{"id":110552,"date":"2025-12-09T18:37:54","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T18:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/?p=110552"},"modified":"2025-12-09T18:42:42","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T18:42:42","slug":"filip-babicz-the-speedy-gonzales-of-the-alps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/filip-babicz-the-speedy-gonzales-of-the-alps\/","title":{"rendered":"Filip Babicz, the Speedy Gonzales of the Alps"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Grand Capucin in 49 minutes. Aiguille Noire de Peuterey in just over an hour and a half. The north ridge of Piz Badile in 42 minutes and 52 seconds. Linking the four ridges of the Matterhorn in 7 hours, 43 minutes, and 45 seconds.<\/p>\n<p>This brief list of\u00a0exploits &#8212; perhaps accompanied by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=VwTCGImkOL8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pat Boone&#8217;s song<\/a> dedicated to Mexico&#8217;s fastest mouse &#8212; captures the career of Poland&#8217;s Filip Babicz, a competitive climber and alpinist who has been living at the foot of Mont Blanc for years.<\/p>\n<p>I spoke to Babicz recently at a mountaineer&#8217;s gathering near my hometown in northern Italy. We started at the beginning, discussing the child whose father dragged him in the late 1980s to the Tatra Mountains.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_110728\" style=\"width: 1112px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-110728\" class=\"wp-image-110728 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/12enne-Filip-col-padre-in-Monti-Tatra-1995a-1102x1536-1.jpg\" alt=\"old pic of man and boy on rocky summit\" width=\"1102\" height=\"779\" srcset=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/12enne-Filip-col-padre-in-Monti-Tatra-1995a-1102x1536-1.jpg 1102w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/12enne-Filip-col-padre-in-Monti-Tatra-1995a-1102x1536-1-300x212.jpg 300w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/12enne-Filip-col-padre-in-Monti-Tatra-1995a-1102x1536-1-700x495.jpg 700w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/12enne-Filip-col-padre-in-Monti-Tatra-1995a-1102x1536-1-768x543.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1102px) 100vw, 1102px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-110728\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Filip Babicz with his father in the Tatra Mountains, 1995. Photo: Filip Babicz<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>From comp to speed<\/h2>\n<p>&#8220;My father is a guide in that area, so I learned about the mountains by osmosis,&#8221; Babicz says. &#8220;My greatest passion at the time was practicing any kind of sport with a competitive component.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He played everything from ping pong, &#8220;which I loved and was actually quite good at,&#8221; to soccer, &#8220;but as a goalkeeper, not a goal scorer.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>At 14, Babicz discovered sport climbing, taking it more seriously than his Sunday mountain outings.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It seems funny,&#8221; Babicz says, &#8220;but within a few months I had already decided that was what I wanted to do with my life. It was a brilliant way to combine my sporting streak with the vertical world I had learned from my father.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_110555\" style=\"width: 515px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-110555\" class=\"wp-image-110555 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Puchar-Swiata-Filip-Babicz-505x700.jpg\" alt=\"sport climber on indoor wall\" width=\"505\" height=\"700\" srcset=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Puchar-Swiata-Filip-Babicz-505x700.jpg 505w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Puchar-Swiata-Filip-Babicz-216x300.jpg 216w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Puchar-Swiata-Filip-Babicz-768x1064.jpg 768w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Puchar-Swiata-Filip-Babicz-1108x1536.jpg 1108w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Puchar-Swiata-Filip-Babicz-1478x2048.jpg 1478w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Puchar-Swiata-Filip-Babicz.jpg 1579w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 505px) 100vw, 505px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-110555\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Babicz at a World Cup race during his competition career. Photo: Filip Babicz<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>For 18 years, sport climbing was the center of his life. He competed first for the Polish and then for the Italian national team.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I moved to Courmayeur at the turn of the millennium, specifically to practice high-level climbing,&#8221; he told ExplorersWeb. &#8220;I focused more on dry training and sessions at the gym, at most on the crag, which greatly curbed my desire to go to the mountains.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But then came the turning point. In 2015, while Babicz was preparing for the World Cup, he severely injured a finger, which compromised his competitive season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a nightmare,&#8221; he recalled. &#8220;I decided to compete anyway, with my injured finger, but it was terribly painful. The first race went badly, and I felt obsessed with it, desperate at the prospect of having to sit out months. However, once I returned to the Aosta Valley and digested the disappointment, I realized I felt super trained and in good shape, except for my finger, of course. I told myself that rather than stay on the couch, I&#8217;d find a plan B in the mountains.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_110559\" style=\"width: 710px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-110559\" class=\"wp-image-110559 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Grand-Capucin-Vittorio-Maggioni-700x394.jpg\" alt=\"climber on crack system\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Grand-Capucin-Vittorio-Maggioni-700x394.jpg 700w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Grand-Capucin-Vittorio-Maggioni-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Grand-Capucin-Vittorio-Maggioni-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Grand-Capucin-Vittorio-Maggioni-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Grand-Capucin-Vittorio-Maggioni-2048x1152.