Dani Arnold

Dani Arnold (born 22 February 1984, canton of Uri, Switzerland) is a Swiss extreme mountaineer. He is famous for his fast climbs, holding speed records on several routes including the Matterhorn in Switzerland and the Cima Grande di Lavaredo in Italy.

Dani Arnold (2016)

Life and career

Dani Arnold grew up in Biel ob Bürglen in the Schächen valley in Uri. He started free solo ice climbing when he was about 20, although his parents did not support him.[1][2]

Recognition

He became known to a broad public primarily through his speed record on the ascent of the north face of the Eiger in 2011. He climbed the wall solo in 2 hours and 28 minutes, 20 minutes faster than the previous record holder Ueli Steck, who then beat Arnold's time by 6 minutes in 2015.[3][4]

Arnold was already known in the climbing scene before 2011, among other things for the speed record of 1 hour and 35 minutes on the west ridge of the Salbitschijen.In 2010, he succeeded in the first winter ascent of the Torre Egger in Patagonia with Stephan Siegrist and Thomas Senf.

In January 2012, Arnold climbed the mixed route The Hurting in Scotland as the first non-Scots redpoint. The Hurting is considered one of the world's hardest trad mixed climbing routes ever. In April 2013, he and David Lama made the first ascent of the central headwall on the 1500-metre-high east face of Mooses Tooth in Alaska.The two needed around 48 hours for the route called Bird of Prey.

Records and competition

On 22 April 2015, he achieved the fastest solo ascent of the North Face of the Matterhorn in 1h 46min.[5]

At the end of July 2018, he set a new record time on the north face of the Grandes Jorasses. He climbed the Walkerpfeiler (4208 metres) in the Mont Blanc massif solo via the Cassin route in 2:04 hours.[6] He thus holds the speed record and replaced Ueli Steck, who had taken 2:21 hours for a different route in winter 2008. In addition to the speed record on the Matterhorn, Arnold thus holds two of the three speed records on the Great North Face; on the Eiger, the record is held by Ueli Steck.[7]

In 2019, he reached the summit of the north face of the Cima Grande di Lavaredo, in the Dolomites, by climbing the Comici-Dimai route. His record was 46 minutes and 30 seconds.[8]

On 12 June 2023, Arnold was the first to climb all three ridges of the Salbitschijen solo and in record time. It took him 9 hours, 36 minutes and 55 seconds and he covered 2311 metres of ascent and 8.48 kilometres in distance. The starting and finishing point was the Salbithütte.[9]

In film
  • Race to the Summit, a 2023 documentary film about the rivalry between Ueli Steck and Dani Arnold in setting solo alpine speed records.[10]

References
  1. Emil Bischofberger: Du weisst: Dieser Stein muss halten, sonst bist du tot, Interview, Tages-Anzeiger, 27. Dezember 2018, S. 28–29.
  2. Olivier Joliat: «Ja, ich gehe Risiken ein» In: Coopzeitung Nr. 6 vom 4. Februar 2014, S. 135, (PDF).
  3. "Sechs Minuten schneller: Ueli Steck holt sich Eiger-Rekord zurück". blick.ch. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  4. "'Swiss machine' Ueli Steck reclaims Eiger record". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  5. swissinfo.ch (2015-04-30). "Swiss climber sets Matterhorn record". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  6. Dani Arnold stellt Speed-Rekord an der Grandes Jorasses Nordwand auf. In: lacrux.com vom 14. August 2018, abgerufen am 27. Dezember 2018.
  7. Tim Ehrensperger: Schweizer Kletterer bricht Speed-Rekord von Ueli Steck. In: Berner Zeitung.ch vom 15. August 2018, abgerufen am 27. Dezember 2018.
  8. "Dani Arnold: «Le chronomètre, ça parle au public» - Le Temps" (in French). 2019-10-17. ISSN 1423-3967. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  9. "Am Salbit - Alpinist Dani Arnold stellt neuen Kletterrekord auf" (in German). SRF. Retrieved 2023-07-02.
  10. Douglas, Ed (17 June 2021). "Speed Soloing Is Climbing's Deadliest Game—It Has One Living Player". Climbing. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
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