Roger Schaeli repeats Eiger North Face La vida es silbar

This summer Switzerland’s Roger Schaeli has made what is likely to be only the second redpoint ascent of the 900m La vida es silbar (7c) on the North Face of the Eiger. Beginning at the famous Stollenloch and then taking a direct line through the middle of the Rote Fluh, the route was established in 1998-1999 by Stephan Siegrist and Daniel Anker. Siegrist returned in 2003 with Ueli Steck to claim the first free ascent, estimating difficulties in the region of 7c.

That same year Schaeli attempted the route together Simon Anthamatten, but they were overtaken by a thunderstorm four pitches below the summit. They opted for an emergency bivouac and retreated the next day due to impossible conditions.

This summer Schaeli teamed up with New Zealand’s Mayan Smith-Gobat, considered one of the strongest big wall climbers in the world. After having worked the moves they repeated the route over three days, with two bivouacs on the face. Although Smith-Gobat is currently recovering from a shoulder operation she managed to free climb everything apart from a few sections.

La vida es silbar was considered the hardest route on the Eiger, the first modern alpine outing until Paciencia (8a) was established by Ueli Steck and Stephan Siegrist between 2001 and 2003. In August 2015 the bar was raised further with the first free ascent of Odyssee, redpointed last summer by Roger Schaeli, Robert Jasper and Simon Gietl.


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25/09/2015 - Odyssee, the hardest route on the Eiger North Face by Roger Schaeli, Robert Jasper and Simon Gietl
An international trio comprised of Roger Schäli (Switzerland), Robert Jasper (Germany) and Simon Gietl (Italy) have established Odyssee (8a+, 1400m), a difficult and serious new rock climb up the North Face of the Eiger in Switzerland.