A successful single-day climb of the Eiger's infamous north face with Max Cole. We started at 2:30 AM from Klein Scheidegg and made our way toward the base of the face in darkness.
The lower section went well and we moved quickly, passing two French teams who had started before us. Early on, Max had a serious moment when his ice axe pulled out while climbing the second ice field. He fell but managed to self-arrest on the snow slope below. One of those moments that makes you very aware of where you are and what you're doing.
The Hinterstoisser traverse, the ice fields, the brittle ledges traverse — these legendary sections felt like navigating a mountaineering museum. Every feature on the face has a story, most of them grim. The difficult crack slowed us briefly where the French climbers were ahead, but we found a way past and kept moving.
The ice chimney was the crux pitch for me. Overhanging rock, more like dry-tooling than mixed climbing, with the exposure of the entire north face below your feet. The kind of pitch where you don't look down and you don't stop moving.
The contrast between modern climbing and the first ascent is striking. With contemporary fixed gear and equipment, the route has become substantially safer than when first climbed in 1938. The hardest pitches are now effectively a sport climb with abundant fixed protection. But standing on those stances, looking at the terrain with nothing but hemp ropes and hobnailed boots — they were literally climbing with a high chance they would die trying. Incredible courage.
We maintained a strong pace throughout and reached the summit at sunset, roughly 22 hours after leaving Klein Scheidegg. The views across the Bernese Oberland in that evening light were something else.
We found a marginal bivvy site on the west flank just below the summit and spent a cold but satisfying night before descending the following morning via the west flank to Eigergletscher station. A long day, a great route, and deep respect for those who climbed it first.