Pazolastock and Rossbodenstock skitour...let the 2014-15 season begin!!!!!!!

Previous winter I could not ski at all due to my knee injury, which by the way is still not fully recovered. Anyway, now things are a lot better and I'm eager to try ski touring to see if it creates any problem or not.

There is still not an awful lot of snow around, and temperatures are still quite high (for ski touring), so we choose to start from the Oberalppass and go up to the Rossbodenstock. Part of this tour I did already two winters ago, but that time we started from Andermatt.

Getting started at the Oberalppass is an amazing feeling. I have been waiting for this since April 2013, which was last time I skied. The first few steps with the skis feel very strange...probably I'm not used to the movement anymore...but it takes only a few minutes to get fully back into it. And yes, after one year and a half I'm finally ski touring again!!! Weather is perfect, probably even too warm, snow seems to be good and the views are fantastic. What could you ask more?

And off we go!!!!!!!!

On the way up

Great and warm sun

Still going for the top of the Pazolastock

Anyway, the route up the Pazlastock goes pretty easy, just following the very well trodden track of the many other ski tourer also going up. From the top we shortly descend back on the ridge and follow the ridge to the Rossbodenstock. Some parts of the ridge are quite narrow and steep, and due to my inexperience in ski touring not totally trivial. But it just takes a bit longer and in the end we reach the summit of the Rossbodenstock as well. We even get to take off the skis, put them on the rucksack, and walk up a rather steep section of the ridge with an ice axe in the hand. Too steep to go up with the skis. 

Top of Pazolastock

Rossbodenstock seen from Pazolastock

View in the valley towards Realp

On the top of Rossbodenstock...time to go down!

On the top, for me at least, the fun part stops. When I stopped skiing my level was decent enough to enjoy a little bit...but after such a long break I have the feeling I won't be able to ski. And in fact that's not that far from the truth! The descent is not really much fun. The snow at the beginning is actually really good but I just can't manage to make a proper turn...it's all about brute force, no technique, and no fun. Just when I was starting to get the hang of it again and to properly "fight" for each turn I take the most spectacular fall in my short skiing career. I pick up some speed on very bad crusty snow...and I don't see that there is a small river to cross, which is not entirely covered in snow. I realize this too late and the only thing I can try it to jump the river. Somehow I manage to get over it, but the skis get stuck with the tips in the snow on the other side. Given the rather high speed I immediately take off from the skis and get face first in the snow...which feels like sand paper...and the momentum was high enough that I hinged over my neck and landed on my back. I was actually laughing when I fell because that felt rather funny, and I'm sure if I could see this from the outside I would probably still be laughing!! On the spot I don't feel any pain, but my back will ache for the next few days :).

Me...trying to survive the way down :)

Nevertheless, still a very good day even if my downhill performance was absolutely scarce. At least I understood that my knees are completely fine for ski touring, and we did in total approximately 1000m of ascent so not too bad for a test. 1000m because once we reached again the road coming down from the Oberalppass we decided to ski back up to the pass instead of going more downhill, where the snow was not so certain...and mainly because I could not take a single turn more :)

Just looking forward to do some more practice and to get back to a decent skiing level to actually enjoy also the downhill part.

Allalinhorn via the Hohlaubgrat...the season is not over yet...

People have been complaining a lot about this summer...was there one?? But actually the end of August and the whole of September have offered quite good conditions and rather sunny weekends. And even now in October the weather is still good enough to keep going high in the mountains. 

Weather forecast however is not that good for Sunday, and rain is predicted for the afternoon...therefore we try to choose a rather short tour that would be doable also in not perfect conditions. And therefore we choose the Allalinhorn, from the Hohlaubgrat.

Starting point for the tour is the Britannia hut, which is now closed. Hence we need to take a few extra stuff like gas cooker, stove and food for dinner and breakfast. Also, we decide to walk up to the hut all the way from Saas-Fee, passing via Plattjen...no way we are going to take the cable car up! The walk to the hut is actually rather nice, and the colours of autumn  on the trees and in the air are always nice to look at.

On the way up

The hut

As expected at the hut we find nobody, and the winter room is all for us. Evening goes by with melting lots and lots of snow, cooking and having lots of tea...hoping for the weather to be acceptable in the morning.

...and the reality seems to be worse than the forecast. We leave the hut at 5:00am and we realize that a dusting of new snow came overnight plus it is quite foggy. Well, at least the path to the glacier is well marked so we can get until there. On the glacier we put crampons on, rope up and off we go. We can't see any star in the sky and not even the contour of the mountains against the sky...which means cloud are quite low. Orientation is rather difficult as we only see white (the ice) and black (all the rest). We can only now if we are goign up or down. At some point we start crossing same relatively large crevasse and see a light on the top of the ridge...that's strange, we should not be crossing large crevasses to get to the Hohlaubgrat....and what the hell is that light up there?

