Nine days: that’s how long it took Stefano Ragazzo to reach the summit of Trango’s Nameless Tower, 6250 m, on his own. The young Italian guide has made the first solo ascent of Eternal Flame, a mythical route courted by the best. Despite some mishaps: Stefano lost some equipment, including one of his two ice axes, damaged his portaledge and even experienced the worst for a bigwall climber: running out of water. Stefano tells the story in his own words, contacted by telephone from Courmayeur, where his voice is still full of the joy of his magnificent solo trip to Trango.
Do not think that climbing a mountain solo is easy, or even similar to a roped ascent. Charles Dubouloz’s impressive solo ascent of the Grandes Jorasses is a reminder of this, as he spent five nights overcoming the Rolling Stones in winter 2022.
Stefano Ragazzo, too, is a mountain guide. He has just climbed Pakistan’s Nameless Tower in nine days, via the mythical Eternal Flame. A nine-day ascent, in which he climbed each pitch, self-assured, before descending to pick up his equipment and climb back up to the jumar. He is not the first, but probably only the second to achieve the feat of climbing the Nameless Tower solo, after Japan’s Takeyasu Minamiura, author of a breathtaking solo by opening (!) a route on the East face, in 1990, before nearly killing himself paragliding down (and being rescued by compatriots).
Nine days solo? That’s nine very long days,