The German professional climber takes a six-day trip to Switzerland with the aim of conquering 10 of the hardest routes the country has to offer.
Written by Dominik Osswald
2 min readPublished on
6 min
Alexander Megos's climbing trip to Switzerland
Alexander Megos climbs 10 of Switzerland's hardest routes in six days.
Alexander Megos is a miracle man when it comes to sport climbing. No difficulty grade seems to faze the 24-year-old from Germany and, for his most recent trip abroad, he set himself the challenge of tackling 10 of Switzerland's most difficult routes in the shortest amount of time possible.
In just six days, Megos mastered three routes graded 9a, the highest level of difficulty, and he also conquered seven other high-graded climbs. And to top it all, he completed all these routes, that can take other climbers take several years to complete, without taking a single rest day.
The routes Megos climbed during six days in Switzerland
Day/location
Climb name
Grade
Day 1 and 2: Voralpsee
1. Speed Intégrale
9a
Day 3: Chuenisberg
2. Ravage
8b+/c
3. Enfant de la bohême
8c
4. L’appel de la forêt
8c
Day 4: Tüfleten
5. Im Reich des Shogun
9a
Day 5: Soyhières
6. Les temps difficiles
8c+
7. Mines de rien
8b+
8. Ramstein
8b+
9. Déjà
8b+
Day 6: Val Bavona
10. Coup de grâce
9a
Austrian climbing pioneer Beat Kammerlander was in absolute awe, when he saw Alex climb the 9a route Speed Intégrale in Voralpsee with ease:
“It took me all-in-all two seasons to climb Speed. And Alexander climbs Speed Intégrale, which is even harder, in only two days – that’s quite something,” said Kammerlander, who did the first ascent of Speed in 1995.
Megos’s climbing technique is a perfect interplay of all of his limbs. Thanks to tremendous body tension and finger strength, he holds on to the smallest holds and holes in the rock.
His long-time coach Patrick Matros was equally impressed with Megos's achievement: “Most climbers who climb a 9a route manage to do the route in one week. And after two days of climbing, they usually need to rest for a day. But Alexander does it in one go.”
One thing for certain is that Megos has yet to reach his limits. What can we expect next?
His answer is as promising as it is astonishing: “I have yet to find the route that I can really throw myself into. Until then, I'll enjoy climbing as much as possible.”
Note concerning difficulty levels: In Switzerland, the French climbing grades are used. The grades system starts with 3a where you can quite easily scramble up the mountain. Followed by 3a+, 3b, 3b+, 3c, 3c+, 4a (…) up to the most difficult grade 9c.
