Dani Arnold (born 22 February 1984) is a Swiss extreme

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

. He is famous for his fast climbs, holding speed records on several routes including the Matterhorn in Switzerland and the

Cima Grande di Lavaredo The Tre Cime di Lavaredo (; ), also called the Drei Zinnen (; ), are three distinctive battlement-like peaks, in the Sexten Dolomites of northeastern Italy. They are probably one of the best-known mountain groups in the Alps. The three peaks, ...

in Italy.

Life and career

Dani Arnold grew up in Biel ob Bürglen in the Schächen Valley in

Uri Uri may refer to: Places * Canton of Uri, a canton in Switzerland * Úri, a village and commune in Hungary * Uri, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, a town in India * Uri (island), an island off Malakula Islan ...

. He started

free solo Free solo climbing, or free soloing, is a form of technical ice or rock climbing where the climbers (or ''free soloists'') climb alone without ropes, harnesses or other protective equipment, forcing them to rely entirely on their own individual ...

ice climbing when he was about 20, although his parents did not support him.

Recognition

He became known to a broad public primarily through his speed record on the ascent of the north face of the

Eiger The Eiger () is a 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 a ...

in 2011. He climbed the wall solo in 2 hours and 28 minutes, 20 minutes faster than the previous record holder

Ueli Steck Ueli Steck (; 4 October 1976 – 30 April 2017) was a Swiss rock climber and mountaineer. He was the first to climb Annapurna solo via its South Face (though this is disputed by some), and set speed records on the North Face trilogy in the Alps ...

, who then beat Arnold's time by 6 minutes in 2015. Arnold was already known in the climbing scene before 2011, among other things for the speed record of 1 hour and 35 minutes on the west ridge of the

Salbitschijen The Salbitschijen is a mountain in the Urner Alps, overlooking Göschenen in the Swiss canton of Uri. It lies at the southern extremity of the range of the Fleckistock. It is known for its rock climbing opportunities; the ridges from the south ...

. In 2010, he succeeded in the first winter ascent of the Torre Egger in Patagonia with and Thomas Senf. In January 2012, Arnold climbed the mixed route ''The Hurting'' in Scotland as the first non-Scot redpoint. ''The Hurting'' is considered one of the world's hardest trad mixed climbing routes ever. In April 2013, he and

David Lama David Lama ( ne, डेभिड लामा; 4 August 1990 – 16 April 2019) was an Austrian sport climber and mountaineer. He won the European Championship in bouldering in 2007 and the European Championship in lead climbing in 2006. He ...

made the first ascent of the central headwall on the 1500-metre-high east face of

The Moose's Tooth The Moose's Tooth (or simply Moose's Tooth, Mooses Tooth) is a rock peak on the east side of the Ruth Gorge in the Central Alaska Range, 15 miles (24 km) southeast of Denali. Despite its relatively low elevation, it is a difficult climb. It ...

in Alaska. The two needed around 48 hours for the route called ''Bird of Prey''.

Records and competition

On 22 April 2015, he achieved the fastest solo ascent of the North Face of the Matterhorn in 1h 46min. At the end of July 2018, he set a new record time on the north face of the

Grandes Jorasses The Grandes Jorasses (4,208 m; 13,806 ft) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif, on the boundary between Haute-Savoie in France and Aosta Valley in Italy. The first ascent of the highest peak of the mountain (''Pointe Walker'') was by Hor ...

(4208). He climbed the Walkerpfeiler (1200 metres) in the Mont Blanc massif solo via the Cassin route in 2:04 hours. He thus holds the speed record and replaced Ueli Steck, who had taken 2:21 hours for a different route in winter 2008. In addition to the speed record on the Matterhorn, Arnold thus holds two of the three speed records on the Great North Face; on the Eiger, the record is held by Ueli Steck. In 2019, he reached the summit of the north face of the

, in the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form par ...

, by climbing the ''Comici-Dimai'' route. His record was 46 minutes and 30 seconds. On 12 June 2023, Arnold was the first to climb all three ridges of the Salbitschijen solo and in record time. It took him 9 hours, 36 minutes and 55 seconds and he covered 2311 metres of ascent and 8.48 kilometres in distance. The starting and finishing point was the Salbithütte.

In film

* ''Race to the Summit'', a 2023 documentary film about the rivalry between

and Dani Arnold in setting solo alpine speed records.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold, Dani 1984 births 21st-century Swiss people People from the canton of Uri Swiss mountain climbers Ice climbers Free soloists Living people