All 82 Alpine 4k’s peaks linked by Ueli Steck
- Sunday 16th August 2015
Aug 16th; 2015
In the lastest Alpine super-enchainment, Swiss Ace, Ueli Steck, has just completed a link-up of all 82 alpine 4,000m peaks in 62 days.
Steck and Wohlleben on the summit of Piz Bernina at the start of the trip. [Photo: #82summits]
Enchainment projects have grown in popularity in mountaineering, as well as other mountain sports such as ultra-racing, and now attract a dedicated hard-core of athletes keen to test their metal. On a domestic front, the UK has a number of such enchainment including the likes of the Bob Graham, the Paddy Buckley and the Charles Ramsay all of which are 24 hour endurance fell-rounds in the lakes, Wales and Scotland – to the uber classic Skye Ridge which is often done in winter over two days but has been run in a matter of hours in optimal summer conditions by experienced runners/climbers. Farther afield, mountain enchainment’s recently hit Patagonia when US super-stars, Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold did the Fitz-Traverse.
The Alpine 4k summits however, is perhaps the big enchainment tick within Europe. Surprisingly, there was originally considerable debate and interpretation as to which of the mountains were ‘on the list’ and various teams had different summits on ‘their’ lists. In 1993 the UIAA and the Italian Alpine Club jointly issued a list of 82 summits that were on the ‘round’. To further add to the difficulty, some teams attempt the round in winter whilst others opt for non-mechanised travel between the individual mountains.
One of the first rounds completed after the ‘official’ 1993 list was published was done by Martin Moran and Simon Jenkins. Sadly however, Moran and Jenkins planned their trip prior to the list being published, and they ‘only’ contained 74 summits which they did in an impressive 52 days working from the Piz Bernina in the east to Barre des Ecrins in the west. One of the early attempts at the full 82 list was made by Patrick Berhault and Philippe Magnon when they departed for a winter round in 2004. Sadly, Berhault fell to his death after the pair had completed 65 summits and hence their attempt failed. The first winter round was completed by the Slovenia guide Miha Valic over the 2006/7 winter season when, despite using motorised transport to travel back and forth to get the summits in good condition, he took 102 to complete the trip. The current record of just 60 days is held by Italian guides, Diego Giovannini and Franco Nicolini, who travelled west to east ending with the Bernina for their 2008 round.
Ueli Steck and Res Aeschlimann on the summit of the Grand Paradiso - Steck’s third to last peak. [Photo: #82Summits]
Ueli Steck, well-known for his fast ascents – often solo – completed his round in 62 days – two days longer than the current summer record. Walking and cycling between the summits, Steck’s trip involved over 1,000 km of cycling and 100,000 m of altitude gain over the 62 days. However, his attempt wasn’t without considerable difficulties. His initial partner, Micheal Wohlleben, had to pull out of the attempt when he landed badly in a paragliding descent off one of the initial peak. Steck was later joined by other friends one of whom, Martijn Seuren fell to his death on July 22nd on the Rochefortgrat. Steck decided to continue despite the death of his friend and completed his round with an ascent of the Barre des Ercrins on August 12th.
Click through here to see more detail of Steck’s route.
