Manfred Stuffer solo climbing on the Sella, Dolomites

News has slowly trickled in of Manfred Stuffer's daring ascents on 14 July 2009, when he soloed vie routes on the north face of the Meisules tower on the Sella, Dolomites in an impressive 3.5 hours. The extremely strong climber from Val Gardena stated that his solo enchainment of Geo, Regenbogen, Quo Vadis, Brusin and Brugger Walde came about by chance. Sensations on the first route were just right and that Tuesday in mid-July was obviously one of those rare days in which everything turned out perfectly.

In truth it's hard to believe that almost 1000m of VII grade solo climbing come about by chance. On the contrary, to climb in this style and this quickly one needs years of preparation, both physical and mental, and more often than not this doesn't suffice. To prove the point, the exceptional Manfred Stuffer had to wait for just the right moment to carry out this impressive feat. It is worth remembering that in the past Stuffer had already carried out numerous solo ascents in the Dolomites (check out his great 2005 summer) and in 1998 he carried out the first ascent of Underground at Massone - initially graded 8c+, Arco testpiece was subsequently upgraded to 9a.


1000 meters of VII grade climbing by Reinhard Mair

On 14 July 2009 Manfred Stuffer, mountain guide and famous mountaineer belonging to the CATORES group in VAl Gardena's Ortisei, climbed five difficult routes and almost 1000m on the north face of the Western Tower of the Meisules in the Sella Group, Dolomites. He needed 3.5 hours to carry out these solo climbs.

This is an important alpine achievement, an expression of top end Dolomite climbing. At 16.00 on 14 July 2009 Manfred set off from the car park beneath the Meisules, located on the road which leads from Selva to Passo Gardena. He was highly motivated and determined to climb his favourite route, "Geo" on the north face. After the first few meters, climbing with just rock shoes and chalk, Stuffer found the right rhythm and realised that the time had come to try something "special". He cruised up the first pitches and past the impressive roof which, graded VII, is also the crux of the route. He reached the top fast and light and in record time: 19 minutes for 230m of VI and VII grade climbing. This is a record in its own right!

"When I set off all I wanted to do was to have fun and climb, just as I always do when I climb on this face. But while I was climbing I realised that I had found the right rhythm, the moves followed each other harmoniously and quickly, like a flow that cannot be stopped. So when I reached the top I decided to continue..." is how Stuffer describes the inspiration which led to the 5 climbs.

After having returned to the base via the path, Stuffer set off up "Regenbogen-Arcobaleno", another VII grade route. After which he climbed "Quo Vadis", another VII grade climb. These two routes are both circa 190m long and both present precarious slab moves and both had only ever been soloed by Stuffer himself. "I consider these two routes harder than the more famous Geo, because the crux is on small holds and tiny footholds. You need total mental control and the moves have to be perfect. These are the two most satisfying climbs."

To "shake his legs" Manfred walked back to the base and climbed "Brunsin" and "Brugger Walde", respectively a "mere" VI and VI+. At 19.30 Stuffer returned to the car park. In total he had climbed more than 1000m in 2:18 hours climbing time. To climb just one of the 5 routes, most parties normally require between 3 - 5 hours.

Stuffer is by no means new to these types of climbs: in 1999 he enchained the South Face of the Marmolada wand the North Face of Cima Grande di Lavardeo in a day, moving from one objective to the other by mountain bike. Every now and then he can be seen soloing on the Sella, but usually he doesn't talk to anyone about this. His is a very personal experience. "This time though I decided to let people know about my vertical experience. With my 5 solo climbs I want to show that it's possible to carry out interesting alpine achievements here too, in the Dolomites, on our home mountains. That it's possible to have highly rewarding adventures without having to travel to the other side of the world. We've got beautiful and difficult in our backyard, let's climb them!" is the invitation sent out by Stuffer, who usually shows "his" Dolomites to his clients when working as a mountain guide.