Mountains '24
A quick outline of my mountaineering trip (12-20th August 2024).
Whereas last year I sorted all my various mountains trips through a UK Guiding company, this year I booked an IFMGA Mountain Guide direct. Thanks to a recommendation from last year's Mont Blanc guide Alex I was guided all week by his friend Jon. This provided the main benefit of consistency throughout the trip as we climbed progressively harder and more technical routes - meaning he knew what I was capable of and we could push faster safer and more comfortably.
Having rushed shlepped to Chamonix from Paris the day before, I met with Jon at the Aiguille du Midi cable car for sunrise. Busying past all the tourists who were coming up for the view, we ascended and took the connecting "Panoramic" (old and slow) cable car over the Vallée Blanche all the way to Rifugio Torino on the Italian side of the Mont Blanc massif. This was to be our basecamp for the next few nights, since at 3,375m it meant round the clock acclimatisation.
We dumped our unnecessary gear (sleeping bags / spare clothes etc) in the lockers and headed out for our first adventure together. Crampons on, we roped up to cross the Glacier du Géant. Whilst this section of glacier is frequently traveled, the far too frequent cacophonous volleys of rockfall all around us were an ever present reminder that this eons old landscape is ever-changing - and only increasingly so as global warming is causing the permafrost to melt from deep within the mountains. After a short hike, we reached the Aiguilles Marbrées and traversed the knife-edge ridge from north to south before abseiling back down to the glacier for the walk back; with plenty of time left in the day to rest, recover, and prepare for the next day.
After a quick breakfast and a repack of my rucksack we headed back onto the glacier - head torches lighting the way as sunrise wouldn't be for many hours. We hiked over to Aiguille de Rochefort (4001m).We scrambled up the loose rocky terrain until we got to the snowy ridgeline and eventually its peak With each step upwards the light seemed to change and the view of Mont Blanc with it. Legs tired and altitude now stating to take it's toll we descended back down the way we came, pushing my route reading to the limits I was grateful for the amount of time I spent training on similar terrain in Scotland and Wales.
Back at the refuge, it was time for some much needed rest and recuperation - and a LOT of water. Unfortunately a storm took out the power so the electric ovens were out of action for dinner. A mountain of fried sausages (and nothing else) later it was time for bed!
Acclimatisation day three brought another early start. We were hiking across the glacial valley itself. This meant a much longer rope between Jon and myself - providing more time to try and stop should the worst happen. After many hours in the dark, crossing ice bridges too narrow to stop and photograph, and jumping bottomless crevasses we were greeted to the welcoming sight of sunrise hitting Aiguille du Midi.
Storm clouds moving in as we approached, a few hours earlier than forecast, we had to choose between walking the short route into ice cave entrance, or climbing the Arête des Cosmiques - a classic alpine mountaineering route that normally takes 3-4hrs. Being only 8am and knowing we could rest the rest of the day, we decided on Cosmiques - but we would have to do it fast. As we took off our crampons and donned our waterproofs the first of the hail came in. Speed climbing up the mountain we reached the summit and ascended the rusty ladder into Aiguille du Midi only 90mins after starting - and not a moment too soon as the warden was shutting the doors to the outside. After informing them of the three slower moving groups we had overtaken who were still on the mountain we headed inside to catch the last cable car down back into the magically sunny Chamonix valley, looking forward to catching up on some much needed vegetables and sleep.
The next morning we set off on our drive to the Matterhorn through the Rhône Valley. We took a train to car-free Zermatt from Täsch, and then joined the summer skiers in a cable car, before hiking up the rocky scree path and rickety iron bridges to the Hörnlihütte (3260m). The Matterhorn towers alone over the hut and nerves started to kick in. The hut was full that night - 40 guides and their partners and 20 solo climbers. Due to warm weather making glacial routes on Mont Blanc too dangerous, and the "Lion" route up the Matterhorn (from the Italian side) being closed for hut repairs, the Hörnli route was the goal of many mountaineers this summer. As such, the hut follows a strict policy of no climbing before 4am, and the order out the hut must go: Zermatters (local guides), Swiss guides, International guides and finally unguided parties.
Having packed our bags the night before, we ate a very quick breakfast - sitting already in our harnesses, before rushing to our spot in the queue. However, much to the ire of the hut staff many international and unguided parties had already snuck out through the kitchen door, putting us in the final quarter to start. This was frustrating as the Matterhorn has many single file sections with ropes fixed in place, which you want to have passed before the leading guide starts climbing down them on their descent. Regardless, there was nothing to do other than climb harder and faster, overtaking as many people as possible. This is course usually means climbing up the less obvious and more challenging gullies and couloirs next to the most well worn path. Under the cover of darkness, lit only by our dim headlamps we snaked onwards and upwards unable to see the ever increasing drop below.
By sunrise we were at the Solvayhütte (4003m), an emergency only shelter that is a turning back point for many. The rule of thumb is that is you haven't reached this point within 4 hours, you are unable to move fast enough on the terrain to not only reach the summit, but safely descend on tired legs, let alone before any afternoon storms sweep in. We stopped only for the quickest of drinks and to apply suncream before pushing onwards. Before too long the icy rock was covered in snow so we put on our crampons and made the final push for the summit. Comfortably past the final fixed rope, kicking steps into the steep snow bank, we were finally greeted by the lead Zermatter and their client on their descent. At 7:30am we were the 7th pair to reach the 'summit' - a spectacular 100m knife edge ridgeline between two summits - the Swiss (4478m) and the Italian (4477m). Here we could sit for a moment and enjoy the spectacular view of the Zermatt valley surrounded by many astonishing peaks (including the Breithorn, Weisshorn, and Dufourspitze). We had climbed hard to get to this moment, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was comfortably within my limits - 8 months of hard training had paid off.
The descent was complex and finally we could see the full extent of the 1000m drop below, but fulled by endorphins and adrenaline we rapidly scrambled down. As we descended there was a shift from cheering on people who were clearly going to make it to the summit, to realising that we were overtaking people who had already turned back - due to lack of fitness or experience. We even pleaded to no avail for one solo climber to turn back due to lack of equipment - sadly we heard later that day that he had fallen close to the summit; the third that week, after a pair were caught out by the afternoon lightning storm two days prior. By midday, we were back at the Hörnlihutte for a rosti and water refill. As always in the mountain huts, it was a weird mixture of some people celebrating and some people recognising they had not managed to achieve their goal.
After a quiet and restful weekend in Chamonix, we were back in the van driving to Grindelwald - the stereotypically picture perfect Swiss mountain town overshadowed by the incredibly foreboding north face of the Eiger. We took the Jungfrau train to Eismeer - an underground railway station bored into the Eiger itself. Whereas most people admire the view of the Eismeer ("Ice Sea") glacier from the viewing windows, we told the conductor that we were departing and went to find the tunnels leading outside. A quick scramble lead us to the Mittellegihütte (3355m) where we were treated to the most spectacular cloud inversion. This hut was the polar opposite of our previous experiences - a single hut warden and only a few other climbing groups; and after the success of the Matterhorn, I felt no nerves when looking out at the Mittellegi ridge up the Eiger.
Our last early morning start was a pleasant one. Fresh and cool, we breezed up the ridge; moving efficiently but not having to rush meant that we could enjoying every moment. It wasn't too long before the summit (3,967m) was in sight - which we shared only with one other group of British mountaineers. The way off the Eiger involves some more technical climbing onwards to the Monarch, and eventually off the glacier on the other side before joining the hoards of tourists at Jungfraujoch who all gave bemused looks at our rope, ice axes, and crampons. We were dirty, tired, and above all else happy.
