Beni Hug and Tony Sbalbi set out on the road once again to score another amazing achievement. They climbed the Dufour Peak and Mont Blanc, the two highest peaks in Switzerland and France, in a single tour – an impressive feat of endurance.
The Swiss national and his French counterpart planned to climb the highest peaks in their native countries in a single tour. The route alone from one peak to the other (approx. 78 km), which extends along a route similar to that of the so-called Haute Route, normally takes several days.
The two endurance specialists conquered the entire tour, including the ascent of both peaks, in less than 50 hours. The full reality of this feat of endurance only becomes clear when you realize that the entire distance to be covered is 140 km with a total of 13,902 ascent meters and 14,622 descent meters to overcome.
Beni Hug compares the projects as follows: “If you compare this project with the seven 4,000-meter peaks in 2015, it was a lot more stressful this time. The fact that our latest project contained much less ridge climbing certainly made it less technically difficult, but it meant that we had to stay extremely concentrated for two days.
The greatest challenges were the weather conditions, such as the lack of snow, which forced us to carry our skis for large parts of the route and deviate from our actual planned route. Added to this was the heat during the day and the lack of sleep, which made this already exhausting project even more strenuous.”