Trango Tower, West Pillar, second ascent. A Swiss team comprising Francesco Pellanda, Giovanni Quirici, and Christophe Steck made the second ascent of the 1987 Dedale-Schaff- ter-Fauquet-Piola route on the west pillar of Trango Tower (6,251m), a demanding 1,100m line originally graded VI 6c A4. This route involves amounts of hard aid, as confirmed by the experienced Spanish big wall climber, Alfredo Mandinabeita, who attempted the route, solo, to half-height in 2004. The Swiss were attempting to free climb the route and, after a lot of work, reached the summit on August 2 using aid only on pitches 13 (A4), 15 (A3), and 16 (A3). They estimate the 13th pitch would go free at around 8a.

Lindsay Griffin, Mountain INFO, CLIMB Magazine