5.13 Freed on Asgard's South Tower
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Bavarian Direct was established in 1996 by a fellow Bavarian team at the grade 7/A3. In 2009, a mostly Belgian team—Nico and Olivier Favresse, Sean Villanueva, Stephane Hanssens, and Spaniard Silvia Vidal—free climbed all but the start of the seventh pitch, dubbing it the The Bavarian-Belgarian. Their ascent deviated quite a bit from the original line, exploring much new terrain.
On August 9, Thomas and Alexander Huber and Walder completed this 28-pitch line, with free climbing up to 5.13b. They originally planned to try to ascend in a single push, but had to make several laps to and from base camp due to inclement weather.
Alexander told Adidas, “The Asgard did us no favors; only the last few meters were really easy, but that’s always the way: the tougher the challenge, the more vivid and lasting the memories.”
Nico Favresse sang the praises of the route in 2009, saying, “We found the quality of the rock and the climbing to be outstanding—most of the pitches were splitter cracks combined with hard face climbing traversing from one crack to another.” The Hubers and Walder agree, describing the route as one that “belongs among the top routes on [Yosemite’s] El Capitan.”
Date of ascent: August 2012
Source: Adidas, nicofavresse.com, climbing.com