Philipp Hans

Nationality

German

Sports

Climbing, Sailing, Surfing and Cycling

Marmot Athlete Since

2025

About Me

Climbing was and still is my greatest passion. I have been climbing competitively since my early youth, was a member of the Baden-Württemberg state squad for many years and competed at national and international level. And despite the fact that competitive sport was totally my thing and I felt integrated there, I always had it in the back of my mind that pure competitive sport had to give me more than just holding on to small holds, rather than just thinking in terms of difficulty levels. Stefan Glowacz was “to blame” for this. A lecture he gave made me realize my childhood dream of one day being able to go on an adventure. This dream became reality in 2018 when I actually got the chance to go on a big expedition to Greenland with Stefan, my childhood idol. From Scotland, we sailed across the North Atlantic to Greenland. Once there, we went up onto the Greenlandic ice sheet to cross it on foot from west to east in 1000 kilometers as the crow flies. Once we reached the east coast, a major first ascent awaited us. These experiences got the ball rolling. Once I had found something that completely fulfilled me: going on an adventure, that was it!

Having gone through Stefan's “adventure school”, I was influenced by his “by fair means” approach. In other words, to set the mountain or the wall as your main goal, but to see how you can get to this chosen main goal with the smallest possible ecological footprint. This approach opens up new horizons, because suddenly you find yourself on a sailing ship, being pulled across the ice by a snowkite or sitting on a bicycle saddle. The journey to the actual destination becomes part of the adventure. The perfect combination for me. Because climbing will always be a central part of every expedition for me. But I also don't want to think too much in pigeonholes. Do I want to try out new things? I want to learn new things. In this sense, I see myself as a climbing adventurer.

Biggest Career Highlights

Successful “by-fair-means” expedition Greenland 2018 & 2019: Under the title “Coast-to-Coast”, Stefan Glowacz and Thomas Ulrich traveled to Greenland by sailing ship to cross the Greenlandic ice sheet and climb a first ascent.
Wallride project 2021: Mountain bikes were used to cross the Alps from east to west once in order to open up a first ascent in each country crossed.
First ascent & free ascent of “Wirklich Oben Bist Du Nie” on the Scheideggwetterhorn (1100 meters, 8a+, 33 pitches) 2022 and 2023: A brilliant mountain and my greatest mountaineering achievement to date, it became one of the longest and most difficult multi-pitch routes in the entire Alpine region.
Sailing Kooks in Search of untouched Rocks 2024- 2025: A small sailing ship, little sailing experience and a big goal: to sail from the northernmost port of the Mediterranean to Greece and then open up new routes on the magnificent Greek rocky coast.
Wallride project 2021: Mountain bikes were used to cross the Alps from east to west once in order to open up a first ascent in each country crossed.
Ninja Warrior finalist 2019 & 2021
German Vice Junior Lead Champion 2011
Baden-Württemberg runner-up Lead 2024