I was born in 1974 near Frankfurt in Germany and discovered the Alps with my family in young childhood. I started Skiing 4years old in Mégéve and in the mid 80´s Ski Alpinism.

In autumn 1993 I decided to move completely to the foot of Mt.Blanc. Alpinism became the centre of my life. Classic faces and big ridge traverses in the Mont Blanc area and the Wallis were my destination, the centre of my dreams and realisations. Back in those days I climbed often solo and started always from the valley. I never used cable cars and often I went in single push.

In winter 1993 I started ice climbing on frozen water which became fast my biggest passion. Till today I climbed over 1000 frozen waterfalls all over Europe and Canada including first ascents. Find my TOP 100 Ice Climbs on this page and join the #eternalquest on my Instagram.

The desire for the unknown is always remaining the driving force behind my striving. This continuous quest led me during the last years in the warm seasons up to big North faces in the Alps, among them the Grandes Jorasses (McIntyre/Colton), Les Droites (Ginat) or the Grivola (north spur).

In 1998 I met my partner Tanja Schmitt and since then we were a team often joined by her twin sister Heike Schmitt.

With the years and countless days spend together in the mountains we formed a bond that has become for me the most precious part of my life as an ice climber and alpinist. 

In January 2004 we changed our base for the winter to the Italian side of the Mont Blanc. The valleys of Cogne are world wide known for its huge potential for ice and mixed climbing. We’ve spent hundreds of days in the Valnontey and Valeille in those past winters, climbing in all conditions from mid November till end of April. Ice Falls like „Repentance Super“ became spiritual places for us and each of the 62 ascents we did so far was an elevation. 

 In order to realise more serious dreams on the ice and in the mountains I dedicated a part of my activities since 2008 to Drytooling and Sport Mixed climbing. I've sent routes up to M11 (Open End, Dryland, Austria). 

Over all those years Ski Alpinism remained an important part of my life: The moment, when all the ice in the northern hemisphere is melting and rushing towards the seas, creates always a feeling of loss. Time on the skis, skinning up the lonely mountains in the backcountry of Lillaz/Cogne, proofed always to be the right remedy.  I did twice the Tour del Gran Paradiso (60k's and 5500 Vertical Ascent) in less than 24 hours with our fastest time for this route in 19hours and 6minutes together with Tanja Schmitt and Heike Schmitt in 2017.

The extreme heat of the last summers with dust filled mountains and melting permafrost brought me to the integration of road and mountain biking into my training: 

I rode three times the Tour du Mont Blanc (330k's - 8000m Vertical Ascent) with the road bike in less than 24hours. My fastest time for this ride dates to 2017 in 15hours and 9minutes.