Climbing the Eiger with Tim Robertson
Price: $3150 – $7200
Season: Nov – Apr
Technical difficulty: moderate to hard
Fitness level: moderate to high
Duration: 5 days or 7 days
Guiding: 1:1 or 1:2
Climbing the Eiger? What's special about that??
When climbing the Eiger, Tim’s usual preference is the Mettileggi route, one of the most famous ridge climbs in the alps. Climbed when it is mainly rock it still presents a challenging climb with extreme exposure as you traverse above the entire famous north face. Being an efficient and agile rock climber in alpine boots is essential for this difficult summit.
It’s the most famous peak in the Alps after the Matterhorn, even though it’s not a 4000m peak. Because it’s limestone, the character of the climbing is quite different,
The Eiger gets a lot less traffic than the Matterhorn because it is quite difficult. The descent often takes more time than the ascent.
Are there particular challenges in this mountain?
The nature of the limestone, it’s a lot more “slabby”. The holds are smaller compared to granite, so you need to be quite agile to move fluidly up it.
It’s super-exposed, when you are traversing above the North face of the Eiger.
What is your approach to the mountain?
I really like to have a warmup climb with people. The chances of success are much greater if we’ve worked together beforehand on a less demanding route.
I’m not prepared to guide the South ridge route, I don’t think it’s a good or logical option. It’s exposed to rockfalls from other parties above using the South ridge as their descent route. It entails an even longer day.
Are there particular challenges in this mountain?
It is a really historical peak. The north face of the Eiger was of course the last great challenge of the Alps, the whole area is steeped in history. You’re aware of that when you’re above the North face, which is super impressive.
It’s unusual in that the most commonly guided route is quite a difficult challenge.
Other links of interest
Other peaks
Read more conversations with Tim on some of the other peaks on offer:
