The steepest walls without protection are the Dani Arnold area. An extreme and fast climber, Urien holds numerous records. In 2017, the fall of Ueli Steck hit him hard. A conversation about danger, caution and risk management.
Daniel Arnold
Extrembergsteiger
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The family man and professional climber from the canton of Uri is one of the best in the world and has already made mountaineering history. He holds speed records on five of the six major north faces of the Alps.
SRF: Mountaineering is a competition. Unfortunately, there are always tragic incidents that can result in death. How do you deal with this?
Dani Arnold: I was in Italy when Ueli (Steck, editor’s note) crashed. I lost all motivation, all desire – everything. It took time to find joy again. I’ve been doing this for a few years now and it’s getting harder and harder. We know more and more what can happen. And you become more careful.
You can’t be a 50 percent mountaineer.
An example: the north face of Latok 1 in Pakistan is still not climbed. We tried twice, but we failed twice. And I will never return to Latok 1 again. The risk is simply too great for me now. What is tricky in our sport is that even in Pilate, in a supposedly simple place, things go deep. But you can’t be a 50 percent mountaineer.
Record on all north faces
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Dani Arnold on the north face of the Eiger.
Keystone/DANIEL BARTSCH
Dani Arnold has set records on the six major north faces of the Alps. Five of them are still valid today.
His hunt for speed records began in 2011
North face of the Eiger
. Most climbers take two days to complete the route. Dani Arnold: 2 hours and 28 minutes.
This will follow in 2015
Matterhorn
and 2016 on
Piz Badile
. On this north face, Dani Arnold sets the first speed record without safety equipment.
In 2018, it climbed to
Grandes Jorasses
and 2019 on the size of
Three peaks
in South Tyrol.
In 2021, he will climb it
Petit Dru
at Mont Blanc – 10 years after the record on the north face of the Eiger.
Dani Arnold does not climb the routes straight away without safety. He says he climbs it three to six times with a rope so he knows all the holds. Only then does unsafe speed escalation take place.
But there is a connection between the willingness to take risks and the attention that comes with it. It’s dangerous.
It is an extremely dangerous game. It was like this: Ueli was on the Eiger, then I was on the Eiger (and I beat his record, editor’s note). Then Ueli was there again. Then everyone expected me to return to the Eiger. It would have been a media story.
Would this still be possible after his death?
No, of course not. But he did not die until a few years later. And I didn’t do that back then either. Because how can I define myself? I want to be good at mountaineering, I want sponsors, I want to be able to make a good living from it. But I’m not just a mountaineer. I also care about other things. This is extremely dangerous: more crazy stories bring more money. But that’s not how it works.
Passion for ice climbing: Dani Arnold 2017 on the Breitwangflue near Kandersteg.
Keystone/MAMMUT/THOMAS SENF
If we make a comparison with businesses: what advice would you give to businesses regarding risk management?
I would say: when you start a project, set the bar high. Don’t try to be average, but focus on what’s great. Along the way, you’ll improve your skills, trade your materials, and maybe even exchange ideas with the people around you. Whether you actually make it to the top doesn’t matter much. But it’s important to go.
If this doesn’t suit you, say: No.
Many people do studies and opinion polls first. Try it. And the most important thing is this: if it doesn’t suit you, say no. When we climb mountains we also work as a team, we are a rope team. And if my colleague doesn’t support me or if I don’t trust him, then I can die.
The interview was conducted by Andi Lüscher.
