Mountain Circles Team on the Eiger North Face – 1938 Route
Mike Thomas and Paddy Cave have just returned from a visit to the Eiger ‘Nordwand’. After a long spell of good weather and conditions on the face, though perhaps a little warm, their arrival coincided with the first snow fall in weeks. So after a few days of waiting for the snow to settle and the impressive spindrift avalanches coming down the face to ease, they started breaking trail up the face and made a successful ascent. Stable weather and colder nights gave perfect conditions. Both agree the face deserves the super classic status it gets, and ED2 in 1938 deserves respect!
Some photos below of the ascent.
Camp below the face
The Difficult Crack
The Hinterstoisser Traverse
The Exit Cracks
The Ice Hose
Corti Bivi
The Traverse of the Gods – Mike weighs up the fall, hmm..
The Traverse of the Gods
Mike on the Summit.
Paddy coming onto the Summit.