It’s the highest, most secret side of Nanga Parbat, Pakistan’s 8126 m. giant: the 4500 m. high Rupal. You read that right. On June 24, the trio of French Tiphaine Dupérier, Boris Langenstein and German David Göttler reached the summit via the Rupal Face Schell route, without bottled oxygen and in alpine style. This was followed by the first ski descent of the Rupal from the summit of the Nanga for the two French. And a paragliding descent from 7700 meters for Göttler. Tremendous.
To pull off such a big, tall mountain, the stars have to align. And on June 24, they did. David Göttler is undoubtedly happy and relieved, at least as much as the two Frenchmen: the German has reached the summit after four unsuccessful attempts, on the same Rupal slope. It’s a giant face, with a base camp excessively low in altitude for an 8000.
Above all, the Schell route, opened in 1976, does not lead to the summit but to the Mazenod ridge, which you have to bypass on the Diamir side to reach the summit. It’s therefore a challenging route, where at over 7,500 metres you have to change sides, make a traverse of varying length, and lose sight of base camp. But every member of the trio who climbed this huge face of Rupal this year worked hard for this success, to say the least.
David Göttler: “This is without doubt the highlight of my career so far. I’ve always dreamed of climbing an 8,000 m peak on an unusual route in alpine style with a small team”.
Schell Route and Rupal face. ©Coll. Göttler / Védrines
David Göttler made his first attempt in winter, in 2013, with Italian Simone Moro. He returned almost ten years later, in 2022, for a winter event with Italian Hervé Barmasse. And the Nanga becomes an obsession: he attempts the Rupal slope again in summer, this time with Benjamin Védrines in 2023: but as we have reported, Göttler feels too tired at 7500 m. to continue, and that’s the goal.
2024: last year he teamed up with Mike Arnold, an American living in the Valle d’Aosta, and the two Frenchmen, Boris Langenstein and Tiphaine Dupérier, whom he had met the year before. But again, it didn’t work out. The two Val d’Isère-based guides also have a long history with Nanga Parbat.
In 2019, they attempted the summit via the Diamir slope: Boris was successful, with a partial descent on skis (he skied a little below the summit), while Tiphaine was forced to wait further down, without reaching the summit.
In 2021, together with Guillaume Pierrel and Aurélia Lanoë, they ski the Gasherbrum II, a fantastic descent via the French Spur. In 2024, Boris, Tiphaine and David returned to the Nanga on the Rupal side, without success.
©Coll. Göttler
Tiphaine, Boris, David. ©Coll. Göttler
Summit !
This year, the trio set off again together, without Mike Arnold, with the same objective: to climb the Schell route on the Rupal side, and ski down for the French. They acclimatize in Nepal: “the three of us acclimatize by climbing Island Peak (6,165 m) and Baruntse (7,129 m)”. Before heading off to Pakistan, where the Nanga Parbat base camp on the Rupal side is only a few hours’ walk from the 4×4 track: they reached it around June 10.
On June 13 and 14, they rotate up to 6000 meters to drop off equipment. The snow is melting fast, and they sense the need to get a move on.
Their ascent begins on June 21: they climb directly from base camp, at 3600 meters, to 6000 meters. It’s safe to say they’re well acclimatized! On June 22, the trio set up camp 2 at 6800 meters. On June 23, they reached 7400 meters, their camp 3, not far from the Mazenod ridge. They set off into the night, switching to the Diamir side and climbing the mixed route below the summit, which they reached at 3:30pm.
The three congratulate each other and waste no time: the two Frenchmen put on their skis, David follows on foot, and the latter manages to take off in a paraglider, from where he returns to base camp without a hitch. For the two French skiers, the descent is still a long one.
Tiphaine, Boris, David, Nanga Parbat summit. ©Coll. Göttler
David Göttler paragliding from 7700 meters. ©Coll. Göttler
The descent
Boris and Tiphaine first bivouac at around 7,600 metres, then the next day, June 25, they have to cross the upper Diamir slope again, which takes them a long time to get back to their camp 3, at 7,400 m. On June 26, they ski from 7400 to 6000 metres. On June 27, they skied from this last camp to the base camp, but were unable to ski the end due to lack of snow.
It was a total success, a real feat for the three friends, in the uncluttered style they love. “We consider our ascent to be alpine style, since we only used a 50 m rope, a few pitons and camalots. We had a tent for the three of us, a stove, mattress and sleeping bag, as well as food and gas, which we carried ourselves,” explains David Göttler.
Not everyone is prepared to devote a lot of time to realizing the dream of a lifetime. David Göttler
A magnificent ascent, in alpine style, with a double first on the descent, on an 8000: that’s rare enough to be worth noting.
“The icing on the cake was paragliding, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The many attempts it took me, over the years, to successfully climb and descend this incredible mountain in this style, make me very proud.
These days, everyone wants everything instantly and isn’t prepared to devote much time to realizing the dream of a lifetime. I hope to show that it’s worth it,” concludes David Göttler.