the bold Austrian alpinist.

The jury of the International Paul Preuss Society (IPPG) chose the 40-year-old Swissman as his climbs fully embody the spirit of Preuss' ethically "pure" alpinism. The great Austrian climber was probably the best-known representative of free climbing at the time, who strictly adhered to the principle that one should only climb walls that one feels capable of tackling without the use of aid.

Dani Arnold, who grew up in the Urner mountain village Biel above Bürglen in the Schächental, started to free solo ice climbs at the age of about 20 and then received international recognition through his speed climbs. He holds the free solo speed records for all six major north faces of the Alps: Eiger, Matterhorn, Grandes Jorasses, Petit Dru, Pizzo Badile and Cima Grande di Lavaredo.

Other mountaineering highlights of Dani Arnold include the first winter ascent of Torre Egger in Patagonia with Thomas Senf and Stephan Siegrist, the first ascent of the central headwall on the east face of Moose's Tooth in Alaska with David Lama, the free solo of Via Carlesso on the south face of Torre Trieste in 68 minutes, the first ascent of Swiss Nose on the north face of the Matterhorn with Alex Huber and Thomas Senf and the first repeat of the Scottish mixed climb Anubis, as well as Broad Peak.

The prize will be awarded to Dani Arnold on Saturday, September 28, 2024 at Helm close to Sexten, South Tyrol, Italy.

2013 - Reinhold Messner
2014 - Hanspeter Eisendle
2015 - Albert Precht
2016 - Hansjörg Auer
2017 - Alexander Huber
2018 - Beat Kammerlander
2019 - Bernd Arnold
2020 - Heinz Mariacher
2021 - Catherine Destivelle
2022 - Thomas Huber
2023 - Marko Prezelj
2024 - Dani Arnold

THE SIX NORTH FACES OF THE ALPS CLIMBED BY DANI ARNOLD
2011 Eiger, Heckmair route 2 hours 28 minutes
2015 Cervino, Schmid route 1 hour 46 minutes
2016 Pizzo Badile Via Cassin, 52 minutes
2018 Grandes Jorasses Via Cassin, 2 hours 4 minutes
2019 Cima Grande di Lavaredo, Via Comici - Dimai, 46 minutes
2021 Petit Dru, Voie Allain-Leininger, 1 hour 43 minutes