Climbing World's Most DANGEROUS Big Wall

Troll Wall, the tallest rock face in Europe, and possibly one of the most dangerous. The danger of the wall doesn’t come from difficulty, steepness or height, but from the quality of the rock itself; It’s loose.

Not loose in a way that you might break a hand or foot hold, more terrifyingly loose that the whole feature you are pulling on could peel away. It feels solid until something goes wrong, then when it goes wrong…it can really go wrong.

With the continuous freeze thaw cycles between seasons, plus the rocks architecture and steepness, It’s not surprising that the cliff is falling down. It’s a standing pile of rubble that is glued together with moss, permafrost and hope.

There has been a long history on the Troll Wall of success, failure, rock fall and deaths from avalanche, dating back to the mid 1960s. In 1965 two teams, 1 British, 1 Norwegian, raced to make the first ascent of the wall, topping out just one day apart from each other. For both teams this must have been one of the most significant feats of big wall climbing in the world at the time.

1981 brought the first free ascent of the wall, by a joint Norwegian/British team. Their ascent was documented in ‘The Vertical Mile’. A film which excellently shows the dangers and toil that go into free climbing a piece of rock like this.

In 1998 a significant portion of the 1965 British route fell down. The rock fall was so large it measured 2.5 on the Richter scale. There have been many further impressive first ascents both in winter and summer, aid and free, but fast forward to more recent years and its local climber Sindre Saether who has really left a significant mark on the wall, being the first to free aid lines which were previously thought unfreeable.

From researching what i could and watching the documentaries, I knew the wall wasn’t to be taken lightly. No matter what standard of climber you are, it’s impossible to out run a house sized block detaching itself from the wall and spraying itself on the approach scree. To climb it, patience would be key.

Climbers:
Instagram @petewhittaker01, @mariaugstahs

Thanks and Credits:
Thanks to Matti Bernitz for the drone footage
Thanks to Vertebrate Publishing for the photos from the 1965 ascent
Thanks to Magnus Skånøy for the thumbnail photo

Check out Tony Howards book from the 1965 British ascent here:

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[WideBoyz]

I apologise for the incorrect historical fact at the beginning. The First free ascent of the wall was done in June in 1979 by the locals Ragnhild Amundsen and Hans Christian Doseth, they did Rimmon Route. The first free ascent of the Swedish Route (the one mentioned in the video) was done in June 1980 by Hans Christian Doseth, Steve Bancroft and Choe Brooks.

Thanks and Credits:
Thanks to Matti Bernitz for the drone footage
Thanks to Vertebrate Publishing for the photos from the 1965 ascent
Thanks to Magnus Skånøy for the thumbnail photo

Check out Tony Howards book from the 1965 British ascent here:

[ThrowingItAway]

"I'm living it right now, it's my best life" - Pete Whittaker 2021 feeling ill on the Troll Wall.

[geoliese]

i loved the editing of this. It feels so intimate, like finding a diary of a long forgotten climbing couple

[piotrjurga]

Never thought the Troll Wall could look this romantic.

[henrikkarlsson]

Pete and Mari’s Norwegian adventures are always a treat but this was exceptional!

[seanmcguire]

Insane, also very romantic. Pete with corona and Mari with worms having bivi ledge fish all accompanied by a romantic piano track, looks like a good time.

[tonyhoward]

Good to see Troll Wall back in the news. Some great memories up there.

[grey-yem]

This was such a good mini documentary. You smashed the format, Pete.

It was really nice to hear Mari on the commentary. I think the choice to record voiceovers separately (and not conversing over the footage) really fit the mood of the climb.

[fabianantonio]

Not only wide boyz, also wide girlz. She has a nice presenter voice

[TerjeMathisen]

Well done!
One of my big regrets as a climber is that I never made it up the Troll Wall, specifically the Swedish route. After 3 weeks of very nice weather in the summer of 1982 (or 83?) I met up with two friends from Trondheim, camped at the bottom ready to go and then the weather turned 180 degrees during the night to cold rain and wind, with a forecast of two more weeks of the same. The Norwegian route you just did was known as "overhanging scree and rubble", or at least that's what the first ascensionists called it, it has had _very_ few repeats.

[tor]

Yeah, Hans Christian Doseth and his gf made the first free ascent of Troll Wall in 1979 (Rimmon route). The memorial stone include the accident of Rune Thrap Meyer and Håkon Staver in 1985, but that was on the other side of valley (Breitind). How Håkon survived that, was an amazing story, crawling with broken legs in a snowstorm, trying to stop the last train by waving his hand. The train stopped and picked him up.

This vid gave a very realistic view of how I remember the Troll Wall from almost 40 years ago. The climate have changed, so maybe less avalanches and more rock fall now, but it is a serious big wall. The trolls are at the top, they get kicks from throwing rocks at climbers. :)

[MichielVerhoef]

So nice that the videos on which Mari also takes part have another sense of humor and intensity, even intimate. Battling whatever challenge is ahead as a true team in which no part could be missed for succes.

[jimf]

I stumbled on your video while verifying details of a report on the Luftforsvaret 'Super Long Line' techniques for helicopter rescue on big walls. Some of the Troll rescues are almost as scary as the accidents. A mad mad location. Well done for living through it so elegantly!

[ChocolatTherapy]

who thought climbing a loose stack of rocks could be this romantic

[niccoloricardi]

11 years ago I went with friends wild camping in that area. We arrived in front of Trollveggen but didn't know where to cross the river. We asked locals how we could get under the wall. They looked at us with a perplexed face and said "you don't". We decided we'd look for a way after a quick lunch break. While we were eating, rock fell in a quantity sufficient to cause a cloud that lingered for 15 minutes. Of course we did not cross the river.

[Yakushii]

Been there, looked at it, bailed. Three times.

Don't think I'm going for a fourth, but it's so tempting when you're not actually there.

[nurkuselegantus]

Mari: What do you want to do today?
Pete, after 27 hours of near continuous climbing: Dunno, go climbing?

[BWGmedia]

Superb cinematography, editing, storytelling and commentary and of course excellent climbing! Keep killing it wide boyz!

[donclever]

I love the sound of the voice coming from behind the camera 🎥 it’s so intimate and really draws you into your experience it’s makes me feel like I’m with you on the wall.

[januszgoab]

Great climbing, great movie referring to our grandparents from the past ... Congratulations!
The Troll Wall has a long history and every climb will be remembered for a long time, but what Sindre Saether and his father did in 2010 is amazing! Arch Wall is probably the most risky trad climbing in Europe, and maybe even. My friends and I spent thirteen days on Arch Wall in the winter of 1994, making the first winter pass and the second repetition at all. I ran A4 + aid pitches on the Arch and I know how difficult it is to do a classic climb. Yes, Troll Wall is a beautiful and very difficult wall.
More congratulations for a great climb and a great movie!