2002
Mountaineering, as it was in 1938
Climbing the Eiger North Face
using historic equipment
Old equipment, new experience. In the summer of 2002, the Eiger North Face was climbed in an exceptional manner: following the same route first ascended in 1938 by Anderl Heckmair and Heinrich Harrer. A film documentary of the climb was made on behalf of Swiss Television SRF and the French/German channel arte.tv. Our team consisted of two professional climbers, Stephan Siegrist and Michal Pitelka, and myself, along with two additional mountaineering friends who belayed me while I was filming and taking photos. Simply acquiring, fitting, and testing the equipment from the 1930s – hobnailed shoes, special crampons, linen clothing, hemp ropes, rock and ice pitons, woollen hats, and much more – required a significant amount of time and preparation. The goal of our project was to honour Heckmair and his companions’ tremendous effort through film and by capturing black-and-white images of our endeavour.
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_17 - 18 August 2002
_Eiger: 3970m
_"You had to have a lot of self-confidence to climb the North Face of the Eiger. I had it in large quantities." Anderl Heckmair
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_Acquiring historic equipment
_Favorable weather conditions
_Rockfall (no helmets were worn in 1938!). We chose autumn due to rockfall being at its lowest.
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AS Buchverlag, Mammut, Grivel, Bohren Schuhe Grindelwald
2003
Southern Patagonian Icecap
First crossing together with Børge Ousland
Unsupported. 54 days. 526 km
This was one of my most challenging trips. Mountains, glaciers, rivers, and plenty of storms, all alongside my good friend Børge Ousland. Børge and I complemented each other perfectly with our unique knowledge and experience; Børge, at this time, had already completed solo expeditions across the Arctic and Antarctica and was quite the ice-specialist and I knew the ropes in alpinism. Amongst other endeavors, we had to rappel ourselves and our equipment – more than 90 kilos per person – down a 600-meter face on Fella Reichert, this being the crux of our traverse. It took us 15 days to cover only 16 kilometers.
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_August - September 2003. 526 kilometers. 54 days.
_Start: 24 August in Tortel. Arrival 16 October in Puerto Natales.
_First unsupported crossing. Fusion of mountaineering and moving in the Arctic. Great teamwork.
_ We had food for 67 days.
_Access to the Montt Glacier by kayak.
_First expedition with Børge Ousland
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_Humidity
_Wind and storms up to 200km
_Crevasses
_Rescue or evacuation almost impossible.
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Council, Patagonia, Prijon Kajaks, Helsport, Fischer Skis
2006
Arctic Solo
Crossing the Arctic Ocean
Attempting the impossible
2 years of preparation: My plan was to cross the Arctic Ocean from Siberia to Canada. This had never been accomplished before. Solo and without support. 2000 kilometers in 100 days. Along the coast of Siberia, my dreams shattered to pieces like ice floe breaking apart under my feet. On the second day of the expedition, I found myself on fragile, cracked ice. An oncoming storm was slowly eating the ice away. I was in mortal danger. I had no choice but to make an emergency call. It took another four long days until the Russian helicopter team was able to rescue me. This was the end of my dream. And I hadn’t even started.
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_2000 km, solo and unsupported
_180 kg of equipment and food (for 90 days)
_Start March 2006
_ Aborted the expedition after 2 days due to very poor conditions
_Last-minute evacuation after 4 days of waiting
_Surrounded by polar bears
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_The aborted expedition changed my life
_I fell into a dark hole
_Doubts about my expedition endeavors
_I regained my composure and embarked on another major expedition in the Arctic a year later.
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Walter Meier, Globetrotter, Globotrek, Ajungilak, Mammut, MLG Holding AG, Patagonia, Advance
2007
Franz Josef Land
Following in Fridtjof Nansen’s footsteps
From the North Pole to Kap Flora in 85 days
A dream come true. Norwegian polar explorer Børge Ousland and I travelled to Franz Joseph Land on foot, by windsail, kayak and occasional swimming, following in Nansen’s footsteps. Our first goal was to reach the northernmost point, where Nansen and his partner Johansen arrived in 1895 – 86,4° North latitude. From there, as the others had done in the past, we fought our way towards Franz Joseph Land. We arrived in Cape Flora after 85 days, the same place where Nansen and Johansen were rescued. We waited here for 26 days for our sailboat to pick us up and take us back to Norway. To this very day, the crossing over the remote ice remains in my mind as an unforgettable, magical experience.
