In Rätikon Fabian Buhl finally frees demanding Déjà multi-pitch

On 27 November 2019 the German climber and mountaineer Fabian Buhl made the first free ascent of Déjà, a 400m alpine multi-pitch on the 7th Kirchlispitze in Switzerland’s Rätikon massif which now checks in at 8c+. Bolted in September 1992 by Michi Wyser and Andres Lietha, Buhl first laid his hands on it 4 years ago thanks to a nudge from Lietha himself and also from man who knows these mountains like the back of his hand, Beat Kammerlander who in 1990 had established his famous Unendliche Geschichte a little to the right.

Buhl attempted the crux line with various partners including Jacopo Larcher and Melissa Le Nevé, and also with Lietha. It was precisely with him that the 29-year-old German completed the first free ascent last November on a day to be remembered: no falls on none of the 12 pitches, in just 5 hours of perfect climbing. The pitches pan out as follows: 6a+, 6c+, 6b+, 7c, 8c+, 7c+, 6b+, 6b+, 7c+, 7a, 8a+, 6b+.

Buhl first name a name for himself for his hard bouldering but it is impossible to label him. In the past he has bouldered up to 8C (read Dreamtime at Cresciano), then after several injuries he concentrated on trad routes (read Prinzip Hoffnung (2014) and Psychogramm (2015) at Bürs) and also multi-pitch outings such as Silbergeier in Rätikon and Sueños de Invierno on Naranjo de Bulnes / Picu Urriellu (2518m) in Spain. Other noteworthy ascents that span the spectrum include his first solo winter ascent of Wetterbock in the Berchtesgaden Alps in Austria, the rope-solo first ascent of Ganesha 8c at Loferer Alm in Austria, the challenging Choktoi Ri ridge (6166m) in Pakistan as well as daring highballs at Bishop.

Fabian Buhl thanks his sponsors La Sportiva, Petzl