©Symon Welfringer

South face and southwest ridge - Revers Gagnant (ca 2,500m, M4+ WI4+ 90°),
Pierrick Fine and Symon Welfringer (France),
October 16-19 for the ascent.

After the pandemic thwarted plans to travel to Nepal in the autumn, Fine and Welfringer had just two weeks to come up with a new idea. Pakistan was the only country to allow them entry, and after a thorough study of mapping data they opted for the unknown south face of Sani Pakkush, a 6,952m peak in the western Karakoram that had been climbed only once; in 1991 by Germans via the northwest ridge.

This would be a thoroughly exploratory expedition: the south face is big and complex and rises from the head of the Toltar Valley, the upper part of the glacier almost certainly not reached previously by mountaineers. The odds would be stacked against them as October is generally far too late for climbing big mountains in Pakistan.

After more than two weeks of acclimatization, in clear but cold weather they climbed a difficult snow/ice/mixed spur on the far-left side of the face, with two bad bivouacs, before stopping early on the third day at a comfortable site on the crest of the southwest ridge. Next day, seven hours of hard work through inconsistent snow took them to the summit. On the fourth day they returned to their 4,100m base camp, downclimbing and rappelling the route of ascent.

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SYMON WELFRINGER

• FR

Born in 1993, Symon Welfringer grew up in Moselle where, far from the mountains, he cultivated his passion for climbing. A childhood love that he never abandoned, from the podiums of the junior French Cup to the belay stance of his first 8c+ in Céuse. It's only when he was in weather engineering school in Toulouse, after two difficult years of preparatory classes, that he really discovered mountaineering. Just like a certain David Lama, he used his climbing skills to specialize in highly technical routes and experienced a meteoric rise in the field. We find him at the top of Divine Providence in winter for a rare repetition of the mythical route of the Massif du Mont-Blanc. But quickly, the Himalayan adventures began. In 2018, he opened Le quatuor à cordes (6B, A2, M4, 80º, 1100 m) on the west face of Lobuche East (6,120 m) in the Nepalese Khumbu. The following year, he headed to Pakistan for the opening of a new route on Risht Peak (5,960 m), On the School Route (M6/5/70°, 500 m). One of the three rope-mates with whom he shared this adventure is Pierrick Fine; and we know the rest of the story. After re-embarking for the Karakorum where they hit their Revers Gagnant (2500 m, ED+, 90°, M4+, WI4+) in a crushing virgin face, the two companions not only share the summit of Sani Pakkush (6953 m), but also the Piolets d'Or 2021.

PIERRICK FINE

• FR

Pierrick Fine, 26 years old, represents the new French wave of exploratory and committed mountaineering at high altitude. A climbing and canyoning instructor, mountain guide, vice world champion in ice climbing and member of the top team of French alpinists, this true jack-of-all-trades quickly moved on to mountains higher than the Chartreuse peaks around which he grew up. After two outstanding openings in 2019, first on the virgin summit of Risht Peak (Sur la route de l'école, 5, M6, 70°, 450m, Pakistan) and then on Grosvenor (Tcheu cte panthère, ED, WI5+, M4, VI,1300m, China), he came back to Pakistan in the middle of the pandemic with Symon Welfinger. They climbed Revers Gagnant (2500m, ED+, 90°, M4+, WI4+) on the virgin face of Sani Pakkush (6953m), an ascent that has earned them the recognition of the alpine community with the prestigious Piolet d'Or 2021.