Lara Neumeier sends End of Silence, 8b+ mp on Feuerhorn

German climber Lara Neumeier has repeated End of Silence, the 11-pitch 8b+ first ascended by Thomas Huber in 1994. Located on the Feuerhörndl, above the Reiteralm in Germany's Berchtesgaden Alps, at the time the 360m outing was considered one of the hardest in the Alps.

Neumeier’s ascent came about on the 26th of August, after 7 days of work, and marks just the second time the route has been climbed by a woman; Barbara Zangerl made the first female ascent in 2012.

Neumeier commented: “At the end of June, just a week after sending Silbergeier, I was still full of motivation and already on my way to End of Silence. Together with Romy Fuchs we hiked up to the base of the wall. The approach is pretty long, and the first time it took us 2.5 hours (luckily, we got much faster the next times).

Over two climbing days, with one rest day in between, we made it up to pitch 8, fighting with slippery rock and super tricky moves that needed precise micro-beta. Then came a long break: military exercises above the wall, the Arc’teryx Academy, endless rain, and finally a bad infection that knocked me out for three weeks.

In mid-August I could finally return with Tobi Ebner. Our goal was simple – climb from bottom to top in one day, just to check out all the pitches. It worked out, but I couldn‘t do the crux moves on pitch 9 – a tiny two-finger pocket that reminded me of my old pulley injury. At least we fixed ropes for the photographer, and two days later I went back up to brush and tick some holds. One week later, I checked the crux pitches again with Manu Papert, found some solid beta and felt ready to give it a try from the ground.

The following Tuesday everything fell into place – perfect conditions and lots of motivation. Still, the day started with a real "what a start" moment: I fell on the very first pitch at the second draw. My climbing partner, Steffen Hilger, lowered me back to the ground, we pulled the rope, and I gave it another go – this time it worked.

From then on I sent every single pitch first try on lead. We set off at 9:30 in the morning and topped out by 6 pm. Number two of the Alpine Trilogy – done!”

Neumeier’s redpoint of End of Silence follows on from her success on Silbergeier in June, leaving just Des Kaisers neue Kleider in the Wilder Kaiser massif to complete in her quest to climb the celebrated Alpine Trilogy.

End of silence - Feuerhorn
8b+, 360m (Thomas Huber, 1994)
P1) 7a+, P2) 6a, P3) 6c+, P4) 6c, P5) 7b+, P6) 7c+, P7) 7b+, P8) 8b, P9) 8b+, P10) 7c+, P11) 7a+