Ueli Steck Freeclimbs New Route on Eiger

With this first freeclimb on August 30, 2008 of the most difficult sportsclimbing route in the Eiger Northface, named „Paciencia“, which means „patience“, the year of the Eiger-Anniversary comes to a worthy end. Ueli Steck and Stephan Siegrist finish a long lasting project.

On August 30, 2008 Ueli Steck was able to freeclimb each of the 27 pitches. He was belayed and supported by Stephan Siegrist. Together they climbed this very difficult and demanding rock climb in the Eiger Northface. Two pitches have the difficulty of 7c+, one pitch 8a and the rest of the pitches vary mostly between 7a and 7b+.

Since 2003 Ueli Steck and Stephan Siegrist had been trying to freeclimb the route. This means that the route has to be climbed without falling and the bolts and the installed belayings cannot be used to forward or to rest. The route is climbed only by using the natural structures: the rock. Only when a route is freeclimbed, it is definitively climbed. And now it also has a name: Paciencia.

For a long time it seemed that they were once more not going to get the chance to redpoint the route. Summer 2008 at the Eiger was very bad for climbing. The instable weather and the early snowfall already at mid August upset their plans. Steck’s and Siegrist’s patience and their persistence have been rewarded. They found the ideal line, they wanted to climb and now they just had to put all together and climb all of the 27 pitches in one pull to the summit.
Ueli Steck has done it! Steck and Siegrist climbed the route alternatively. In the lead Ueli Steck climbed all the most difficult pitches.

Ueli Steck is holding the speed record at the Eiger with 2 hours and 47 minutes, with his first ascent of the route The Young Spider he climbed the most difficult mixed-route at the Eiger and now, with his freeclimb of the route Paciencia he realised the most difficult and most demanding sportsclimbing route on the Eiger Northface.