Watch Silvan Schüpbach complete his Wenden Climbing Marathon

Wild and beautiful. Dangerously difficult to access and retreat from. Prohibitively hard to climb. Peaks culminating above 3000 meters with ever-changing weather conditions. Switzerland's Wendenstöcke are the epitome of what hard alpine sport climbing is all about. It should be no surprise therefore that repeating any route here represents the dream of a lifetime for many.

What was a surprise though was Silvan Schüpbach's vertical marathon on 31 July 2022: a year ago the 39-year-old climbed not just one, but a staggering 7 routes in 7 different sectors, all in under 24 hours. That equates to 2000m of vertical, often runout climbing condensed into 51 pitches on some of the trickiest terrain the Alps have to offer.

We suspect this groundbreaking link-up achieved with Carlos Molina from Argentina has not received the international recognition it deserves, partly because, for most, it's difficult to relate to or quite simply incomprehensible. This outstanding film by Hugo Beguin sheds some light on this stellar performance.

WENDEN 7x24
Gemini, sector Mähren (200m, 7c, 6 pitches)
Dragon, sector Pfaffenhut (300m, 6c, 7 pitches)
Excalibur, sector Excalibur (350 m, 6b+, 9 pitches)
Legacy, sector Dom (350 m, 7b+, 9 pitches)
Aureus,s ector Aureus (350m, 6b+, 10 pitches)
Las Aguas del Inferno, sector Klein Wendenstock (200m, 7a, 4 pitches)
Imago, sector Reissend Nollen (250m, 7b, 6 pitches).
Total: 2000m climbing, 51 pitches

Silvan Schüpbach is an Ambassador KARPOS

Silvan also thanks his other sponsors Petzl, SCARPA
Links: www.slack-line.ch, IG Silvan Schüpbach,