Katherine Choong makes first female ascent of Piz Dal Nas on Titlis in Switzerland

On the 10th of August Swiss climber Katherine Choong made the first female ascent of Piz Dal Nas on the North Face of Titlis in Switzerland. The 5000m 8b was established ground-up by Matthias Trottmann, Daniel Schulze, Matthias and Thomas König in 2008 and freed by Trottmann in 2010. The 12-pitch outing boasts difficulties up to 8b and was repeated by Slovenia's Jernej Kruder in 2021. The difficulties are rated as followed: 7a, 6b, 6c, 6b+, 6a, 7b+, 6c+, 7b+, 8b, 8b, 7b, 8a+

Choong invested a total of 10 days on the route and led every pitch in the 8th grade, swinging the easier leads with Jim Zimmermann. Commenting after her ascent, she stated "It was an epic journey: many days spent unlocking the cruxes of pitches 9 & 10 (both graded 8b), getting caught in a violent storm halfway up on our first day in the route, long runouts in the lower pitches that drained us mentally and physically, endless hikes up and down the long approach… and that final overhanging exposed pitch, dubbed the "Nose" because of its shape, 500 meters above the void!

After a finger injury last spring and not feeling in my best shape, I doubted I could hold such tiny crimps or climb such a long and demanding route. But that’s the magic of climbing: sometimes everything clicks. With Jim’s unwavering support, another dream became reality.

Massive thanks to Jim, who came so close to sending despite the heat and sweaty hands : we’ll be back for you! Huge respect to Matthias for opening this line from the ground and then sending it. What a performance!"

Choong has previously climbed a flurry of hard multi-pitches such as Zahir at Wenden in 2024, La Fiesta de los Metallos (2024) in the Verdon, Ali Baba (2022) at Aiglun, Hattori Hanzo (2022) on the north face of Titlis, La Ramirole (2022) and Une Jolie Fleur dans une Peau de Vache (2021) in the Gorges du Verdon and 6.4 Sekunden (2021) at Engelberg in Switzerland. At the crag she has redpointed 9a twice, Jungfrau Marathon at Gimmelwald in 2019 and Cabane au Canada at Rawyl in 2018.