Dani Arnold

Dani Arnold

Personal information
Born	(1984-02-22) 22 February 1984 (age 41) Canton of Uri, Switzerland

Dani Arnold (born 22 February 1984) ^[1] is a Swiss extreme mountaineer.

Life and career

Arnold grew up in the Canton of Uri and developed a passion for mountaineering at an early age. He first completed training as a mechanical engineer and then as a mountain guide. He quickly specialized in solo climbing and extremely fast ascents of major walls. In addition to his solo projects, he also works as a professional alpinist for various sponsors and gives lectures about his expeditions.

Dani Arnold is a mountain guide, married, father of a daughter, and lives in Bürglen. ^[2]

Records

Arnold holds or has held several speed records on the six great north faces of the Alps:

• Eiger North Face (2011) – New record with 2 hours 28 minutes via the Heckmair route, breaking Ueli Steck's best time. ^{[3] [4]}
• Matterhorn North Face (2015) – Fastest ascent via the Schmid route in 1 hour 46 minutes. ^{[5] [6]}
• Grandes Jorasses (2018) – New speed record via the Walker Spur route in 2 hours 4 minutes. ^{[7] [8] [9]}
• Cima Grande di Lavaredo (2019) – New record for the "Comici-Dimai" route with 46 minutes 30 seconds. ^{[10] [11]}
• Piz Badile (2020) – Solo ascent of the north face via the classic Cassin route in 52 minutes. ^{[12] [13]}
• Petit Dru (2021) – Fastest ascent of the north face via the classic route in 1 hour 43 minutes. ^{[14] [15]}

Other notable climbs

• The Hurting (XI, 11) (2012) – Mixed route on Ben Nevis with high "ground fall" potential. ^[16]
• Crack Baby Speed Record (2014) – Crack Baby 360m WI6 in 27 min 13 sec.
• First repeat of "Anubis" (XII, 12) in Scotland (2016) – First repeat of the mixed route "Anubis" on Ben Nevis, then the hardest mixed route in the UK. ^[17]
• Free solo ascent of Beta Block Super WI7 in 1h 03min (2017) – First and only free solo ascent of the ice route Beta Block Super on Breitwangfluh. ^[18]
• Ritter der Kokosnuss M12 (2017) – Mixed climbing of the "Ritter der Kokosnuss" M12 route on Breitwangfluh. ^[19]
• First ascent "Schweizernase" on the Matterhorn North Face (2017) ^[20]
• First ascent Uristier (WI6+/M8) Schöllenen (2019) ^[21]
• Salbitschijen Solo Speed Record (2023) – New record with 9 hours, 36 minutes, and 55 seconds for West, South, and East ridges. ^[22]

Expeditions and first ascents

Arnold has undertaken numerous expeditions and first ascents. Notable achievements include:

• Patagonia (2010) – First winter ascent of Torre Egger. ^[23]
• Patagonia (2013) – Cerro Torre in winter – Successful winter ascent. ^[24]
• Alaska (2016) – First ascent of "Bird of Prey" in the Mooses Tooth Towers. ^[25]
• Canada (2019) – Power Shrimps Helmcken Falls – First ascent of the extreme ice route at the 140m high Helmcken Falls. ^{[26] [27]}
• Pakistan (2019) – Broad Peak 8051m – Expedition to the 8051m high Broad Peak. ^[28]
• Russia (2020) – Expedition to Lake Baikal in winter – 10 first ascents between WI5 and M8 over the frozen Lake Baikal. ^[29]
• Iceland (2022) – Ice expedition – Ice and mixed climbing in Iceland. ^[30]

Awards

• Paul-Preuss-Award 2024 ^[31]

Documentaries

• Matthias Affolter: Berge im Kopf. (in German) Film, 2014, 93 min. ^[32]
• Netflix: Race to the Summit Film, 2023, 90 min. ^[33]
• NDR: Climber Dani Arnold – Free Solo Records on the North Faces. Documentary (in German), 2024, 30 min. ^[34]

Publications

• Why All This? Records & Reflections by Extreme Alpinist Dani Arnold. 2018.
• 9:39 North – Solo through the Great North Faces of the Alps. (in German) Uli Auffermann & Dani Arnold 2022.
• HOW not WHAT – Reflections by Dani Arnold 2023. ^[35]
• Anti Gravity – Thomas Monsorno & Dani Arnold 2024.

External links

• Official Website

References

1. Christian Thiele: Dani Arnold: "Too slow is dangerous" Interview in: alpin.de 6/2016.
2. Olivier Joliat: "Yes, I take risks" In: Coopzeitung No. 6 from 4 February 2014, p. 135, (PDF).
3. "Speed record on the north face of the Eiger".
4. "Schweizer Kletterer bricht Speed-Rekord von Ueli Steck". 15 August 2018.
5. "Matterhorn".
6. "Neuer Rekord am Matterhorn".
7. "2h 04min Grandes Jorasses".
8. "Speed-Rekord an Grandes Jorasses Nordwand".
9. "Dani Arnold: Speed-Rekord an Grandes Jorasses Nordwand".
10. "Free Solo Speed - Große Zinne-Nordwand in 46min 30sec".
11. "Rekord in den Dolomiten - Dani Arnold: In 46 Minuten die Nordwand der Grossen Zinne hoch".
12. "Piz Badile 3308m".
13. "Zwei Dani Arnold Speed Solos".
14. "Petit Dru-Solo Speed".
15. "Rekord - 1:43 Stunden an der Nordwand der Petit Dru".
16. "The Hurting XI 11 - Tradclimbing im schottischen Hochland".
17. "Anubis (Scotland)".
18. "Ice climbing- Free Solo- 1h 03min".
19. "Knights of the Coconut".
20. "Swiss Nose: First Ascent:March 14–17".
21. ""Uristier" (WI6+/M8) - Schöllenenschlucht, Andermatt".
22. "Solo speed record on the Swiss Salbit".
23. "1. Winterbegehung Torre Egger/Patagonien".
24. "Cerro Torre, finally!!".
25. "Alaska".
26. "Helmcken Falls - Canada".
27. "Dani Arnold eröffnet "Power Shrimps"".
28. "My first eight-thousander - Broad Peak 8051m".
29. "Expedition Baikal".
30. "Iceland".
31. "Paul-Preuss-Preis 2024 awarded to Dani Arnold" . Retrieved 1 November 2024.
32. Website for the film
34. "Sportclub Story: Kletterer Dani Arnold - Free Solo-Rekorde an den Nordwänden - hier anschauen".
35. "HOW not WHAT - Reflections by Dani Arnold".