Airplane Mode

The idea of a route to the far right of the beautiful edge of the Geneva Pillar has been with me for a long time.

Roger is preoccupied with a new project right now. He’s establishing a new attractive line in the Geneva Pillar. It’s shorter than the well-known routes in the north face of the Eiger, but with probably the most difficult crux pitch. You need to fully concentrate to climb it, you need to switch into “Airplane Mode.”

The slightly protruding Geneva Pillar is well-known in climbing circles worldwide. The beautiful play of sun and shade to the right of the edge makes it a proper eyecatcher. It’s always fascinated me. The Geneva Pillar is probably the part of the Eiger’s north face that is climbed the most. It even boasts some modern sport climbing routes. The pillar is popular among sport climbers since the routes are hard but never longer than nine pitches. In addition, the rock is good and the approach short. Climbing in the Geneva Pillar gives you that Eiger feeling but it’s not the typical climbing that you find in the north face of the Eiger. Still the routes are considered to be Eiger routes.

I‘ve had the idea of a route to the far right of the beautiful edge of the Geneva Pillar for a long time. I had the opportunity to open the new line right next to the well-known route “Deep Blue Sea” in the summer of 2016. After I climbed the line „Le Chant du Cygne“ with Mayan Smith-Gobat we set up a bivvy on the Eiger Glacier. It’s where I set up my base camp if I’m busy for a longer period of time in the Eiger. You could call it my second home.

We returned to the edge of the Geneva Pillar the next morning. Mayan patiently belayed me and so I was able to score the first pitch. Getting over the crux was very challenging and cost me some quite spectacular falls until I was finally able to get to the long-awaited stand by free climbing from the last bolt. We ended the first day pleased with the progress and I noticed it would be hard, it would be good, I like it!

"This pitch will probably be the most difficult pitch I have ever climbed on the Eiger."

Despite the good start I wanted to take my time and didn’t return until a summer later with Rannveig Aamodt. We had climbed all over the world together and said edge on the Eiger was often a topic of conversation. Rannveig wanted to support me with this first ascent. Despite snow, sleet, and the cold she belayed me another pitch. We had a great time and enjoyed the adventure. It’s also where the name of the route had its origin. Rannveig and I often put our phones in airplane mode to be able to spend days climbing without interruption.

Later that summer I had another chance to work on the route. Another attempt at a one-day ascent of “La Vida es Silbar” didn’t come to fruition so I had some time on my hands to spend in my new line. Dimitri Vogt, a very strong young climber from Biel accompanied me two days and we were able to score a first ascent of the second pitch.

The crux pitch is versatile, very challenging and protection is bold. There are only two bolts in the entire 40 meters. You climb over a very steep bulge up to a ledge. Your feet are in the air since it’s almost a roof that you have to climb over. The purple Cam fits perfectly as an intermediate piece of pro. Once you’ve placed it you have to definitely climb the crux. After uncountable falls into the rope all I could find in regard to holds is a crimp on the left, a small crack for two fingers on the right and a subtle structure on which I propped up so I could stretch up as far as my willpower and ability let me. Bäm! I finally stuck the move and held on to the long-awaited hold.

This is where you find the second and last fixed belay point in the form of a bolt. Reaching this hold cost me an entire day, all of my power, the skin of my fingers, and a rope. My brand new rope suffered so badly during the many falls over the grey rock of the Eiger that you could see the core of the rope through the sheath. I had to cut the first ten meters of the rope after climbing the crux and tie in again. An incredibly nice and tricky limestone double crack leads to the belay after the crux. This pitch is really unique and probably the hardest pitch I have ever climbed in the Eiger. I estimate it to be around 8a+, maybe 8a+/b.

Outlook

I can imagine that this route will be very popular one day. The ascent is easy and the climb hard but not as long, tedious, and alpine like “Odyssee” for example. “Airplane Mode” will only be nine pitches long. An ideal destination for strong climbers looking for a smaller, juicy Eiger adventure.

I haven’t redpointed the new route. It will be a nice, new challenge to score the first redpoint of “Airplane Mode” precisely because it’s difficult and spectacular. It’s a goal that motivates me a lot and a nice outlook into the future.