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]
Speed records on the North Faces of the Alps
Dani 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]
This means he holds records on five of the six great north faces of the Alps.
Other notable climbs in the Alps
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
Besides his records in the Alps, Dani Arnold has undertaken numerous expeditions and first ascents. Notable achievements include:
Patagonia (2010) – First winter ascent of Torre Egger.[23]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
