1989 Trango Tower Eternal Flame Expedition

Official Expedition Narrative & Archival Record

In the late summer of 1989, German rock climbing luminaries Kurt Albert, the pioneer of the redpoint (Rotpunkt) concept, and Wolfgang Güllich, the world's preeminent sport climber, arrived at the Baltoro Glacier with Christof Stiegler and Milan Sykora. Their objective was audaciously futuristic: apply pure free-climbing ethics to a sheer vertical 1,000-metre granite wall at over 6,000 metres altitude on Nameless Tower (6,286m). Hauling heavy gear to the Trango Glacier, the team established a portaledge camp on a tiny granite ledge high on the South Face. Over several weeks of intense physical effort in freezing temperatures, Albert and Güllich led 24 pitches of world-class granite cracks, stemming corners, and delicate headwall face moves, overcoming technical difficulties up to European grade IX- (French 7b+ / 5.12c). They named the route Eternal Flame in honor of the contemporary hit song by The Bangles, symbolizing an unquenchable passion for alpine beauty and purity. Reaching the summit on September 9, 1989, their ascent proved that the hardest grades of rock climbing could be achieved in the world's highest and most remote mountain ranges.