cONTENTS

Preface by Martin fickweiler — 4 foreword by Yves Mooren — 10

1 Mont Aiguille — 15

2 Triglav — 25

3 Mont Blanc — 37

4 Großglockner — 51

5 Jungfrau / Mönch / Eiger — 59

6 Hoher Dachstein — 75

7 Grand Vignemale — 85

8 Weisshorn — 95

9 Matterhorn — 107

10 Grosse Zinne / Westliche Zinne / Kleine Zinne — 123

11 Inaccessible Pinnacle — 141

12 Hvannadalshnúkur — 153

13 naranjo de Bulnes — 165

14 Stetind — 179

Dankwoord/Acknowledgement — 188

Bibliography — 191

Colophon —192

It was on a beautiful sunny morning at a bear locker in Yosemite national Park where I first met Martin. Through our mutual friend Gerke Hoekstra our paths finally crossed. Martin was in Yosemite Valley for a few weeks with an ambitious solo aid climbing project as his main goal. Gerke, and myself in a supporting role, traveled to the united States for a big freeclimbing objective on El Capitan. All three of us where tired and had some tough days under the belt in terms of our climbing goals and progress.

With all the time in the world on our hands we enjoyed endless series of fresh brewed Italian coffee and bagels with peanut butter. Organically we started talking about our recent setbacks, discussed and re-assessed our ambition for the upcoming days and soon we talked about our current phases in life, aging and life goals in general. After having talked for hours - feeling a bit disillusioned by our mental performance - the decision was made to abort both climbing projects and to go for a new and mutual adventure: a hike of several days through the beautiful Sierra nevada Mountain range. What followed was a fantastic hiking experience in a stunning environment. During the trip we picked up and deepened our conversations; we talked about the risk-reward aspects of climbing and personal growth and reflected on life in general. All this talking was alternated with moments of comfortable silence, private reflection and feelings of peace in nature’s stunning surroundings. It was during these moments that a seed was planted in Martins mind which resulted in the book at hand.

Martin has been an outdoor enthusiastic from a young age and has a very wide experience in several disciplines of mountaineering, outdoor adventures, expeditions and specifically rock climbing. The last two decades he mostly focused on big wall and multi-pitch climbing, often combined with his passion for photography. His earlier book Multi-pitch Climbing in Europe (2006) is a great reference to his earlier adventures as a photographer on multi-pitch climbing routes.

After completing two trips for his newborn project on iconic mountains, Martin unfortunately lost sight in his left eye due to an eye nerve inflammation. This sad event however is a unique example of reinventing oneself and the human (and specifically Martins) capacity in terms of agility and change. During this setback he started to look into specific nutrition and base fitness, this way he worked hard towards his recovery. And always there was this ongoing ambition and positivity to get out into the mountains and continue working on this project. Martin’s vast experience, ambition and positivity is clearly displayed in the format and composition of this book and the journeys it contains.