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_1500 kilometers
_113 days
_180 kg luggage and food
_40 polar bears
_National Geographic Magazine sponsored this expedition.
_Børge and I received the “Adventurer´s of the Year” award in 2008.
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When the ice conditions grew increasingly harsh, we truly understood Nansen’s relief when we finally sighted land on the horizon.
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Council, Emch+Berger, Walter Meier, Gaz de France, Globetrotter, Globotrek, Ajungilak, Patagonia, Syberg & Syberg AS, Garmin, Advance
2010
East Greenland
First Ascent of Grundtvigskirken East Face
1300 vertical meters. Route grading up to 7a+
First a crazy idea, then an extraordinary climb. Together with my partners Roger Schäli, Simon Gietl, and Daniel Kopp, we achieved the first ascent of the 1300-meter East Face of Grundtvigskirken. The new route, named «Eventyr», meaning both fairy-tale and adventure in Danish, is a 40-pitch big wall route graded up to 7a+. We reached our starting point, Ofjord, at the head of Scoresby Sund in East Greenland by way of a zodiac boat. The climbing expedition was accompanied by Jost von Allmen. I first spotted the 1977 m high Grundtvigskirken when I was in Greenland on behalf of Norwegian television in 2008.
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_Awesome big wall climbing
_Extremely aesthetic mountain in Scoresby Sund on the east coast of Greenland
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_Climbing in the Arctic surrounded by fjords and icebergs
_Only accessible by zodiac boat
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Upon assignment for Salewa
2017
Direttissima Switzerland
Across Switzerland on a linear course
350 km and 45 000 m elevation gain
Exploring Switzerland. After numerous adventures across the globe, I felt the urge to explore my own home country. In the summer of 2017, I crossed Switzerland on a linear course - from border stone no. 183 at the French border to the Stelvio Pass in the east. No matter how - I never strayed more than a few hundred meters from kilometer 1160. “Direttissima Switzerland" was tackled for the first time in 1983. The alpinists Toni Steiner, Daniel Bähler, Kurt Saurer and Markus Liechti crossed Switzerland in 23 days. This was part of a summer project by Radio SRF.
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_350 km on a linear course through Switzerland
_The course was identical to kilometer 1160 of the Swiss coordinate network
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_Many difficult passages in alpine terrain
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Leki, Norrøna, Gloryfy, Swisstopo, Swarovski Optik, Garmin, Advance, Real Turmat, Exped, Malbuner, S4 Fitness
2018
Greenland Coast to Coast
1000 km across the polar wasteland
Ice, snow and nothing more
Moving slow, flying fast. Coast to Coast was a combination: first by boat from Scotland via Iceland to Greenland. Then 1000 km from the east coast to the west coast of Greenland on foot and by snowkite. And then back to Scotland by boat. The expedition through Greenland was like in the old days; without external support. The weather played a key role once we were out on the ice. We seemed to be in the middle of one of the coldest summers ever, even for Greenland’s standards. For the first two weeks, we hardly had any wind. We crept across the ice at a snail's pace on our skis, dragging our sledges behind us. It was hard not to lose our motivation. But then came the day when we were able to kite a full 125 km across the ice. Nothing but ice and snow while we flew by at high speed – what an amazing feeling. We arrived on the west coast just in time, as our food supplies had run out.
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_4000 km by electric car from Germany to Scotland and back
_2900 nautical miles by sailboat with skipper Wolf Kloss to the west coast of Greenland
_1000 km across the Greenland Ice Sheet, from west to east
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_Stormy weather on the Atlantic voyage
_Severe cold during the crossing of the Greenland Ice Sheet
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Red Bull, BMW, Lowa, Leki, Deutsche Bank, Real Turmat, Fischer Ski, Marinepool, Edelrid