On 24 July 2026, Lukas Waldner completed the first continuous link of the Gleirsch-Halltal and Nordkette ranges in the Tyrolean Karwendel. He covered 48 summits, 74 kilometres and 9,200 metres of ascent in a single push of 29 hours and 30 minutes. He called the project the Grand Karwendel Integrale.
A hard start in daylight, a long night
Waldner left the Möslalm at 06:55 and took on the harder Gleirsch-Halltal-Kette first. He moved through its exposed, loose ridge terrain while he still had light. The climbing reached grade IV on ground that stays pathless for long stretches.
After the first chain he switched to the Nordkette, the ridge that shapes the skyline above Innsbruck. He worked through the second set of summits during the night and into the next morning. He arrived back at the Möslalm at 12:25 on 25 July.
Two chains, one line for the first time
Each chain had been traversed alone before. A documented link of both in one continuous push had never been recorded. Waldner shaped the project over several years, learning a line that runs mostly on unmarked ridge terrain high above the Inn valley.
He climbed largely solo, with company only on short sections and support at single feed points. The route demanded steady focus on steep Schrofen and scree, where a slip carries a heavy price.
A quiet mark on home mountains
The traverse sits inside a dense year for the Innsbruck athlete, born in 2001. In autumn 2025 he made the first ascent of Kimshung in Nepal. In January 2026 he completed the first winter repeat of the Schutzengelweg on the Sagwandspitze, and in March he climbed all three north-face pillars of Piz Palü in a single winter day.
The Grand Karwendel Integrale adds a home project to that record, executed without noise. It leaves a line for the next climber and a quiet measure of what a long day in the Karwendel can hold.
