New Route on the Eiger: Paciencia (Hardwear Sessions)

By Ueli Steck

New route in the Eiger Northface: "Paciencia"
Length 27 pitches / 900m, difficulty 8a
First ascent: Stephan Siegrist and Ueli Steck summer 2003
First freeclimb: Ueli Steck August 30, 2008

Paciencia -- on the Eiger's North Face

View More Photographs from Ueli and Stephan's climb.

Finally we made it! Five years have passed since Stephan Siegrist and I first ascended the route on the North Face of the Eiger during the hottest summer ever in 2003. Now, I was able to climb every of the 27 pitches redpoint.

Stephan belayed and supported me. Together we climbed this very difficult and demanding rock climb on the Eiger Northface. Two pitches have the difficulty of 7c+, one pitch 8a and the rest of the pitches vary mostly between 7a and 7b+.

Since the summer of 2003, Stephan and I have been trying to free climb the route.

This means that the route has to be climbed without falling and the bolts and the installed belays cannot be used to forward or to rest. The route is climbed only by using the natural structures: the rock. Only when a route is free climbed, is she definitively climbed. And now she also has a name. "Paciencia," which means "patience."

For a long time we thought we were once more not going to get the chance to red point the route. The summer at the Eiger was very bad for climbing. During the past weeks Stephan and I kept going to the wall to check the pitches. We tried to find the ideal route. The unstable weather and an early mid-August snowfall upset our plans. Our patience and our persistence have been rewarded. We found the ideal line, now we just had to put all together and climb all of the 27 pitches in one pull to the summit.

On Friday and Saturday, August 29 and 30, we had the chance. The wall was dry and I was able to climb all of the 27 pitches red point. We climbed the route alternately. In the lead, I climbed all the most difficult pitches.

Now I can leave for my holidays with a good conscience. To sport climb: what else!