Matterhorn

When I was 18, I was on the Matterhorn for the first time, climbing up the Hörnligrat. To be honest, it took us quite a long time and I actually had no idea about mountaineering. Of course, you have to gain experience first and do a lot of easier tours.

But yes, the MATTERHORN was my FIRST 4000er! Now to have climbed the fastest time over the Schmid route is a very nice moment.

On Sunday I had started with Echser Martin from home, climbed to the Hörnlihütte and then still further to the entrance to the north face. I wanted to see how the conditions really are. We then climbed a few more pitches, abseiled and drove home in the evening.

The weather looked good for the next few days and so I went back to Zermatt on Tuesday and climbed up to the Hörnlihütte. This time Fetscher Walter was with me. On Wednesday we both went back to the Einstig and I climbed in. Walter waited at the bottom, timed and made videos. I didn't feel good at all in the beginning, the efforts from Sunday were more noticeable than expected! I was getting slower and slower, my heart was racing. When it became harder, it went better and better and I took courage again. The rest is quickly told. I found my security and the right rhythm. The conditions were ok, but very dry. 1 hour and 46 minutes later I was standing on the Italian summit on the Matterhorn.

After another 2h 30min I was back with Walter at the hut.

For me, this climb was something very special. It was very exhausting :-) To have climbed such a fast time after such a bad start also makes me a bit proud.

I would like to thank everyone who made this possible. It is very nice and helpful to have such friends! I appreciate that.

I wish everyone a good season and THANK YOU again to all my environment.

Dear greetings from Uri
Dani

Best time on the Matterhorn cracked Top climber Dani Arnold breaks record on the North Face

At the start of the season on the Matterhorn, top mountaineer Dani Arnold from Uri sets a new milestone: he climbs the north face in 1 hour and 46 minutes. He thus undercuts Ueli Steck's previous record by 10 minutes.

It will be the summer of the Matterhorn. Zermatt celebrates its world-famous local mountain. 150 years ago, on July 14, 1865, Edward Whymper and his rope team reached the summit, which was long considered impossible to climb. What seemed impossible at the time is now commonplace. The perception of what is and what is not alpinistically possible has shifted and continues to change. Dani Arnold, a top alpinist from Uri, has already pushed the limits of what is possible several times with various speed ascents on difficult routes. And now he has set a new record: he needed just 1 hour and 46 minutes to climb the Matterhorn North Face. He climbed alone and without a belay on the classic route of the first ascenders of the North Face (Schmid Route). Arnold thus undercuts Ueli Steck's previous record from 2009 by ten minutes.

Arnold climbed the 1100-meter-high wall at Bergschrund at 8:34 a.m. on Wednesday, April 22. 1 hour and 46 minutes later, he pressed the stopwatch at the summit. "At the beginning I didn't feel good at all," Arnold commented on his day's form in the evening. "I almost felt sick and considered giving up." But he persevered and eventually found a good rhythm. "I wasn't mega fast, the only thing that matters is the rhythm," he said. Given the time, probably a slight understatement - "normal" climbers need eight to ten hours for the route through the North Face. Understatement suits Arnold; he tackles even difficult projects with an amazing lightness of touch. When he broke Ueli Steck's record on the Eiger North Face in 2011 - he was 20 minutes faster than Steck - hardly anyone outside the scene knew him. The fact that he also managed to beat the best time on the Matterhorn North Face almost exactly four years later is a special confirmation for Arnold. "It shows me that I've done a lot of things right in recent years. That's the most important thing about this event for me."

Speed and solo ascents are a type of alpinism that particularly suit the mountain guide from Uri. He is known to have a lot of "steam" and to be on his way with somnambulistic security even in difficult terrain. But speed is by no means the only thing Arnold is looking for. He sees himself as an all-rounder and is always setting himself new goals in various alpine areas. This spring, for example, he was busy with various other projects and was not specifically working toward a new record on the "Horu." "I thought I wasn't that fit after all the lectures in the winter," he says. "But on the last tours it went super well." So suddenly the north face came back into focus. The conditions Arnold found on the wall were good, but not perfect. Especially in the upper part, there was little snow, and climbing on bare ice or on the rocks turned out to be correspondingly challenging. This leads Arnold to conclude, "It would probably go even faster."

Facts

Location: Matterhorn, Zermatt.

Route:

Matterhorn North Face - Schmid Route (TD/+, WI4+, M5) - 1100m, V - First ascent: Franz and Toni Schmid between July 31 and August 1, 1931. The Schmid brothers were awarded the Olympic gold medal, the Prix olympique d'alpinisme, for this achievement in 1932.

Companion to the entry and witness:

Walter Fetscher, mountain guide

Text: Annette Marti

Photos and film: visualimpact.ch | Christian Gisi

More information: 

Hans Ambühl or Rahel Schelb

rahel.schelb@visualimpact.ch | www.visualimpact.ch