PowderPeople | Stephan Siegrist

"Stephan Siegrist was born in 1972 and grew up in Meikirch in Switzerland. A village in the Bernese Mittelland from where, in good weather, you have a fantastic view of the Bernese Alps. After leaving school, he initially trained as a carpenter. (Stephan Siegrist website)" You can also browse through the impressive number of first ascents, expeditions and climbing chronicles on his website.

He recently returned from an expedition in Nepal, about which more will be reported later.

So we are all the more pleased to be able to meet him for a short interview.

J: Just like everyone else.

S: Yes, all of us, but the problem is that they can't ski on bad snow, they're not really good skiers and then sometimes you're already standing there and that has really changed a lot.

So luckily this year we've already had snow, but the last few years we've also had a bit of snow in November from time to time. I think people just need to change their mindset and go skiing when it's good and not pick a time with a specific date and say that's when they want to go skiing. Then it could be that everything is green.

J: Has your willingness to take risks changed over the last few years with the changes in the mountains and with your family? Would you say you are more relaxed with family now?

S: Yes, no, more stressed (lauthing). I've actually always tried to choose lines that are as safe as possible, as far as that's possible, so more on elevations, on gradients, so on ridges. If you look back, Shivling is a bit of a bad example, but otherwise mostly pillars in the high mountains, where you're actually much safer. Or a big wall where you know the rock is pretty sure to be very compact because you can see it from far below. This is referring to mountaineering.

I was always very defensive when I was travelling in winter, because even as a boy I saw how things could go wrong. How you try to assess the terrain, but there are hidden mines and if you come across one, it goes off, doesn't it? And that a very nice powder day can actually end in tragedy and that's why I'm very defensive when travelling in winter.

So of course you also have to differentiate between when you're travelling by yourself, i.e. privately or with guests. With guests, I really always take a step back, because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter so much whether you've ridden this steep line or not, but what does matter is that everyone is still there when it's banged up.

J: About Shivling. A lot has changed in the last 3 years. Do you want to tackle it again?

Background information: In November this year, Stephan Siegrist, Kaspar Grossniklaus, Hugo Beguin and Jonas Schild travelled together to the Garhwal Himalayas in India to make the third attempt at the first ascent of the south face of Shivling (6543 m.a.s.l.). The first attempt in 2021 had to be cancelled due to altitude sickness, the second attempt failed due to poor weather conditions and the third attempt failed again due to altitude sickness. More about the exciting expedition here.

No. The change is really too big and with the change comes the danger. It really has become too dangerous for me and not just for me, but also for Jonas (Schild) anyway.

Even this time, we said that we would go in again once, either it would work or it wouldn't, because we would have had the time and the weather to go a second or even a third time. But unfortunately it's just no longer reasonable for us. So we were just lucky. Nobody was hit by a rockfall on the first attempt or on this one. Yes, you know the rest.

Background information: "On 8th October 2024, Mammut athletes Jonas Schild and Stephan Siegrist, together with their rope team partners Kaspar Grossniklaus and Hugo Beguin, mastered what was probably the first ascent of the Southwest Ridge of the six-thousand Bhagirathi III in India. Their report shows how a plan B became an outstanding mountaineering achievement." This is an extract from the press release from Mammut, where you can find even more exciting insider information.

J: Was there ever a moment, not necessarily at Shiviling now, when you thought to yourself: "I'm not doing this anymore!"?

S: Well, I wouldn't generally say "I'm not doing this anymore". So maybe I'll leave it now, I'll leave the wall, the route, but not the climbing.

J: What would you recommend to people who want to spend a lot of time travelling in the mountains in winter?

S: Airbag, and so on, how to search, how to raise the alarm, so an avalanche course is definitely worthwhile. And then don't be tempted by the cool videos, but rather be able to assess yourself as much as possible. What do I know about avalanches? What can I risk? And if in doubt, always take a defensive approach.

J: One last question: which ski are you travelling with the most?

S: (lauthing) With the Scott Pure Tour.

J: Thank you for the interview.