Then we realize that light is the Mittelallalin station and that we were going too much to the right on the glacier (having the hut in the back). So we go back a little bit and start traversing to the left. At this point the sky clears up a bit and we can see contours of mountains around so orientation becomes much easier. 

There is not really a defined route to approach the ridge so we just pick up the shortest line (that means steepest...) to make sure we reach the ridge before the cloud come in again. Getting lost on a ridge is much more difficult than on a glacier without tracks. The ridge is longer than we expected and there seem to be a decent amount of new snow which makes things a little bit more tiring. However, going up this ridge presents no technical problem whatsoever, except for a couple of places where it might get a little bit steeper or a bit more risky in case of a fall.

The whole ridge...well almost

The sun starts to shine on the Mischabel group

Morning has gold in its mouth

Then finally the last part of the ridge comes where we have to climb a little bit. According to the guidebook it's only 3om of climbing. We decide to move together with running belay. There are in total 5 bolts, well actually two are just long metal rods bent by time and snow. It's a little bit more tricky than I expected because there is ice all over the place and one section of the climb is actually a steep white ice slope. Well at least we get to have some fun :). And at the end of this short climb we easily reach the summit! And this is now the 7th 4000m summit of the season (even though for most of them I still did not write a post...). Views are amazing. We can see the Rimpfischhorn, Strahlhorn, Liskamm, Monte Rosa, Matterhorn...and I could go on for a few another lines. Forecasts said it would have been cloudy since the morning, and in fact there were clouds, but actually very few. And in any case we were higher than them. With absolutely no wind it's a real pleasure to sit up here and contemplate this wonderful view.

Rule number one...

First mountain is the Rimpfischhorn...from now on it's in my to do list!!

View towards north

Looking back on the last part of the ridge

Anyone knows what that spiky thing in the centre is???

In less then one hour we walk down to Mittelallalin station via the normal route, where we see two other groups that are attempting the summit, one of them even with skis...and seeing all the people skiing on the always open Saas-Fee ski resort makes me start thinking about the coming ski-touring season!

Biancograt al Piz Bernina...the Stairway to Heaven

"Ciao Glauco! Senti la Diavolezza è piena Sabato quindi il Palü non si puo' fare...dove andiamo?"

"Non saprei...tu che dici?"

"Hmm...Biancograt?"

"Si perchè no!"

(Una nota...non ho fatto molte foto ma tanto filmato. Se riesco tiro fuori un paio di istantanee dai vari video e le aggiungo nei prossimi giorni)

Eccola li'...la scala del cielo...

E cosi', un po' per caso, è nata l'idea di affrontare questa stupenda cresta. Ne avevo sentito molto parlare ma sinceramente non avevo mai seriamente accarezzato l'idea di poterla fare...non so nemmeno perchè. Fatto sta che Sabato mattina si prende il treno per Pontresina e si cammina lungo una bellissima valle fino alla capanna Tschierva, in 3 ore esatte. Come buona abitudine si va a fare una ricognizione sul sentiero che parte dalla capanna per arrivare in cresta. Questa volta siamo per oltre due ore in giro perchè vogliamo essere sicuri di non perderci domani mattina presto, al buio.

La nostra sveglia è alle 3:15 ma di notte vedo gente che si prepara per uscire alle 00:15...poi capiro' che sono andati a fare la nord del Piz Roseg...altra bella gita!! Colazione abbastanza in fretta, imbrago, zaino e alle 4:00 in punto si parte dalla capanna. All'inizio sembra una corsa vera e propria. Tutti sanno che nel tratto finale della cresta sarebbe meglio essere i primi per evitare di aspettare e per questo motivo tutti vogliono arrivare li' il prima possibile. Noi decidiamo di lasciarli correre...almeno faranno una bella traccia sulla cresta che a quanto pare è abbastanza coperta di neve.

Dopo un'ora di cammino o poco piu' si arriva alla fine del ghiacciaio e si calzano i ramponi. Di qui si risale sulle roccette subito sulla sinistra dell'ultima piccola serraccata e con pochi zig zag si arriva sulla parte un po' piu' pianeggiante del piccolo ghiacciaio che scende dalla bocchetta Prievlusa. Si segue il nevaio fino al terminale e qui si deve decidere se continuare su dritti per il nevaio oppure se voltare a sinistra per imboccare una ferrata. La decisione dipende dalle condizioni del nevaio. Nel nostro caso le condizioni erano ottime e quindi decidiamo di saltare il terminale in un comodo punto e di risalire il nevaio comodamente. Dopo un altro paio di zig zag si arriva alla bocchetta dove la vista sul ghiacciaio del Morteratsch, Piz Palü e tutto il resto non puo' che lasciare a bocca aperta!

