Michael Wohlleben adds Bodhichitta to Westliche Dreifaltigkeit in Switzerland

Belayed by Nemuel Feurle and filmed by Roman Berner, on 19 September 2022 Germany’s Michael Wohlleben successfully made the first free ascent of a project he bolted two years ago on the smooth Westliche Dreifaltigkeit slab in Switzerland.

Wohlleben had noticed the line in the run-up to his 2017 first free ascent of Parzival (8b, 180m), and with the help of Roman Berner, Remo Schläpfer, Markus Hutter and Roland Gmür he bolted the line ground-up in 2020. The route boasts 5 pitches and after the 7a warm-up it kicks in with a 25m 7c+/8a. From here two hyper technical +40m crux pitches lead to a final, easier finish.

The route has been called Bodhichitta and although Wohlleben has not proffered a grade, he feels the 4th, crux pitch to be significantly harder that other similar reference climbs, such as Silbergeier and the single pitches Prinzip Hoffnung and Psychogram.

The style of the first ascent bears Silbergeier and these routes in mind, as the 32-year-old mountain guide told planetmountain "After my repeat of Silbergeier and various other routes it became quite important to me, if I wanted to make a first ascent, to do so as fairly as I could. And not, as is still often the case, to drill my way up from one bolt to the next… or use various other forms of trickery…"

As to the name, Wohlleben explained "Bodhichitta is a term from yoga and meditation, that I first got to know about 2-3 years ago. It means something along the lines of "enlightenment of the mind". I wanted to use a spiritual term in order to show my gratitude towards the route, and to the many belay days my friends gave me up there. Plus the Dreifaltigkeit, the trinity, lights up incredibly beautifully at sunrise and resembles a burning torch, so I think the name works really well."

Links: www.michiwohlleben.de, Petzl, SCARPA