Babsi Zangerl and Jacopo Larcher secured the second and third repeats of the 8c multi-pitch route Seventh Direction on the Drusenfluh East Face in the Rätikon. Babsi's redpoint ascent - also the first female ascent of the route - ended in an epic race against a huge storm front.
Not long ago, the young Vorarlberg native Nemuel Feurle secured the first repetition of the difficult multi-pitch route Seventh Direction (8c, 220m) on the Drusenfluh. At the beginning of September Babsi Zangerl and Jacopo Larcher doubled and free climbed Alex Luger's new Rätikon test piece in one day each.
Experience report by Babsi Zangerl
On August 15, after we had our Project The Gift had been completed, we learned that Nemo had successfully climbed Seventh Direction, a route located about 50 meters to the left of The Gift on the same rock face.
In contrast to The Gift, which has one very hard pitch (8c) and another at 8a+, Seventh Direction is difficult throughout and leads through the steepest part of the massif.
Babsi Zangerl
Nemo's Fight arouses interest
While working on The Gift, we often saw Nemo making big falls on this exposed route. He worked on the steep line for about ten days over two summers, finally completing it in late August. the first repetition of Seventh Direction.
After Jacopo's ascent of The Gift, he decided to accompany Nemo for a day on Seventh Direction to get a feel for the route. They climbed the first difficult pitch together before a violent thunderstorm forced them to retreat. I was also there for the next attempt.
The goal: redpoint ascent in one day
Jacopo and I spent three days together on Seventh Direction. We tried all the pitches and found solutions for the difficult sections, benefiting greatly from Nemo's preparatory work. He had left his fixed ropes and the route was already cleaned, with visible traces of chalk, which made our task a little easier.
After three days of working on the different pitches, we decided to make a redpoint attempt. Since five of the eight pitches were graded from 8a to 8b+, we decided to approach the route like we did on The Gift: one of us would lead all the pitches one day and the other the next. To decide who would go first, we played rock-paper-scissors. Luck was on my side, and it was my turn the next day.
A start as uncertain as the weather
On September 1st we started early as the chance of thunderstorms was high that day. The first three pitches were easy, but the first difficult pitch in the steep part of the wall cost me a lot of energy; I was not fully warmed up yet and barely managed to climb the pitch.
My arms were pumped and I felt exhausted after the first difficult section of the overhang.
Babsi Zangerl
After a short break I continued, feeling more confident but still nervous. I struggled through a difficult boulder problem, only to fall just before the belay of the second hardest pitch. I was frustrated when Jacopo lowered me back to the belay. 45 minutes later I tried again and made it to the belay. I was back in the game.
Race against the storm and a small miracle
Then came the crux pitch. It was a huge struggle, but somehow I managed to do it and clipped the anchor, realizing that I still had a small chance of climbing the entire route that day.
Without much rest, as the dark clouds in the sky scared us, I fought my way through the next 8a pitch and reached the last pitch. The sky was getting darker and darker. I asked Jacopo to follow up with the Jumar to save time, as we could already hear thunder.
Without time for a proper rest, I started the last pitch, which I had been planning the most. I was confident on this pitch, but also really exhausted. Maybe it was too much rush and pressure to continue. Again, I fell on the very last move. I thought it was over.
But then a miracle happened - a small blue window opened in the clouds directly above our route while it was raining all around. After a one hour break, the sky cleared and gave me another chance. More relaxed and after a decent rest, I climbed through the crux and reached the summit.
It was one of my most intense and motivating days in the Rätikon – an incredible, steep climb through the wildest part of this wall on the Gelbegg.
Babsi Zangerl
Jacopo with redpoint ascent in the first attempt
Jacopo climbed the route two days later on September 3rd. He didn't have a single fall and climbed everything on the first attempt on lead! It was a perfect day, we were super fast, neither of us fell, and we were already on the summit at 14:30 p.m.
It was a perfect end to a great summer in which we spent a lot of time in the beautiful Austrian part of the Rätikon.
That might interest you
- Film tip: Alex Luger in Seventh Direction
- Alex Luger manages the red point ascent of Seventh Direction (8c, 220m) | interview
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Credits: Cover picture Jacopo Larcher