Sports
Patagonia, Greenland and Himalaya with profi alpinist Roger Schaeli
Professional alpinist, Roger Schäli, was at the Zurich Volkshaus last week for a live report about Patagonia, Greenland and Himalaya. More than five hundred people came to applaud him during his two nights. He is touring the German part of Switzerland in January and February with Explora.ch, ending with a show in Buchs on February 6th.
The Swiss climber, originally from the Canton of Lucerne, made his life passion his profession. He has been a professional since 2010 after ten years working as a mountain guide. He is expert in ice, snow, rock and mixed routes, has opened numerous routes throughout the world and is known for his First Free Ascents (FFA).
Roger Schaeli at the Volkshaus in Zurich during his tour Patagonia, Greenland and Himalaya
During his two hours at the Volkshaus he juggled between a humorous and more serious tone to talk about his expeditions, alpine climbs, ups and downs, scares on the mountain, his great partners and amazing positive experiences getting to the top of a mountain. In between the speeches, there are beautiful pictures with music, short films showing the places he goes to and the people he meets, but also live video clips. Slowly the spectator feels right there with him.
Some moments are precious such as when Italian partner Simon Gietl (South Tirol) wakes up in the morning and makes a funny face discovering what he can have for breakfast or when he climbs and look down and says jokingly “the life of an alpinist is not easy!” Looking at the report you get to love the humorous personality of Simon.
You laugh when Simon is half asleep next to a loud boat motor on the way to an island in Greenland while being splashed away by water or when Roger jumps in the deep freezing water in Greenland close by glaciers. You smile when it is so windy in Patagonia and the hair of a dog keeps standing up. You feel pain when you see the color of the alpinists’ toes, fingers and faces when reaching back the base at the end of an expedition. You feel the strong friendship between the climbing partners and the joyful atmosphere at the mountain bases playing chess or eating. You just are amazed when Schäli is kneeling in his bivouac just hanging on a side of a rocky wall and can eat and remain so calm, when looking down would give anyone complete vertigo!
Roger Schaeli and partner Simon Gietl on top of Arwa Spire, Himalaya – copyright Roger Schaeli
Roger Schäli came on the stage wearing one of his tee-shirts with a print of the 6193 meter high peak Arwa Spire in the Himalaya in Northern India, a place he knows well and made him quite famous. In 2002 when he climbed it for the first time with his partners Stefan Harvey and Bruno Hasler using the Fior di Vite route he was nominated for the best award one can get in climbing, the Pionet d’ Or. Unfortunately Roger Schäli does not have only good memories in the Himalaya. In 2011 as he was back there with his partner Simon Gietl and a cameraman Daniel Ahnen, Daniel failed into a crevasse and was never found, despite the long rescue mission his friends launched for him during 5 days. The expedition was canceled and rescheduled to last September. Finally after a decade, Roger went back to the top of the Arwa Spire using the Fior di Vite route, doing what he knows best, first free climbing.
A large part of the live report is about Patagonia, in Argentina. No doubt for him it has become his second home, he writes in his new climbing magazine “Roger Schaeli Lebe Deinen Klettertraum”. He has climbed there so many times from 2002 reaching the Cerro Standhardt in Northern of Patagonia, in 2005 the Torre Egger and Cerro Torre, in 2007 tried “the king of the mountains” the Fitz Roy, in 2009 again the Fitz Roy and the Aguja Poincenot and in 2011 the Aguja Guillaumet.
But he told me in an interview before the report that making it to the top of the Fitz Roy in 2009 was one of his loveliest moments as an extreme climber. He explained how happy he was as he had failed many times before reaching the top. Finally, not using difficult routes but rather the classic one, it worked out for him and his partner Simon Gietl.
Roger Schaeli with Simon Gietl and Daniel Kopp in Greenland – photographer Thomas Ulrich
The two alpinists made it to Eastern Greenland for the first time in August 2010 with alpinist Daniel Kopp and photographers Thomas Ulrich and Jost von Allmen. The expedition lasted five weeks and when they reached the top of the 1325 meter wall Schaeli said while pointing to the photo of them at the summit “It was as perfect as it could be”. He also wrote in his new magazine “we feel like in a fairy tale, standing close to each other and are speechless”.
Of course the man, who is known to have said about the Swiss peak, the Eiger, that it is his “own home”, could not do a report without talking about it. Yes, Schaeli knows the North Face of the Eiger in Berner Oberland well as he climbed it 35 times since he was twenty years old, using 15 different routes.
An old film of the Japanese expedition taken in 1969 is shown. At that time climbing was not the same as it is today, explained to me Yuri Kato, the daughter of Takio Kato, a Japanese man of 25, who climbed the Eiger North Face with other Japanese of the Japan Expert Climbing Club. The alpinists came with tools and equipments like hammers,drills and ladders to go up the mountain.They went meter by meter. Her father later became a mountain guide.
Schaeli took the Japanese Direttissima route once again in September 2009, but this time did a first free ascent on it, forty years after the Japanese had opened the route. One year later he and Robert Jasper did a first free ascent on the John-Harlin Direttissima route with Heckmaier Exit.
Roger Schaeli and partner Christoph Hainz on the Eiger North Face, Magic Mushroom route – photographer Thomas Ulrich-Visual Impact
In 2007 Schaeli and his Italian partner Christoph Hainz (South Tirol) opened a new route on the Eiger North Face, the Mushroom route, a route which he later climbed in FFA in 2011. In 2011 as well Schaeli and his partner Simon Gietl made a team record in the North Face in only 4h25 minutes. The previous team, Ueli Steck and Bruno Schläppi in 2010 had done it in 5h03 minutes.
Yes, it really feels like Roger Schäli is living his climbing dream.
Are you interested in seeing one of his live reports?
Here are the next dates and places on his tour. He will be in Bern two nights, in Thun, in Basel and many other places.
The report about Roger Schäli is organized by www.explora.ch
Profi alpinist magazines and tee-shirts, Zurich Volkshaus
To find out more information about Schäli visit his website.