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-110559\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Filip Babicz on the Grand Capucin. Photo: Vittorio Maggioni<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>At ease in the Alps<\/h2>\n<p>There&#8217;s certainly no shortage of mountains in Courmayeur.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Alps are the place where I feel most at ease,&#8221; Babicz explains. &#8220;Mont Blanc and the Aosta Valley are an incredible playground, where you can do anything at any time of day, whenever you want. By comparison, I&#8217;ve been to Huaraz, Peru, and if you want to find a decent crag there, you have to drive three and a half hours. Within a 10-minute radius of my house, I can find 10 crags. If I wanted, I could be under the Grand Capucin in less than two hours, without running. There&#8217;s no comparison.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Babicz can only say all this now, after falling in love with the mountains again, thanks to that injury.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd thanks to Kilian Jornet,\u201d Babicz added. \u201cHe was the one I thought about constantly in 2015, during my first ascent of the Matterhorn, which I tackled at a brisk pace. I didn&#8217;t want to beat his record, but his performance made me dream.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>One week later, he went to the Gran Becca and took 5 hours and 1 minute to complete the climb, there and back.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This feat sparked my passion for speed in the mountains,&#8217; he says. &#8220;I rediscovered myself. For years, I had thought that only competition existed, but that wasn&#8217;t the case.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_110729\" style=\"width: 1342px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-110729\" class=\"size-full wp-image-110729\" src=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/On-the-Grand-Capucin-Vittorio-Maggioni-1344x1536-1.jpg\" alt=\"small figure on alpine wall\" width=\"1332\" height=\"886\" srcset=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/On-the-Grand-Capucin-Vittorio-Maggioni-1344x1536-1.jpg 1332w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/On-the-Grand-Capucin-Vittorio-Maggioni-1344x1536-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/On-the-Grand-Capucin-Vittorio-Maggioni-1344x1536-1-700x466.jpg 700w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/On-the-Grand-Capucin-Vittorio-Maggioni-1344x1536-1-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1332px) 100vw, 1332px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-110729\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Filip Babicz climbing the Grand Capucin. Photo: Vittorio Maggioni<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Some detractors might think that speed mountaineering is nothing more than a competition of a different sort.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s right,&#8221; Babicz agrees, &#8220;and I&#8217;m not ashamed to call myself an athlete before a mountaineer. However, my thirst for speed doesn&#8217;t clash with ethics.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He says he prefers free climbing a pitch to hanging off aid.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I practice drytooling, deep-water soloing, and highballing,&#8221; says Babicz. &#8220;All of these disciplines have made me realize that my main interest goes beyond the record itself. For example, when opening new routes, I don&#8217;t think about chipping holds, not even in drytooling, where everyone at a high level seems to do it.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is how the &#8216;Underground Temple&#8217; in La Thuile was born. There, in a chalk cave, I&#8217;ve established the world&#8217;s most difficult routes using only natural holds. I&#8217;m not looking for the record at all costs. What interests me is achieving it in an exemplary style.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_110579\" style=\"width: 710px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-110579\" class=\"wp-image-110579 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/In-Grotta-La-Thuile-foto-Xavier-Guidetti-700x477.jpg\" alt=\"dry tooler on wall\" width=\"700\" height=\"477\" srcset=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/In-Grotta-La-Thuile-foto-Xavier-Guidetti-700x477.jpg 700w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/In-Grotta-La-Thuile-foto-Xavier-Guidetti-300x205.jpg 300w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/In-Grotta-La-Thuile-foto-Xavier-Guidetti-768x524.jpg 768w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/In-Grotta-La-Thuile-foto-Xavier-Guidetti-1536x1047.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/In-Grotta-La-Thuile-foto-Xavier-Guidetti-2048x1396.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-110579\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Babicz in the chalk cave of La Thuile. Photo: Xavier Guidetti<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>No attraction to the 8,000&#8217;ers<\/h2>\n<p>While Poland is home to great Himalayan mountaineers, from Jerzy Kukuczka to Krzysztof Wielicki, Babicz does not seem particularly interested in the highest peaks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI approached that world in 2019, with the Polish Winter Himalaya (PHZ) program created by the Polish Alpine Club,&#8221; he recalled. &#8220;The goal was [a] winter ascent of the last remaining 8,000&#8217;er unclimbed in winter &#8212; K2. I did two preparatory expeditions with the program, one in the Karakorum and the other in the Himalaya&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>However, when the Nepalese did <a href=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/top-10-expeditions-of-2021-2-the-first-winter-ascent-of-k2\/\">their K2 winter climb in 2021<\/a>, the program ceased to exist.