North6

The 6 Great North Walls of the Alps. Nonstop. With Simon Gietl. A major film project by Frank Kretschmann with Tom Dauer.

They are considered to be the six Greatest of the Alps: the north faces of Cima Grande, Piz Badile, Matterhorn, Eiger, Petit Dru and Grandes Jorasses. Almost 70 years ago the French mountain guide Gaston Rébuffat already wrote about the shady escapes in his classic "Stars and Storms": "A dream fulfilled gives birth to a new dream, and now I wanted to conquer all the great north faces."Mastering them all is a lifetime goal for many mountaineers. The Grand Slam of alpinism.

The Swiss Roger Schäli and the South Tyrolean Simon Gietl have climbed all six walls several times. But they, too, have a new dream: their goal is to climb the iconic walls nonstop and to cover the distances between the summits with their own power.

When they set out on a cool autumn morning, they had an almost impossible undertaking ahead of them: 1100 kilometers distance, 30770 meters ascent and 29470 meters descent. Their plan is to accomplish this on road bikes, on foot, on ropes and by paraglider. This is also a special mountain trip for the experienced exceptionalists. Because they know that the Great North Walls should only be approached with caution and humility.

The 6 Great North Faces of the Alps

1. Cima Grande
Elevation: 2999m
Route: Comici-Führe (VII, 500 m)
First Ascent: Emilio Comici, Guiseppe, Angelo Dimai, 1933

2. Piz Badile
Elevation: 3308 m
Route: Cassin-Führe (VI, 900 m)
First Ascent: Riccardo Cassin, Vittorio Ratti, Gigi Esposito, Mario Molteni, Giuseppe Valsecchi, 1937

3. Eiger
Elevation: 3967 m
Route: Chant du Cygne (VIII, 900 m)
First Ascent: Daniel H. Anker, Michel Piola, 1992

4. Matterhorn

Elevation: 4478 m
Route: Schmid-Route (WI4+, M4, 1200 m)
First Ascent: Franz and Toni Schmid, 1931

5. Petit Dru

Elevation: 3733 m
Route: North Couloir (80 degrees, VI, M8+, A1, 900 m)
First Ascent: Walter Cecchinel, Claude Jäger, 1973

6. Grandes Jorasses
Elevation: 4208 m
Route: Leichentuch (70-90 degrees, WI6+, 1100 m)
First Ascent: René Desmaison, 1968

Crew

Production by: Frank Kretschmann, Kaletsch Medien

Directed by: Frank Kretschmann, Tom Dauer

Edited by: Christoph Olschewski, Andreas Röder

Sound design by: Christoph Olschewski

Mastering by: Sebastian Preisendörfer

Animation, art work by: jojacoma.com

Photo, video by: Frank Kretschmann, Christoph Muster, Nicolas Altmaier, John Thornton, Severin Karrer, Roman Salis

Support Crew: Lucien Caviezel (paragliding), Sigi Pircher (support, logistics), René Maurer (massage, cooking, support), Adrian Büttner (support car, cooking), Hartmann Gietl (support, cooking), Yannick Glatthard (mountainguide), Karl Gabl (meteorologist)

Bike Team: Alexander Pircher, Martina Kirchler, Kari Landoldt, Alex Gröhl, Reinhold Maurer

Sponsors: La Sportiva, Salewa, Grande Pardano, Bergpunkt, Lowa, South Tyrol, Bächli, Petzl, Evil Eye, Grivel, Ogso, Migro