Silbergeier send by Siebe Vanhee in Rätikon

Often it’s the face of defeat that provides the inner drive to improve. This certainly holds true for Belgium’s Siebe Vanhee who, after failing to free a pitch on El Regalo de Mwono on the Paine Towers in Patagonia, returned home with the burning desire to improve his multi-pitch ability.

This explains in some part therefore his recent repeat of Yeah Man on Gran Pfad in the Gastlosen mountain range in Switzerland, and also his fast redpoint of one of the reference multi-pitch climbs in the Alps, Silbergeier on the IV Kirchlispitze in Rätikon.

Established ground-up by Beat Kammerlander in 1993 and freed in 1994, despite a quarter of a century having passed by this 240m outing remains a coveted and stern technical and psychological test for world’s best.

Vanhee worked the line for 3 days with Jacopo Larcher, then teamed up with Michi Wohlleben and led all pitches clean first go. It’s worth noting that, after setting off at 9:00am, the duo spent 5 hours waiting for the crux pitch to go into the shade after 17:00.

"I trained really hard this spring to improve my ability on big wall, ino order to climb hard grades quick and save energy for doing lots of pitches in a single day. Patagonia was definitely an experience that contributed to my current motivation." Vanhee told planetmountain.com


TOPO: Silbergeier, Rätikon, Switzerland

Link: FB Siebe Vanhee, www.siebevanhee.be, La Sportiva, Petzl, The North Face

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* Silbergeier - Historical Multipitch Rätikon * It happened again, yesterday I managed to sent Silbergeier, 8b+, 6 pitches in Rätikon. This time I sent every pitch in just one go, only on my fourth day on the route. After ‘Yeah Man’ (8b+ multipitch) on the 8th of August I figured I was in pretty good technical limestone shape, so I came to Rätikon to check out the Beat Kammerlander masterpiece. Without any expectation... that’s the best! I tried the route the last 2 weeks three days with @jacopolarcher . Despite some humid and often warm conditions we managed to figure out the moves and precise footwork. After some restdays and the Global Climbing Day in Milan, I partnered up with @michiwohlleben for a real sent try. He was happy to support me all day and follow every pitch. Thanks to Jacopo and Michi for this great support on the route. Good partners are so important! What a summer, two mega high quality and difficult multipitches in the alps! I’m up for more in september, but first some rest days in little Belgian Land. @thenorthface @thenorthface_climb @thenorthfaceuk @thenorthfacede @thenorthfaceit @petzl_official @lasportivagram @avventuraoutdoor @totemmt @climbskinspain @frigyesvandenauweele @sportpraktijk @klimclubhungariavzw ⁣ #neverstopexploring #lasportiva #foryourmountain #weareclimbers #multipitchclimbing #limestoneclimbing #rockclimbing #switserland #sportclimbing #rätikon #silbergeier #swissclimbing #climbing_picture_of_instagram #outdoorclimbing #climbing #climbing_lovers #climbing_is_my_passion #rockclimbing_pictures_of_instagram #rockclimbingfun #escalade #grimper #kletteren #escalar #climbingtrip #alps #testpiece

A post shared by Siebe Vanhee - El Vikingo (@siebevanhee) on Aug 28, 2019 at 8:56am PDT