THE FIRST TIME...
‘...I rode up a sheer cliff face’
‘This lone freeclimber had beautiful long legs. I had to force myself to concentrate’
T
hese days, people think I’m just a stunt rider. I have been stunting for about 20 years, but my roots were with trials bikes, enduro riding and climbing. Back in the 90s, three friends and I would go down to Italy twice a month for trials riding and free-climbing. We went out into the mountains with bikes and ropes, and tried to do a bit of both every day – riding the bikes, and climbing some nice looking rocks. We were young with no money, but we had lots of passion. I’ve won the Erzberg Rodeo [a hardcore race through a massive quarry] four times. To make it out of the quarry, there’s a great wall of dirt to ride up. When 50 contestants start the race, you have to be careful not to crash into those on either side of you. You have to stay on the throttle and wait until you reach the top. But the Via Tina rock-face near Arco in Italy is way, way steeper than that wall of dirt at Erzberg. We were climbing this smooth rock face one day and we thought, ‘Hey, this is boring to climb, but it’d be pretty exciting to ride on a bike!’ All of us knew it was possible, but faced with 250 metres of 45-degree rock, we also knew you’d have to be mentally strong. First we needed to check our bikes would run at this steep an angle. I checked my carburettor, and I thought ‘Yeah, that’ll do.’ We sat at the bottom of the rock asking each other, ‘Who’s going to do it?’ But no one really tried. The others rode up to a little ledge about 15 metres off the ground and about half a metre wide. This was the point of no return: ride higher and it could mean hitting the ledge hard on the way down.
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PERFORMANCEBIKES.CO.UK | MARCH 2013
WHO IS CHRISTIAN PFEIFFER?
Christian is world renowned as a champion freestyle stunt rider, perfecting acrobatic feats and pulling awe-inspiring wheelies on his BMW F800R. But despite being married with three children, he also has a sordid history with the dirtier side of biking. His trials and enduro exploits have culminated in a superhuman total of four first-place finishes at the annual Red Bull Hare Scramble in Erzberg, Austria.
BELOW Christian Pfeiffer with a the special edition F800R inspired by him
With over 200 metres still to go, it was a challenge no one was willing to accept. We chickened out. About two or three years later, we went to Arco again. Looking up at the monolithic slab of rock above me, I said, ‘Today, this route is not that steep for me.’ There were some free-climbers and we made sure to ask them whether it was all right to go ahead and ride the rock. We were invading their playground, after all. They told us we were totally crazy, but if we wanted to, that we could go right ahead. I checked that I had enough gas in the tank and started up the slope. Technically, the route isn’t that difficult. Of course it’s steep and if you use too much throttle you’re going to wheelie yourself over backwards. And it’s simple to lose control: if your engine stops, or you ride over some loose stones, then it’s 250 metres of sliding back down. You’d most definitely be dead. Riding at a 45-degree angle made the front of my Gas Gas extremely light. Most of the time I was able to steer, but sometimes I had to deal with next to no feel, even with my body weight as far forward as possible. Making sure the front tyre stayed in contact with the rock was a balancing act. Especially when you’re trying not to be distracted. I remember passing this lone free-climber. She had beautiful long legs. I had to force myself to concentrate on the rock face. If I’d seen her at the wrong moment, it could’ve been the end of me. And then, after a minute of powering uphill, I reached the top. The view south across the town of Arco was beautiful. I could see Lake Garda in the distance, about six kilometres away. There were vineyards further down the hill, and I remember the workers applauding and shouting. But I didn’t have time to drink it in: I had to find my way down again. Back at base camp, everyone was simply amazed. I got off the bike, opened a beer and we all said ‘Yeah! We’ve got it!’ I was so happy. There was no press. Just me and my friends. It was the mid-90s, in the days before the internet. Today, a project like this would reach a lot more people. But this didn’t matter one bit at the time. My friends and I had talked about riding the Via Tina climb for so long that it had become one of my dream projects. For a long time, no one else dared to attempt the climb on a bike. But two years ago I met an old friend from Italy and he told me he knew of another Italian who has ridden it. So now there are two of us in the world that have completed the challenge. Me and one local Italian guy. And I don’t even know his name! I should find it out and go shake his hand some day.
Interview Benjamin Lindley Photography Bernhard Spöttel/Red Bull Content Pool and Archive Pfeiffer and BMW
How do you make a level-3 free-climb a little more interesting? For stunt rider Christian Pfeiffer, there is only one answer. You do it on a motorbike