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It became Polish Sport Himalaya (PHS),&#8221; says Babicz. &#8220;Its members are, on average, much younger climbers aiming for lower, technically difficult peaks between 6,000 and 7,000m.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_110730\" style=\"width: 946px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-110730\" class=\"wp-image-110730 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/su-Batura-Sar-in-Karakorum-foto-Marco-Schwidergall-1536x1152-1.jpg\" alt=\"climber backlit on snow with sunstar\" width=\"936\" height=\"702\" srcset=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/su-Batura-Sar-in-Karakorum-foto-Marco-Schwidergall-1536x1152-1.jpg 936w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/su-Batura-Sar-in-Karakorum-foto-Marco-Schwidergall-1536x1152-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/su-Batura-Sar-in-Karakorum-foto-Marco-Schwidergall-1536x1152-1-700x525.jpg 700w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/su-Batura-Sar-in-Karakorum-foto-Marco-Schwidergall-1536x1152-1-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 936px) 100vw, 936px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-110730\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Babicz in the Karakorum. Photo: Marco Schwidergall<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I continue to be part of it,&#8221; Babicz continued. &#8220;I like the group dynamics and the mutual inspiration, but I prefer mountaineering in the Alps because I feel like an athlete. In the Alps, I&#8217;m more likely to take my performance to a very high level.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;And since the vast majority of mountaineers live around here, I consider it a great mountaineering laboratory, where you can push your limits in impressive ways. You can do it in the Himalaya too, but luck plays a decisive role there. It is more manageable in the Alps. I know it&#8217;s an unpopular opinion, but if I had to choose between climbing an unclimbed 6,000m peak in Pakistan or beating Ueli Steck&#8217;s record on the Eiger by just 30 seconds, there&#8217;s no question: I&#8217;d choose the Eiger.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_110580\" style=\"width: 710px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-110580\" class=\"wp-image-110580 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/vetta-al-Badile-dopo-il-recordfot.-Vittorio-Scartazzini-700x394.jpg\" alt=\"climber on top of peak beside obelisk\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/vetta-al-Badile-dopo-il-recordfot.-Vittorio-Scartazzini-700x394.jpg 700w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/vetta-al-Badile-dopo-il-recordfot.-Vittorio-Scartazzini-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/vetta-al-Badile-dopo-il-recordfot.-Vittorio-Scartazzini-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/vetta-al-Badile-dopo-il-recordfot.-Vittorio-Scartazzini-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/vetta-al-Badile-dopo-il-recordfot.-Vittorio-Scartazzini-2048x1152.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-110580\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Babicz at the top of Piz Badile after his record. Photo: Vittorio Scartazzini<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>The mountains of dreams<\/h2>\n<p>However, Babicz&#8217;s favorite mountains aren&#8217;t just in the Alps.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The peaks that have impressed me most, perhaps, are in Patagonia,&#8221; he explains. &#8220;From what I&#8217;ve seen, they&#8217;re the most beautiful in the world. Cerro Torre seems to be from another planet.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The problem there, he admits, is the weather, which makes any experience more of an adventure than a performance. Rather than attempt to squeeze in something during two small windows within a month of poor weather, he wants to spend an entire southern summer there.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Winter in the Alps interests me less,&#8221; he admits. &#8220;I&#8217;d like to spend that time [in Patagonia] as a sort of training camp&#8230;When a good window opens &#8212; if it opens &#8212; I&#8217;ll try something.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_110731\" style=\"width: 1018px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-110731\" class=\"wp-image-110731 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/The-lower-part-of-Horli-Ridge-Vittorio-Maggioni-1536x864-1.jpg\" alt=\"small figure in red on mountain\" width=\"1008\" height=\"567\" srcset=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/The-lower-part-of-Horli-Ridge-Vittorio-Maggioni-1536x864-1.jpg 1008w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/The-lower-part-of-Horli-Ridge-Vittorio-Maggioni-1536x864-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/The-lower-part-of-Horli-Ridge-Vittorio-Maggioni-1536x864-1-700x394.jpg 700w, https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/The-lower-part-of-Horli-Ridge-Vittorio-Maggioni-1536x864-1-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1008px) 100vw, 1008px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-110731\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">On the lower part of Horli Ridge. Photo: Vittorio Maggioni<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>For Babicz, it&#8217;s all about open-mindedness and perseverance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThings don\u2019t always go according to plan&#8230;It\u2019s been like this from the beginning, with that finger injury that ended my career, and immediately made me start a new one.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8216;If I had to choose between an unclimbed 6,000m peak  or beating Ueli Steck&#8217;s record on the Eiger by just 30 seconds, I&#8217;d choose the Eiger,&#8217; says Babicz.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52146,"featured_media":110553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categories":[14,95],"coauthors":[17254],"class_list":["post-110552","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climbing","category-mountaineering"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Filip Babicz, the Speedy Gonzales of the Alps &#187; 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