Roger Schäli: living his passion as a professional climber

Roger Schäli is one of the lucky people on earth, who live their dream every day. He is a professional extreme climber, specializing in first free ascents and loves the mountains more than anything else.

“The best alpinist is not the one who climbs the most difficult route but rather the one who has the most fun doing it”, he wrote in his magazine “Live your climbing dream”.

With a smile, this friendly man of 34 arrived sharply on time at our meeting before his live show in Zurich. From the start I was captivated about what he had to say and could have listened to him explaining about his life as a climber for hours.

Calmly and always with no pretension, he answered my questions. Quickly I realized I had someone in front of me really enjoying his profession despite all the risks that goes with it.

“Yes it is dangerous,” he explains “but it was more dangerous at the beginning when I was climbing in the worse seasons and in bad weather”.

Roger Schäli has only been working as a professional since 2010. He has worked for a decade as a mountain guide after doing a three year intensive training. His passion for the mountains started at an early age and he spent every minute he had climbing the classic routes of Switzerland as safely as possible with his father Edi Schäli. One of the places was the Matterhorn in Zermatt. At the age of 13 he received his first climbing belt. The passion grew bigger and bigger and did not stop with the years even after a bad climbing accident when he was 16.

There was no other extreme climber in the family he said, just a sister who used to be a professional cross country skier.

At a young age the man of Sörenberg became fascinated by the Eiger North Face and by the age of twenty started climbing it. He remembers and explains in his new magazine how unhappy his mother was the first time he did it, leaving without telling her. He was so proud of course of his accomplishment. Today he is already at his 35th time! Most of his climbs on the Eiger were via the Heckmair route, but he also did the Japanese route 7 times.

In August 2010 he received the Karl Unterkirchner Award for his first free ascent of the Japanese Direttissima on August 2009 with climbing partner Robert Jasper. He also did the John-Harlin Direttissima with Heckmair Exit over a three day period. It was a difficult mixed route with ice and rock. Other important memories on the Eiger was his climb and opening of a new route, the Magic Mushroom (called this because the rock top is shaped like a mushroom) in 2007 with Christoph Hainz. He also made a team record in the winter of 2011, when he climbed the Eiger in a speed record in 4h25 minutes.

Since the age of 32 he climbs for himself and plans his own projects. Sometimes his sponsors (Salewa, Bächli) follow him and sometimes not. For his five week expedition to Greenland in 2010, 50,000 CHF were put into the project for the team from the sponsors and donations.

He makes his living from his partners, sponsors but also from his conferences and his live shows. He also spent some time last year putting together his first mountaineering magazine, something he shares is challenging spending much time on the computer writing and looking for the right pictures. He also created an organization in South Africa, ROGER FOR AFRICA, and a project called “Little Lamb”. He was able to send 5000 CHF, selling plastic water bottles. The funds will help children with Aids, in poverty and with a handicap.

Listening to him you understand how a good climbing partner is important. He found that in Simon Gietl but also in other partners like Christoph Hainz, Bruno Hasler, Stefan Harvey, John Hasper and Daniel Kopp.

With them and others he climbed around the world in places like Peru, Norway, South Africa (Rocklands), Argentina   Patagonia (Fitz Roy, Aguy Poincenot, Cerro Torre, Torre Egger, Cerro Standhart), India Himalaya (Arwa Spire in Chamoli), Greenland (East Greenland), Switzerland (Eiger North Face and Matterhorn), France, Italy (Dolomites) and  the USA Yosemite national park (El Capitain) and the Zion national Park (Angels Landing in Utah).

Roger Schäli’s climbing fame started already after getting his mountain guide certificate. When he climbed the Arwa Spire for the first time in 2002  he may have been young (24), but he was already so talented that he was nominated for the Pionet D’Or.

In October 2002 of the same year he climbed with partners Ralf Weber, Stefan Siegrist and Alex Huber the El Chalten peak in Patagonia, Argentina. He also did the Torre Egger in Patagonia in 32 hours with Michael Pitelka. For that, he is known to have said that it was “the most impressive mountain peak moment in my life”.

Schäli is known for his first free ascents like the one called “Zauberlehrling” in the Dolomites on Cima Scotoni with Gian Storregondi (2012). In the Dolomites he also opened a route, the Donnafugata route on the Torre Trieste (2004).

One of his recent amazing accomplishments was his expedition to Eastern Greenland in August 2010 to climb a 1325 meter high wall. It was a big adventure for him and his team, carrying 400 kg of luggage on two boats, a challenge to get to the place where the climbing would start. The alpinists had to carry and lift up to the mountain 100 kg of climbing material. The last two days were hard, climbing the last 575 meters. When they arrived the three men only had a 4 sq-meter rock to stand on.

Natascha Knecht published in her outdoor blog some words from legend climber, Rheinhold Messner “with this climbing route, the difficulties and the length of time in East Greenland, far away from civilization, is impressive”.

Roger Schäli admits he was never interested in Messner when growing up nor reading books of the climbers who made history. ”I was more interested in climbing than the names.” The two met in June 2012 when Messner invited him to a conference in his castle in Italy. He tells me he was very nice and able to multitask, making sure his guests had everything they needed. “It was a feeling like a father”.

Talking to Roger Schäli and reading his magazine and blog makes you understand that in extreme climbing, experience, patience, great endurance, motivation and good partners are important to succeed in this business. “And to end one also needs a portion of luck, courage and trust in God.

• alpinist
• Arwa Spire
• Bächli
• climber
• Eiger
• Heckmair exit
• moutains
• Patagonia
• Rheinhold Messner
• Roger Schäli
• Salewa
• Schaeli