Deep Blue Sea by Katie Keeley
320m 7b+ on the Geneva Pillar on the North West face of the Eiger.
One of the most beautiful and fulfilling climbs of my life. This route came onto my radar 7 years ago. It captured my imagination and filled me with desire/ fear/ excitement. Perfect limestone on such a steep face on one of the most iconic mountains in the alps. Its’ reputation scared me. Consistently difficult climbing, famous for its long, serious and scary run outs. I wanted to climb it so badly but I thought it was too hard for me, too scary. I wasn’t strong enough, I wasn’t brave enough…
Then years passed and I realised I had been slowly accumulating many skills, getting stronger, gaining experience, slowly slowly. Suddenly it didn’t seem like an impossible dream anymore. The last 3 years I started to think about it more seriously. Maybe I could do this.
This summer everything aligned perfectly. I had 3 weeks with my wonderful most trusted mountain companion David. The heatwave meant the north face of the Eiger was the best place to be away from all the rock fall in Chamonix. We couldn’t have asked for better conditions, the pitches were all dry and I was even climbing in a T-shirt.
We both approached the climb with the mindset that we would just go out there, try our hardest and see what happened. If we managed to summit then brilliant, if we didn’t we would simply enjoy the experience and the challenge. The first 4 pitches went well and felt steady and my confidence grew. It wasn’t as scary as I thought it might be. I used my totem cams on every pitch, which helped a lot.
I lead the first hard 7b+ crux pitch and didn’t fall off. I was surprised and elated. I started to allow the idea that we might actually be able to make it to the top.
The final 7a was the biggest challenge for me mentally. The bolts felt very spaced out here. We were so high and a fall felt like it would have really serious consequences. I got frozen about half way up the pitch, scared to commit to the next moves. Knowing I couldn’t reverse them. After about 10 mins I managed to calm my mind and commit to the move. I tried not to think at all and just climb. Just breathe. Just move. My body knows what to do. Trust it. I got to the belay with great relief and very shaky legs.
The final 7b+ crux was also my lead. It was well protected so I felt confident to just go for it. There are 3 hard powerful boulder problems in a row. I got the first one, got the second one, didn’t quite stick the 3rd big move and fell. I was so happy with my attempt and had really given it everything. I sat on the rope, noticed a higher foot hold that would be very helpful, pulled back on and sent it the next try.
On more tricky pitch and we made it to the summit. I couldn’t believe it. We had climbed Deep Blue Sea. And the fact that I had very nearly onsighted it was a massive bonus seeing as my goal was just to get up there.
We sat on the summit 6 hrs after starting, looking out over the beautiful valley of Grindelwald, with those magical shafts of soft evening light filtering through the clouds. I felt so completely at peace. So content.
I thought about everything it had taken me to get here. All those years of climbing and training, falling and sweating and bleeding. Funny what all those little things add up to. And now I climbed my dream route and I climbed it well.
One of the things I love most about this sport is that it can make me feel so strong and powerful, confident and free. Way more than I do in ‘normal’ life. And yet simultaneously I also feel so very fragile and small. Such a tiny part of a massive whole. I’m super grateful that everything lined up for us this summer to do this line and that the Eiger let us pass over her safely these days. Let’s keep dreaming big 😊🙌
