Piz Palü Winter Trilogy completed in a single day by Philipp Brugger, Lukas Waldner

On 8 March 2026 Austrian alpinists Philipp Brugger and Lukas Waldner completed the first winter enchainment of all three north face pillars on Piz Palü (3,899 m) in the Bernina Alps of Switzerland in a single day.

In a total time of 8 hours and 59 minutes, they climbed the Bumiller Pillar (900m, V+, M6), the East Pillar (600m, V, M5) and the Spinas Pillar (700m, M3) – a total of 2,200 vertical meters of climbing with a pure climbing time of 6 hours and 25 minutes. While the three pillars in the Piz Palü north face have been combined in summer, a winter trilogy of all three pillars in a single day had never been achieved before.

With its three summits and three symmetrically arranged north face pillars, Piz Palü is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful and iconic mountains in the Alps. The individual pillars see regular summer ascents, but winter climbs of the north pillars are rare – the winter conditions with snow and ice are simply too demanding.

Brugger and Waldner started on March 8 after approaching from the Diavolezza, reaching the base of the Bumiller Pillar at 06:30 and the main summit of Piz Palü (3,899 m) at 09:00. After descending to the base of the East Pillar (09:30), they stood on the East Summit (3,880 m) at 11:45. In the afternoon, the Spinas Pillar followed: entrance at 13:50, West Summit (3,820 m) at 15:29.

Brugger and Waldner had thus climbed all three north pillars in under 9 hours – with a pure climbing time of just 6 hours and 25 minutes. The descents were each made on foot via the normal route.

Although winter ascents on the north pillars are inherently demanding, conditions were good for an ascent: stable weather, almost no wind and mostly good snow conditions. The two have been climbing together for many years: they completed the first ascent of Shauè Sar (6,653 m) in the Karakoram (2022), the fastest winter ascent of the Bonatti Route on the Matterhorn North Face (2024) and the first Valsertal North Face Trilogy – the north faces of Fussstein, Schrammacher and Sagwand in 11 hours and 50 minutes in April 2025.

Just one week before the Valsertal Trilogy, Brugger completed the north face trilogy of Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau in 15 hours and 30 minutes together with Nicolas Hojac. Waldner reached another milestone in autumn 2025 with the first ascent of Kimshung (6,781 m) in Nepal.