The danger lurks invisibly, still hidden in the black of night. But Lukas Stöckli (34) can feel it. Cold and damp, it envelops his body, which is covered in nothing but a colourful nylon skin. Stöckli hesitates. He has been standing in front of the magnificent walls of Chillon Castle on Lake Geneva for minutes, frowning into the rest of the night and kneading his metal pendant. In military jargon, the piece is called a "tombstone" and is labelled with the necessary rough data in case of identification difficulties. A sponsor made it because he thought it symbolised the madness that Stöckli is about to embark on. It seems to be getting even worse than feared. The forecasts from the famous Swiss Meteorological Institute, which can normally provide reliable forecasts three weeks in advance, change almost hourly. 23 Alpine passes, the mightiest over 4000 metres high, are currently isolating Stöckli from his destination of Lugano, 680 kilometres away. An insurmountable hurdle if the weather does not improve significantly. And a life-threatening one at that, if the force of a thunderstorm were to hit him at the top of the summit. "I can only pray. It will be full risk," says Stöckli into the TV camera, tucks the tombstone under his jersey and clicks in. It's five o'clock in the morning.
You can read the full report on the summit assault in the free PDF download.
