'Schiefer Riss' on Sagwand in Austria repeated by Simon Gietl, Martin Sieberer

Schiefer Riss, the diagonal crack, was first climbed in 1947 by Mathias Rebitsch and Roland Berger. Several attempts to repeat the route failed, and it took nearly 30 years for the first repeat. The first winter ascent was carried out by David Lama, Hansjörg Auer, and Peter Ortner in March 2013. After having endured temperatures as low as -22°C, the trio described the adventure as one of their toughest endeavors up to that point.

Martin Feistl and Amelie Kühne attempted the route in March 2022 via the direct, or original, start but were forced to bail on their second day. Last year, Martin Feistl asked Simon and myself to join him on another attempt of Schiefer Riss. Unfortunately though, fate had its way and Martin never managed to do give it another go. So Simon and I decided that, in his memory, this would be our first climb together. Thanks to plenty of information from Martin and Amelie, we managed to repeat the route with the direct start.

We wanted an adventure and we definitely got what we were looking for! Once again I am so amazed by what we can do in our home mountains. This was another epic home expedition that I am not going to forget!

Martin Sieberer, February 2025