Climbing event brings the mountains to the city, Mammut say
Swiss outdoor brand Mammut Sports recently co-hosted a successful climbing event in Lausanne, partnering with mountain sports retail group Bächli.
Mammut said afterwards that the event had successfully “brought the mountains to the city”.
The main attraction was professional climber Katherine Choong. She demonstrated basic climbing techniques on a climbing wall at the event, with members of the audience taking part and receiving advice from her.
There was also a showing of a new documentary that shows her successful completion of a climb called Zahir. In September 2024, Ms Choong became the first woman to complete this climb, which is reputed to be the most difficult in the area around Wendenstöcke, in the the Uri Alps in central Switzerland.
Zahir’s name may come from a story of the same name by Jorge Luis Borges, the theme of which is the way objects can come become an obsession for people. In keeping with this, Ms Choong fought off tiredness and the frustration of three failed attempts to complete the ascent. She did so with the back-up of fellow-climber Eline Le Menestrel, and with the support of Mammut, Salewa and Scarpa.
At the Lausanne event, an in-depth question-and-answer session with the climber followed the showing of the film.
“The day was a powerful reminder of what makes our sport so unique,” Mammut said.
