Austrian duo conquer unique parallel multi-pitch climbing routes on Saturday at iconic Swiss landmark.
Austria’s Jessica Pilz and Jakob Schubert became the latest Red Bull Dual Ascent champions in its third edition on Saturday as the Olympic climbing bronze medallists dominated Swiss duo Andrea Kümin and Sascha Lehmann in an adrenaline-fuelled final. Here is all you need to know:
- Among the field were defending champions from Slovenia, the Kruder siblings, Olympic champion and 2022 winner Alberto Ginés López, Brazilian free climbing star Felipe Camargo, 18-year-old Romanian prodigy Darius Rapa and the youngest ever competitor – 17-year-old Jennifer Buckley from Slovenia.
- After Wednesday’s qualification series whittled down the field to eight, Thursday’s semi-finals saw a record time by Pilz and Schubert as they scaled the route superbly to reach the final. Pilz revealed: “Today was a lot more exhausting. It was really hard to breathe even though it was not so exhausting on the forearms as I’m used to from other competitions.”
- In Saturday’s Swiss-Austrian “neighbourhood duel”, Pilz and Schubert clashed with Kümin and Lehmann to see who had the endurance, speed, strength and grit to conquer the epic Verzasca Dam as they were tested to their absolute limit in this one-of-a-kind climbing competition.
- The 2024 title was on the line with 180m of demanding, exposed routes – six gnarly pitches from 6c to 8b – standing between them and victory as they battled soaring temperatures of 32°C on the wall as well as a 12 hold shake-up on the final punishing 8b pitch compared to the semi-finals.
- With heart rates soaring and pump levels spiking, the mixed teams went all-in with Pilz and Schubert building on their brand new Red Bull Dual Ascent record in the semi-finals to keep up their tempo and dominance to blaze their way to final victory at the awe-inspiring Swiss location.
- Pilz, 27, said: “We had some pressure because many were expecting us to win because we had the best semi-final time. We went 100% safe on the crack and also not on the last pitch because they changed some hold. It’s really fun to do a competition like this here at the end of the year.”
- Schubert, 33, said: “I had way more struggles in the cracks pitch than ever before. It took way too much power and I had to fight to actually top all the pitches today. Jessy was climbing so solidly.”
- Despite Kümin and Lehmann clocking a personal best time and showcasing stunning skill, the Swiss duo had to settle for second place as their Austrian rivals’ lead became insurmountable following two penalties for Kümin at the hand crack feature in pitch three as well as the final pitch.
- Kümin said: “You have a lot of air when you look down but, when you’re climbing, you’re really focused on the next move. Today it was amazing because on top there was the crowd cheering. You can really hear it. It was like the higher you climb, the louder it was, so it was really fun.”
- Lehmann, 26, said: “It’s a big honour for me to climb this dam. I think everyone knows this dam – it’s iconic – so being allowed to climb on it and then getting second place is just amazing.”
- Following the withdrawal of the Ukrainian-Spanish duo Jenya Kazbekova and Ginés López due to injury, third place went to Buckley and Rapa.
- The Romanian admitted: “I was on the verge to throw up multiple times. My heart was exploding. It was insane effort. I really loved it, though!”
- To treat the spectators to some exceptional climbing action before the showpiece final, local hero Petra Klingler and French teammate Louna Ladevant took on the up-and-coming generation in a show climb.
2024 Red Bull Dual Ascent result
1) Jessica Pilz AUT & Jakob Schubert AUT – 48:46min
2) Andrea Kümin SUI & Sascha Lehmann SUI – 56:43 (2 penalties)
3) Jennifer Buckley SLO & Darius Rapa ROU – 51:53 (semi-final)
4) Jenya Kazbekova UKR & Alberto Ginés López ESP – 1:00:38 (1 penalty,
semi-final)
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