The list, in order of decreasing altitude, of the summits is below:
Mont Blanc, 15,781 feet (4,810 m)
Mont Blanc de Courmayeur, 15,577 feet (4,748 m)
Dufourspitze, 15,203 feet (4,634 m)
Nordend, 15,121 feet (4,609 m)
Zumsteinspitze, 14,970 feet (4,563 m)
Signalkuppe, 14,944 feet (4,555 m)
Dom, 14,941 feet (4,545 m)
Liskamm – east summit, 14,852 feet (4,527 m)
Weisshorn, 14,780 feet (4,505 m)
Täschhorn, 14,734 feet (4,491 m)
Liskamm – west summit, 14,695 feet (4,479 m)
Matterhorn, 14,692 feet (4,478 m)
Picco Luigi Amedeo, 14,662 feet (4,469 m)
Maudit, 14,649 feet (4,465 m)
Parrotspitze, 14541 feet (4,432 m)
Dent Blanche, 14,295 feet (4,357 m)
Ludwigshohe, 14,242 feet (4,341 m)
Nadelhorn, 14,196 feet (4,327 m)
Schwarzhorn, 14,180 feet (4,322 m)
Grand Combin – Grafeneire, 14,154 feet (4,314 m)
Dome du Gouter, 14,121 feet (4,304 m)
Lenzspitze, 14,088 feet (4,294 m)
Finsteraarhorn, 14,022 feet (4,274 m)
Mont Blanc du Tacul, 13,937 feet (4,248 m)
Grand Pillier d’Angle, 13,921 feet (4,243 m)
Stecknadelhorn, 13,914 feet (4,241 m)
Castor, 13,914 feet (4,241 m)
Zinalrothorn, 13,848 feet (4,221 m)
Hohberghorn, 13,842 feet (4,219 m)
Vincent Pyramid, 13,829 feet (4,215 m)
Grand Jorasses – Pointe Walker, 13,806 feet (4,208 m)
Alphubel, 13,799 feet (4,206 m)
Rimpfischhorn, 13,776 feet (4,199 m)
Aletschhorn, 13,757 feet (4,193 m)
Strahlhorn, 13,747 feet (4,190 m)
Grand Combin – Valsorey, 13,727 feet (4,184 m)
Grand Jorasses – Pointe Whymper, 13,727 feet (4, 184 m)
Dent d’Herens, 13,684 feet (4,171 m)
Breithorn - west summit, 13,661 feet (4,164 m)
Breithorn - central summit, 13,645 feet (4,159 m)
Jungfrau, 13,642 feet (4,158 m)
Bishorn, 13,625 feet (4,153 m)
Breithorn – Zwillinge West, 13,579 feet (4,139 m)
Grand Combin – Tsessette, 13,566 feet (4,135 m)
Aiguille Verte, 13,524 feet (4,122 m)
Aiguilles du Diable – L’Isolee, 13,497 feet (4,114 m)
Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey, 13,491 feet (4,112 m)
Grandes Jorasses – Pointe Croz, 13,484 feet (4,110 m)
Aiguilles de Diable – Pointe Carmen, 13,481 feet (4,109 m)
Mönch, 13,474 feet (4,107 m) - SUMMITED JUNE 18/19
Breithorn – Zwillinge East, 13,471 feet (4,106 m)
Grande Rocheuses, 13,458 feet (4,102 m)
Barre des Ecrins, 13,458 feet (4,102 m)
Aiguilles du Diable – Pointe Mediane, 13,442 feet (4,097 m)
Pollux, 13,425 feet (4,092 m)
Schreckhorn, 13,379 feet (4,078 m)
Breithorn – Roccia Nera, 13,369 feet (4,075 m)
Aiguilles du Diable – Pointe Chaubert, 13,366 feet (4,074 m)
Mont Brouillard, 13,350 feet (4,069 m)
Grand Jorasses – Point Marguerite, 13,337 feet (4,065 m)
Aiguilles du Diable – Corne du Diable, 13,333 feet (4,064 m)
Ober Gabelhorn, 13,330 feet (4,063 m)
Gran Paradiso, 13,323 feet (4,061 m)
Aiguille de Bionnassay, 13,294 feet (4,052 m)
Piz Bernina, 13,284 feet (4,049 m)
Gross Fiescherhorn, 13,284 feet (4,049 m)
Vincent Pyramid – Punta Giordani, 13,274 feet (4,046 m)
Grand Jorasses – Pointe Elena, 13,271 feet (4,045 m)
Grunhorn, 13,268 feet (4,044 m)
Lauteraarhorn, 13,261 feet (4,042 m)
Aiguille du Jardin, 13,238 feet (4,035 m)
Dürrenhorn, 13,238 feet (4,035 m)
Allalinhorn, 13,212 feet (4,027 m)
Hinter Fiescherhorn, 13,205 feet (4,025 m)
Weissmies, 13,179 feet (4,017 m)
Dome de Rochefort, 13,173 feet (4,015 m)
Barre des Ecrins – Dome de Neige, 13,173 feet (4,015 m)
Dent du Geant, 13,166 feet (4,013 m)
Punta Baretti, 13,166 feet (4,013 m)
Lagginhorn, 13,156 feet (4,010 m)
Aiguille de Rochefort, 13,127 feet (4,001 m)
Les Droitess, 13,123 feet (4,000 m)