Nico Favresse and Sébastien Berthe climb the most difficult Eiger route in one day

The two Belgians Nico Favresse and Sébastien Berthe conclude their European tour with a one-day ascent of the most difficult route on the Eiger: Odyssey (8a +, 1m).

Nico and Séb cannot be stopped. After the two of them the familiar within a very short time Alpine trilogy scored, by the way, routes like Headless Children chopped off, they caused a sensation on the Eiger again. An ideal weather window and a few days before the end of their planned trip, the two Belgians embarked on the most difficult route on the Eiger: Odyssey.

Three years ago I was on the route with Stephane Hanssens, but had to turn back on the thirteenth pitch because the route turned into a waterfall due to the weather.

Nico Favresse

The two of them started the Odyssey route with headlamps at 33 a.m. and reached the top of the 22rd pitch after around XNUMX hours of intense climbing.

Started the route early: Nico Favresse and Sébastien Berthe. (Photo by Sébastien Berthe)
Started the route early: Nico Favresse and Sébastien Berthe. (Photo by Sébastien Berthe)

We were completely exhausted, had cold but were happy to have made the free ascent of the route. Most of all, I was happy that I was able to climb the route completely without falling. What a brilliant route!

Nico Favresse

Nico as well as most Sébastien could redpunkt climb all pitches of the Odyssey route that day. The story of the one-day ascent by Nico and Sébastien also has its downsides. We will report more on this in the next episode of our Show BETA in cooperation with ActiontalkTV.

The Odyssey route was made by Roger Schäli, Simon Gietl and Robert Jasper Established in the years 2009 to 2013 and free climbed in August 2015 (team red point). A first repetition succeeded Jacopo Larcher and Babsi Zangerl in the year 2018.

Information about the route Odyssee in the Eiger north face

Route: Odyssey
Preparation: 2009 to 2013 Robert Jasper and Roger Schäli
First ascent: Robert Jasper, Roger Schäli and Simon Gietl - August 2015 - Team Rotpunkt Style
Character: Very serious high alpine bigwall route in the Eiger north face
wall height: 1400 meters
Difficulty: 8a +
Itineraries History: Entry from the Eiger Glacier 2320 meters to the Wandfuß and over the classic north face (Heckmair route, 1938) to the Stollenloch. Continue over the overhanging Rote Fluh and the Czar pier until you get to about 3700 meters (see topo!)
Fuse: sporty with stainless M10 drills and partly in the "Trad Style" with hooks. It will be used to further hedge 2 sets Camlots. For emergencies, it is recommended to use a hammer, 2-3 knife hook and 2 Pecker. (Expo to E5!)

The  Topo of the Odyssey route is available here.

Do you like our climbing magazine? When we launched LACRUX, we decided not to introduce a payment barrier. It will stay that way, because we want to provide as many like-minded people with news from the climbing scene.

In order to be more independent of advertising revenue in the future and to provide you with even more and better content, we need your support.

Therefore: Help and support our magazine with a small contribution. Naturally you benefit multiple times. How? You will find out here..

That might interest you

We are giving away 3 x two entries to the book launch!

Video: One of the toughest routes on the Geneva Pillar

+ + +
Credits: Cover picture Nico Favresse

News

Belaying with Grigri and Neox in multi-pitch climbing

The Grigri and Neox belay devices can be used to secure a person in lead and second climbing on multi-pitch routes. We'll show you how and what you need to look out for.
00:05:45

Impressive speed record by Andy Steindl on the Spaghetti Tour | Video

This video shows the record ascent by Andy Steindl on the Spaghetti Tour on July 19, 2024. He beat the previous record by 1,5 hours.

Jungfrau Triathlon: Jil Schmid climbs Bern's four-thousand-meter peaks by fair means

Jil Schmid was a member of the SAC expedition squad from 2020 to 2022....

IFSC Boulder, Lead & Speed ​​World Cup Seoul | Livestream & program

From October 2nd to 6th, 2024, the world's best...

Newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter now and stay up to date.

Belaying with Grigri and Neox in multi-pitch climbing

The Grigri and Neox belay devices can be used to secure a person in lead and second climbing on multi-pitch routes. We'll show you how and what you need to look out for.
00:05:45

Impressive speed record by Andy Steindl on the Spaghetti Tour | Video

This video shows the record ascent by Andy Steindl on the Spaghetti Tour on July 19, 2024. He beat the previous record by 1,5 hours.

Jungfrau Triathlon: Jil Schmid climbs Bern's four-thousand-meter peaks by fair means

Jil Schmid was a member of the SAC expedition squad from 2020 to 2022. After successfully climbing the Matterhorn north face this summer together with Franziska Schönbächler, she was looking for...