Ines Papert Climbs Unicorn VIII 8

Visiting German climber Ines Papert has climbed Unicorn at Stob Coire nan Lochan in Glen Coe which is graded Scottish VIII 8. This is possibly the hardest ever lead of a Scottish winter route by a woman.

Ines had been in Scotland climbing for only one day before she climbed Unicorn. Due to delays with flights it appears she arrived a couple of days later than expected and felt the need to make up for lost time! Part of a group of Arcteryx sponsored climbers from Canada and Germany she has definitely taken advantage of good conditions which so often do not materialise for visitors. The day before climbing Unicorn she was up on Aonach Mor climbing Stirling Bridge VI 7.

This standard of climbing should probably be expected from Ines who has been climbing hard mixed, ice, rock and alpine routes for a number of years. In 2003 she repeated Mission Impossible in Italy which is graded M (mixed) 11. Ice climbing and dry tooling competitions have been one of her main focuses over the last couple of years and she has been Ice Climbing World Champion four times and has three World Cup Overall titles. Who says competition strength and skill does not translate well into ‘real’ climbing.

It’ll be interesting to see what else she gets up to during her stay in Scotland.

For more on Ines Papert climbing Unicorn, to keep up with what else she climbs in Scotland and for photos visit Ian Parnell’s blog.

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