Seven Summits

Climb the highest peak of each of the seven Alpine countries on touring skis in exactly one week: That was the initial plan of four ambitious adventurers. Stable weather conditions, good conditions on the mountain, sufficient fitness for 53,000 vertical feet, little sleep, a lot of road travel in between, and all sorts of additional challenges were to characterize this undertaking. For months, everything was planned down to the smallest detail. The equipment had been optimized and rethought numerous times. Many hours were sacrificed to practice tours, an RV and driver were on standby, but then – 12 hours before departure – Covid struck. The four athletes became two, there were no more campervans available for rent, and no drivers.

Everything had to be rethought and planned again, but Adrian Zurbrügg from Switzerland and Philipp Reiter from Germany tackled the project anyway. And then, due to the weather, the originally planned seven days came down to five. The adventure turned into a race against the clock, against tired legs, the rapidly melting snow and the very changeable conditions in the Alps. The first day up the highest mountain in Italy, the 13,123-foot Gran Paradiso, was perfect. The legs were still fresh, the snow a bit hard, but the glacier section was not too icy and the key passage to the summit was completely dry. Accompanied by ski mountaineer Martina Valmassoi, the team returned to the valley after just under 6 hours. But there was no time to take a breather.

After the gear was rearranged, Eugen, a driver found at short notice, drove through the Aosta Valley directly to France. Following a short night in Chamonix, Adrian and Philipp headed out at 1:30 am to climb the 15,770-foot Mont Blanc, one of the longest ascents in the Alps with nearly 13,100 vertical feet. Spring feelings in the valley, huge crevasses in the middle section, dangerous seracs and the eternal ice, coupled with thin air and a challenging descent: only a few ski mountaineers dare to attempt this as a day tour. Adrian had carefully inspected the passage through the labyrinth of the Grand Junction beforehand, and so they were able to traverse the ice field without problems.

Despite very little snow, lots of ice and icy winds, they reached the summit after roughly 8 hours. A hug, a summit photo with the country’s flag, and down they went. The descent was arduous; in the afternoon, the danger of icefall is greater, and in addition, the drive to Switzerland was planned for the same day. In Zermatt, the alarm went off at 1:30 am again. Despite a headache and weary legs, there were no excuses. For the next 6 hours, Adrian and Philipp hiked in complete darkness across the glacier to the Monte Rosa hut and on to Dufourspitze, the top of Switzerland with 15,203 feet. Conditions were poor: open crevasses, lots of ice. On the difficult final climb, the ice tools and crampons paid off.

The last 350 vertical feet were actually mixed climbing. In return, the corn snow back down turned out to be easy. It was almost half time, because the next day’s Vordere Grauspitze with a mere 4,000 vertical of ascent was considered more or less a rest day. But things never turn out as planned... After a long night with 7 instead of 4 hours of sleep Adrian and Philipp – accompanied by a local, Stephan – set out to climb the highest point of Liechtenstein. Vordere Grauspitze is in fact a beautiful mountain that does not get climbed too often. On the way up, Stephan told Adrian that a violent snowstorm had been forecast for Triglav in Slovenia, due in three days, that could make the tour impossible.

Had the team come this far to surrender to a snowstorm? No way! What if they climbed Zugspitze today, and Großglockner and Triglav tomorrow? From there, everything happened extremely fast: the planned relaxed afternoon in Ehrwald turned into a speedy night trek to the 9,718-foot summit of Zugspitze. After some driving and 2 hours of sleep, Adrian and Philipp headed for Lucknerhaus in the early hours of the morning; a few hours later, they reached Austria’s Großglocker summit (12,461 feet). It had already started to snow and the temperatures dropped significantly. After a bumpy and rocky descent, they immediately jumped in the car and drove to Slovenia.

In the late afternoon, due to the acute storm forecast, they set out to Triglav (9,396 feet), their final peak. Soft corn, a never-ending valley and extreme fatigue – the last summit was the hardest, But when Adrian and Philipp reached the top shortly before 9 p.m., all the tension fell off them at once. It was done: The 7 summits of the Alps. In only 5 days!