E dopo quasi due ore di cammino, l'avvicinamento è finito e si comincia a fare sul serio. La via comincia sulla cresta rocciosa tenendosi sulla destra. Alcune placchette esposte e sporche di neve sono attrezzate con dei chiodi che facilitano la progressione...o meglio...danno un certo beneficio psicologico. Si aggira la cresta sulla destra e si risale in un piccolo diedrino, poi si traversa ancora fino a risalire una serie di cenge dove si trova solo un chiodo per protezione. Alla fine una serie di cordini, vecchi e piu' nuovi, si possono usare per far sicura a chi segue. Si traversa ancora sulla destra su neve solida e poi si risale ancora una canaletta abbastanza ripida dove, purtroppo, non si riesce ad infilare la benchè minima protezione. Vabbè, per fortuna la neve è "griffig" e quindi si procede con relativa calma. Alla fine di questa canaletta si trova un cordino nuovissimo, che puo' ancora essere usato per fare sicura. Da questo punto in poi si segue direttamente la cresta per piccoli risalti verticali fino ad arrivare in un punto dove un evidente sentiero taglia sul lato sinistro. Si segue il sentiero, comodissimo, fino a portarsi sul fianco della Biancograt. Qui si risale il pendio nevoso tenendosi vicino alle rocce fino ad arrivare all'inizio della cresta vera e propria. All'inizio la cresta è piatta, si aggira un piccolo gendarme sulla sinistra (tracce evidenti) e poi comincia la scalata...e Jimmy Page comincio' a suonare...

Alba dalla bocchetta...

E beh...che altro dire...

Probabilmente abbiamo avuto molta fortuna con le condizioni della via ma la cresta non sembra mai troppo esposta. E se anche in alcuni tratti va giu' dritto su entrambi i lati la neve e la traccia sono talmente buone che non si avverte nessun problema...se non il fatto che (minchia!!) questa cresta sembra non finire mai. Bisogna cambiar lato un po' di volte per evitare cornici e un paio di tratti sono belli "in piedi" a 45°, ma problemi tecnici non ce ne sono. Alla fine del tratto nevoso si arriva sulla cima del Piz Bianco da dove comincia la cresta rocciosa fino in cima al Bernina...e ora finalmente capisco perchè la guida diceva che ora comincia il tratto piu' impegnativo.....................mamma mia!

In cresta...

...ancora in cresta...

Ecco come si presentava il tratto roccioso tra il Piz Bianco e il Bernina...che figata!!

All'inizio ero preoccupato dal fatto che ci potesse essere neve ma poi in realtà mi sono un po' ricreduto. Tutta quella neve ha permesso di percorrere gran parte della cresta rocciosa su una (molto piccola e largamente esposta) traccia su neve. I tempi di percorrenza si sono percio' anche ridotti ma va detto che le possibilità di assicurazione erano anche ridotte, se non in qualche caso. Comunque credo che sarebbe stato piu' diveretente farla tutta libera dalla neve. Ad ogni modo, la cresta procede senza grossi problemi. Andiamo avanti a corda corta e a corda "lunga" a seconda delle possibiltà di assicurazione, superando i vari sali-scendi, tenendosi praticamente tutto il tempo sulla sinistra o al massimo sul filo, fino a giungere alla prima calata. Sosta attrezzata ottimamente! Calo Glauco per risparmiare un po' di tempo e poi mi calo io in doppia. Qui ora arriva il passaggio chiave che in teoria dovrebbe presentare arrampicata di III+. Seguendo cio' che hanno fatto gli altri prima di noi Glauco rimane in sosta a farmi sicura e io vado avanti per una lunghezza intera di corda. Riesco a mettere due fettucce, trovo un chiodo non coperto dalla neve e poi arrivo all'imbocco di un canalino molto ripido che è il gendarme di III+. Ormai ci ho fatto l'abitudine all'esposizione di questa cresta che è sempre abbastanza spinta e procedo senza troppi patemi d'animo. Metto un friend visto che l'ultima fettuccia era un buon dieci metri sotto di me e continuo a salire fino alla sosta. Per fortuna che la neve è veramente "griffig" e la salita procede senza problemi...se non la sensazione nel "back of my mind" che un passo falso potrebbe avere spiacevoli conseguenze. Dalla sosta recupero poi Glauco che viene su come un camoscio...senza pero' rinnuciare a qualche bestemmia di auto incoraggiamento :). Da questo punto si procede un tratto in discesa con aiuto di una catena e poi si risale un paio di metri fino ad una seconda sosta. Ci si cala nuovamente e la cresta rocciosa finisce qui. O meglio...dovrebbe continuare a ormai la neve è tale e tanta che si presenta solo neve...moooolto ripida! 

