Nico Favresse and Sébastien Berthe were out and about for a while this summer. Their project was to climb the Alps Trilogy (Silbergeier, The End Of Silence, Des Kaisers neue Kleider), three of the most difficult and famous multipitch routes between Switzerland, Germany and Austria, moving from one valley to another by bike or train and with all their material in tow.
Dog and flamingo included.
Sébastien Berthe (Left) and Nico Favresse (Right) Photo By: Damien Largero
Do you think this type of sustainable climbing trip will become popular in the future?
Nico: This type of trip is may be not for everyone, but I think it’s interesting to search for new and fun ways to be sustainable. Séb ( Sébastien Berthe ) actually came up with the idea and I agreed straight away , but only if I could bring my dog as well!
Photos By: Damien Largerons
It is long way to cycle between these routes and you covered many Km on your bike. Do you think this made the challenge tougher to climb the Trilogy this way?
Nico: Sure , it was a little bit tougher than driving to each of the routes , but it was an interesting challenge and the total experience was great in the end. Many times we hike a long way into the mountains to climb and of course this means we loose some climbing fitness and strength , but in the end it challenges us in a different way. As a climber I look for a good mix of adventure, fun and great climbing and this trip fitted perfectly to this mix.
You traveled by bike , train and foot. Did you discover some unexpected challenges with this type of travel during the trip?
Nico: The train was quite expensive in the end , which we didn’t expect , and also we could not take all the trains as only certain train carriages could take the bikes. We probably could have planned a little better , but there is fun to discovering things along the way as well , I like to be adaptive!
Photo By: Damien Largerons
Any plans for future low carbon trips?
Nico: Sure! These types of trips are lots of fun to do and plan. I think it is great to be more creative with climbing trips and come up with fun and interesting ways to be more sustainable in the way we travel and climb. There is so many possibilities to add even small amounts of sustainability to our lives , even if the carbon savings are not huge , it is a way to be thinking more about the planet and our impact on it.