Not so long ago my climbing buddy Dave and myself were pondering what to do with our summer. As climbers it was obvious we were going to go on a little trip of some kind. Last year saw us tackle the French Alps in some of the worst conditions conceivable. That summer the area we went to saw a multitude of casualties and fatalities with some of the worst conditions we and other had claimed to be the worst for years. After being shut down by mother nature and putting our dreams of tackling a lot of tough mountains on hold we agreed that this years trip should be simple, not committing, and above all else, in this country (England). Then we remembered who we are. And with a little inspiration from a friend we put together another epic adventure. As of the 3rd of August 2012, weather dependant we will be departing on a 2 man road trip expedition into Switzerland with our eyes set on many summits including the Matterhorn. Enjoy the read.
Hey man, hows it going?
I had a bit of an interesting one at Guillemot Ledge yesterday.
Started out OK, managed to lead a nails 5b pitch, blah blah, then
decided to do 'something easy' as a last route. Got onto a VS 4b, not
much gear, ran it out to a crap rest below a slippery
quartz crack. Placed a dodgy wire and what I thought was a bomber hex.
Couldn't figure out the move, got pumped, etc, you know the score, so I
went to lower off the gear. Weighted the hex and it pinged straight out
and smashed me in the teeth. Scrabbled back
into the shit rest, gibbering with terror, and somehow got a better one
in before slumping off the rock. FUCKING. SWANAGE. 4B MY ARSE.
Anyways, rant over, heres some ideas for the Alps.
Saas Fee;
Lagginhorn (4010m) Weissmies (4017m) traverse. Maybe a 3 day job. Up
the West-South West ridge of the Lagginhorn (PD, scrambling, steepish
snow) to the top, then down the South ridge (AD, trickier with a pitch
of grade III rock) to a col. Bivy there, then
head up the North ridge of the Weissmies (AD+, again a bit 'ard, with a
bolted pitch of IV). Down the easy South-South East ridge. This is
fairly big and quite tough. We could just do the Lagginhorn by itself.
Taschhorn (4491m). One of the harder 4000m peaks. The only feasible
route is the South-South East ridge (AD, pitch of III). Might be a good
one to do in order to bag a proper big summit.
Lenzspitze (4294m). Don't know as much about this one, but you can
climb the East-North East ridge (AD, III+) and link it up with the South
East ridge (AD, III+) of the Nadelhorn (4327m). Meant to be one of the
best traverses in the Alps, probably could
do it in 2 days as well. Bit harder again.
Then theres the Alphubel (4206m) and Allalinhorn (4027m), both are
pretty accessible and have easy routes from Saas Fee. We should be able
to bag them both from a high bivy somewhere in the middle. Good starting
point?
Zermatt;
Rimpfischhorn (4199m). The one me and Dad tried. Can be done from
Saas but obviously I know the Zermatt side better. Not too hard (PD+)
but a longish approach. We could also do the Strahlhorn (4190m) from the
same bivy site, theres a decent AD- route that
traverses a sub-peak called the Adlerhorn before heading up to the top.
The good old Dufourspitze (4634m), second highest to Mont Blanc. Main
route is a fairly easy but long slog up the West ridge (PD+). Another
good one if we want to bag a big summit. There are other peaks in the
Monta Rosa massif but none of them inspire me
that much for some reason, and all have long approaches. Best is
probably Liskamm (4527m), climbed via either the South or East ridge
(AD-, AD). Expooooossseeed knife edge shit right there.
Castor (4223m) and Pollux (4092m) can be linked up and have a variety
of easy routes. Only downside being a big approach if we don't use the
Klein Matterhorn lift system.
Breithorn (4164m). There's a route up the north face that shouldn't
require the lift, only thing is its a bit harder (D-). Plus once up
there we can go do the easy descent route and head over to Castor and
Pollux, maybe even Lyskamm.
Matterhorn (4478m), the big bastard itself. Love to do the Zmutt
ridge (D, III+) but it probably wont be in condition, and in any case
its harder, more remote, and largely inescapable. The Hornli (AD, III-)
is the best option probably. Basically just a massive
scamble with the harder bits protected by ropes and chains. You only
need slings and krabs. We can hike up to it and bivy near the hut.
Ober Gabelhorn (4063m). A bit lower than its neighboring peaks but
the East-North East ridge (AD, pitch of III) is meant to be pretty good.
Lots of scrambling, sounds pretty fun.
Zinalrothorn (4221m). Another good 'climbery' peak, the standard route from Zermatt is the South East ridge (AD-, III).
Weisshorn (4506m), another big old boy. Quite remote and has a long
hard approach, but would be an awesome adventure. The main route is the
East ridge (AD, III). Massive peak but will probably take 3 days in
total because its a bit out of the way.
That be the lot for 4000m peaks. Obviously there are numerous lower
ones dotted around but I don't have a guidebook for them. Maybe just
onsight whatever looks easier if we decide to do one? Whatevs.
Best/most feasible ones for me? Taking into account difficulty, accessibility, and the potential for linkage, I would say;
Lagginhorn (+ maybe Weissmies, dunno cause Ive done that one before)
Alphubel and Allalinhorn
Taschhorn/Lenzspitze/Nadelhorn, with a bivy somewhere (This will be hard)
Rimpfischhorn and Strahlhorn
Matterhorn
Breithorn and Castor/Pollux (I have done the Breithorn though)
Dufourspitze (Cant really do anything with it but there will be established tracks if the conditions aint perfect)
So there you go, plenty to think about. If we end up rock climbing in
Britain due to crap weather I reckon North Wales (whatevers dry) then
some grit in the peak. We could also check out Pembroke and the Wye
valley.
Take it easy.
