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Nicolas Hojac (born 13 July 1992) is a Swiss mountaineer. [1] At age 20, he became one of the youngest climbers to have successfully climbed the North Face trilogy.
Hojac grew up in Niederscherli, near Bern, and completed an apprenticeship as an automation technician. He later pursued mechanical engineering studies at the Bern University of Applied Sciences in Burgdorf. [2]
Hojac is considered one of Switzerland's leading mountaineers. At the age of 14, Hojac discovered his passion for the mountains during a language stay in Lower Valais. [3] By the age of 18, he had climbed the north face of the Eiger for the first time, followed by ascents of the north faces of the Matterhorn and the Grandes Jorasses. At 20, he became one of the youngest climbers to have completed the trilogy of the three great north faces of the Alps.
From 2014 to 2016, Hojac was part of the expedition team of the Swiss Alpine Club. The culmination of this three-year training period was an expedition to the Tian Shan Mountains in China, where the team completed several first ascents. This project was documented by Swiss television and later aired as the documentary "Hoch Hinaus - The Expedition Team" on SRF 2. [4]
On November 11, 2015, Hojac, alongside renowned alpinist Ueli Steck, set a new speed record for a rope team on the Eiger North Face, climbing the Heckmair route in just 3 hours and 46 minutes. [5] In the years following, Hojac specialized in speed mountaineering in the Alps and expedition climbing across the globe. He has made first ascents in the Alps, China, Patagonia, and Norway.
In July 2021, Hojac featured in the film The Soloist VR, where he assisted Alex Honnold in free solo climbs across the Alps and Dolomites. [6] The film later won an award at the Cannes Film Festival. [7]
On September 9, 2023, Hojac, along with Adrian Zurbrügg, completed the Schreckmarathon in 18 hours and 52 minutes. They crossed seven peaks—Mättenberg, Ankebälli, Gwächta, Klein Schreckhorn, Nässihorn, Schreckhorn, and Lauteraarhorn—covering a total distance of 42 kilometres (26 mi). [8]
The Jungfrau Railway is a mountain rack railway in the Bernese Alps, Switzerland, connecting Kleine Scheidegg in the Bernese Oberland to the Jungfraujoch, across the Valais border. It is the highest railway in Switzerland and Europe, running 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) from the station of Kleine Scheidegg to the Jungfraujoch, well above the perennial snow line. As a consequence, the railway runs essentially within the Jungfrau Tunnel, built into the neighbouring Eiger and Mönch, to protect the line from snow and extreme weather.
The Jungfrau, at 4,158 meters (13,642 ft) is one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps, located between the northern canton of Bern and the southern canton of Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch. Together with the Eiger and Mönch, the Jungfrau forms a massive wall of mountains overlooking the Bernese Oberland and the Swiss Plateau, one of the most distinctive sights of the Swiss Alps.
The Eiger is a 3,967-metre (13,015 ft) mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends across the Mönch to the Jungfrau at 4,158 m (13,642 ft), constituting one of the most emblematic sights of the Swiss Alps. While the northern side of the mountain rises more than 3,000 m (10,000 ft) above the two valleys of Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen, the southern side faces the large glaciers of the Jungfrau-Aletsch area, the most glaciated region in the Alps. The most notable feature of the Eiger is its nearly 1,800-metre-high (5,900 ft) north face of rock and ice, named Eiger-Nordwand, Eigerwand or just Nordwand, which is the biggest north face in the Alps. This substantial face towers over the resort of Kleine Scheidegg at its base, on the eponymous pass connecting the two valleys.
The Mönch at 4,110 metres (13,480 ft) is a mountain in the Bernese Alps, in Switzerland. Together with the Eiger and the Jungfrau, it forms a highly recognisable group of mountains, visible from far away.
The Kleine Scheidegg is a mountain pass at an elevation of 2,061 m (6,762 ft), situated below and between the Eiger and Lauberhorn peaks in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. The name means "minor watershed", as it only divides the two arms of the Lütschine river, both converging at Zweilütschinen, while the nearby Grosse Scheidegg divides the Lütschine from the Rychenbach stream.
The Jungfraujoch is a saddle connecting two major 4000ers of the Bernese Alps: the Jungfrau and the Mönch. It lies at an elevation of 3,463 metres (11,362 ft) above sea level and is directly overlooked by the rocky prominence of the Sphinx. The Jungfraujoch is a glacier saddle, on the upper snows of the Aletsch Glacier, and part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch area, situated on the boundary between the cantons of Bern and Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch.
The White Spider is a non-fiction book by Heinrich Harrer that describes the first successful ascent of the infamous north face (Nordwand) of the Eiger, a mountain in the Berner Oberland of the Swiss Alps, with sections devoted to the history of mountaineering in the area.
Free solo climbing, or free soloing, is a form of rock climbing where the climbers climb solo without ropes or other protective equipment, using only their climbing shoes and their climbing chalk. Free soloing is the most dangerous form of climbing, and, unlike bouldering, free soloists climb above safe heights, where a fall can be fatal. Though many climbers have free soloed climbing grades they are very comfortable on, only a tiny group free solo regularly, and at grades closer to the limit of their abilities.
The six great north faces of the Alps are a group of vertical faces in the Swiss, French, and Italian Alps known in mountaineering for their difficulty, danger, and great height. The "Trilogy" is the three hardest of these north faces, being the Eiger, the Grandes Jorasses, and the Matterhorn.
Christian Almer was a Swiss mountain guide and the first ascentionist of many prominent mountains in the western Alps during the golden and silver ages of alpinism. Almer was born and died in Grindelwald, Canton of Bern.
The Jungfrau-Aletsch protected area is located in south-western Switzerland between the cantons of Bern and Valais. It is a mountainous region in the easternmost side of the Bernese Alps, containing the northern wall of Jungfrau and Eiger, and the largest glaciated area in western Eurasia, comprising the Aletsch Glacier. The Jungfrau-Aletsch protected area is the first World Natural Heritage site in the Alps; it was inscribed in 2001.
Ueli Steck was a Swiss rock climber and alpinist. He was the first to climb Annapurna solo via its South Face, and set speed records on the North Face trilogy in the Alps. He won two Piolet d'Or awards, in 2009 and 2014. Having previously summitted Mount Everest, Steck died on 30 April 2017, after a fall during an acclimatizing climb for an attempt on the Hornbein route on the West Ridge of Everest without supplemental oxygen.
Fritz Steuri was a Swiss mountain climber and Nordic and alpine skier. He was a three-time Swiss champion in cross-country skiing. In 1921, he took part in the first ascent of the Mittellegigrat.
Willy Angerer was an Austrian mountaineer. He was one of four mountaineers who died in the 1936 Eiger north face climbing disaster, along with Toni Kurz, Andreas Hinterstoisser and Eduard Rainer. At thirty-one Angerer was the oldest of the four climbers who died.
Ulrich Kaufmann was a Swiss mountain guide. He was born and died in Grindelwald.
Hans Kaufmann was a Swiss mountain guide who served clients in the Alps, the Rocky Mountains, the Dolomites, the Carpathians, and the Andes.
The recorded history of climbing of the Eiger mountain in Switzerland starts in the 1800s. It is split between the Eiger pre-north face era, when the main summits and easier ridges and faces were climbed, and the post-north face era, when it became one of the greatest prizes in mountaineering. At least sixty-four climbers have died while attempting the ascent.
Dani Arnold is a Swiss extreme mountaineer. He is famous for his fast climbs, holding speed records on several routes including the Matterhorn in Switzerland and the Cima Grande di Lavaredo in Italy.