Belgian professional climber Siebe Vanhee, supported by big wall legend Tommy Caldwell, managed a one-day ascent of Odyssee (1400m, 8a+). The route by Roger Schäli, Simon Gietl and Robert Jasper from 2015 is one of the most difficult on the Eiger North Face.
Odyssey With its 33 rope lengths and difficulties up to 8a+, it is one of the hardest routes in the Eiger north face. On 30 July it is Siebe Vanhee zusammen mit Tommy Caldwell managed to repeat the 1400m long route within 21,5 hours.
Odyssey in one day: Experience report by Siebe Vanhee
A few months ago, Tommy contacted me about teaming up for some climbing trips in Europe this summer. We would meet for a few days to work on product development for our mutual sponsor Edelrid.
After our meeting, Tommy, Seb Berthe and I joined Dörte Pietron on some amazing routes on the Black Wall in the Höllental valley in Germany. After that we were hungry for more and something bigger.
I had never climbed the Eiger North Face before and neither had Tommy. The weather seemed stable. We had some doubts about the dryness of the face after this particularly wet spring, but to our surprise the face looked as dry as it could be.
Our choice of route was very obvious, Odyssey (8a+, 33 pitches, 1400 m)! This is the biggest and most difficult rock route on the north face of the Eiger. The route had two one-day ascents in 2020: by Nicolas Favresse and Sébastien Berthe and by Jacopo Larcher and Babsi Zangerl.
This was an inspiration for Tommy and me to do the same and complete a free ascent in a single day.
Siebe Vanhee
I was very intimidated though. Both teams told me how difficult the route finding is and that even the "easier" 7 pitches are very demanding and have wide bolt spacing. We knew that Babsi and Jacopo had tried the route before and Seb and Nico had done it at the end of the season when the holds were already marked with chalk. The route finding would be much more difficult now, after the wet spring.
Switch to support mode
On Tuesday, July 30th, we started at the base of the route at 3:30am. Rock, paper, scissors decided that Tommy would go first. The obvious goal was to alternate the lead and for both of us to free climb each pitch.
Tommy had already indicated that he hadn't done much climbing on his European trip and wasn't in the best shape, but he was going to give it his all. From pitch 8, the first pitch at 7c/8a, Tommy decided to switch to support mode and help me complete the route.
We decided that from that point on I would lead the way and try to onsight as many of the difficult pitches as possible to make a proper free ascent. With the exception of the crux, pitch 10 (8a+), we decided it would be wiser for Tommy to lead me through this.
He went up first, marked the holds and gave me a strong flash attempt. Thanks to his help, I climbed the pitch without any problems! From then on, I felt like it was starting to take off. We progressed slowly, often it was difficult to find the right beta, but I made it to pitch 20 (7c) without falling, where I got lost too many times.
It was a 45 minute struggle to climb this pitch without falling. Unfortunately, I fell just below the last bolt and took a solid 15 meter fall.
Siebe Vanhee
At the crux of Odyssey
Dizzy and weak from the effort, I pulled myself up, checked the movements, let myself down and climbed the pitch on the second attempt. We continued our ascent, climbing through the next seemingly endless pitches until we reached the start of the 28th (7c) and 29th (8a) pitches.
Seb had warned us about these, saying they would be the crux of the Odyssey. I had already fallen on the 20th pitch, so the ascent was no longer possible without falling. I checked out the moves on both pitches and managed them both on the second attempt. The last 4 pitches, all grade 6a/b, took another three hours.
The rock was loose and at this point my brain was exhausted from 18,5 hours of concentration and hard climbing.
Siebe Vanhee
It was dark and it was hard to find belays. Lack of sleep set in and simply staying awake at the belays became a challenge. At 1 a.m., after a total of 21,5 hours of climbing, we had completed the odyssey in one day!
Important support
Tommy was such a great partner, positive and optimistic about the possibility of me completing this climb. Rarely have I felt such a good partnership with someone I barely knew.
Not only did he support me the whole time, he just enjoyed and enjoyed the suffering of free climbing as much as possible. I am happy with the achievement, but even more grateful for the experience and the partnership with Tommy.
I would also like to thank Roger Schäli, Simon Wahli and Jonas Schild for all practical information on logistics and route.
That might interest you
- Video: Odyssey on the north face of the Eiger has never been seen like this
- Eiger north face – beyond death | Film tip
- These are the most difficult multi-pitch routes in the world
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Credits: Cover picture Siebe Vanhee and Tommy Caldwell