The Art of Climbing. Kilian Fischhuber on Headless Children

Kilian Fischhuber, La Sportiva ambassador and one of the most decorated climbing competitors of all time, with his 21 World Cup victories and five Bouldering Overall titles is not only a “medals machine”.
Ever since retiring from competition in 2014, Fischhuber has been travelling the world for climbing adventures and indulging in multi-pitch climbs in the Alps. In his latest adventure, Kili decided to take on the ‘Headless Children’, a 260m line with difficulties up to 8b in the Rätikon mountains of Switzerland. A really particular rock that looks like a watercolor painting, an absolutely perfect natural work of art breached between 1997 and 1999 by Marco Müller, Koni Mathis and Bruno Rüdisser with their Headless Children. The route is certainly one of the most famous lines nearby, together with the super classical Silbergeier, but due to a twist of fate the route has always remained on the sidelines. Light has now been shed onto this masterpiece by Kilian Fischhuber, who recently made the first repeat after just two days of effort. And climbing turns into art thanks to the Brian Main's watercolour painting, shown alongside footage of the tricky ascent, beautifully illustrates the extreme nature of Kili's adventure. "When you enjoy a sport, you can often not really describe why, and with art it is similar, some paintings speak to you, others don’t.”Fischhuber said “The way it looks, the way these vertical stripes run down, it is like a painting - a bit like water colour. You feel like you climb through a painting.”

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