Si sale questo pendio di neve molto ripido ma molto ben tracciato e poi dopo un tratto di cresta a tratti molto affilata e senza posto per appoggiare la picca si raggiunge la cima!! Incredibile, non ci crediamo. Ci abbiamo impiegato 7 ore dalla capanna (pause incluse) per arrivare fin qui e ora non vorremmo andarcene piu'. La vista è a dir poco spettacolare e la sensazione di soddisfazione come raramente capita di provarne. Non c'è quasi per niente vento, niente nuvole...solo sole e tanta adrenalina! Tuttavia il pensiero di dover scendere lungo la Spalla e poi fino alla stazione del Morteratsch passando per la Fortezza fa subito capolino nelle nostre teste...e quindi decidiamo di darci una mossa. Mangiamo qualcosa e si comincia a scendere.

Vista dalla cima 1

Vista dalla cima 2

Vista dalla cima 3...notare la traccia che taglia sul fianco...la neve cominciava ad ammollarsi e l'abbiamo evitata

La discesa non presenta particolari problemi. Prima si segue la cresta sul filo (anche se una traccia che taglia sul nevaio è molto invitante) e poi ci si cala per due volte (la prima molto corta e la seconda piu' lunga) fino ad arrivare in un tratto pianeggiante di cresta. Si continua per qualche decina di metri e si trova una seconda calata che porta attraverso un canalino direttamente sul nevaio (non troppo ripido) che scende dalla cresta. Si potrebbe anche continuare a seguire la cresta ma visto che le condizioni della neve sono ancora decenti decidiamo di calarci direttamente sul nevaio per uscire il prima possibile dalla cresta. Dopo la calata si affronta il nevaio con qualche zig zag e poi giu' dritto fino al pianoro al di sotto della cresta, da dove si vede anche la capnna Marco e Rosa. 

Ora siamo consapevoli che siamo sopravvissuti al Bernina...ma non alla gita...almeno per il momento. Per la discesa si segue una traccia talmente ben fatta che sembra quasi una autostrada. Si aggirano un paio di serracchi, si saltano un paio di crepacci, si costeggia il Bellavista, si risale anche qualche pendio sotto il sole che picchia manco fosse ferragosto in riva la mare...e finalmente si arriva all'inizio della cresta della Fortezza. 

Inizialmente la discesa è su neve e si viaggia velocissimi. Poi arrivati su roccia ci si rende conto che il tutto viene fatto con una serie di calate. Le calate sono segnate benissimo con marchi gialli molto evidenti. All'inizio di quasi tutte una freccia indica addirittura in che direzione calarsi. Purtroppo non ci si cala sempre dritto ma molto spesso in diagonale ilc eh fa perdere un po' di tempo...ma va bene. Dopo la prima calata con discensore...mi rendo conto che l'attrito è talmente tanto che faccio piu' fatica a calarmi in doppia che non a salire un pendio ripido. Allora si cambia tecnica e invece del discensore uso la tecnica con due moschettoni...e si va alla grande. 

Glauco su una delle tante calate...questa era la piu' bella

Dopo l'ultima calata si segue ancora una traccia fino alla Isla Persa dove finisce il ghiacciaio/nevaio e dopo aver ravanato un pochino tra placche varie si ritrova il sentiero che scende fin giu' sulle morene. Il sentiero è abbastanza ben segnato fino al ghiacciaio. Arrivati sul ghiacciaio lo si segue sulla destra e alla fine ci si porta sulla sinistra seguendo uno scivolo che comodamente riporta sulla "terra ferma". Di qui in una mezzoretta si arriva alla stazione del Morteratsch...dove purtroppo perdiamo l'ultimo treno per soli 15 minuti. Sono le 19:45 e siamo partiti alle 4:00...che GITONE! 

Decidiamo allora di dormire all'ostello di Pontresina...saltando la cena visto la stanchezza e l'orario. In compenso pero', facciamo colazione come se fosse il nostro ultimo pasto, spazzolando piu' e piu' portate di pane, formaggio, müesli e quant'altro.

Che dire, una gita completissima dal punto di vista alpinistico e di estrema soddisfazione. Abbiamo fatto tutto in autonomia e senza problemi stando anche nei tempi della guida. Questa fine estate sta regalando ottime condizioni e bel tempo e io non potrei essere piu' felice di cosi'.

Weissmiess south ridge, Lagginhorn south ridge, Nadelhorn normal route and a couple more summits

This year I think I have found the definition of holiday...alpine climbing all the time...this time with my brother. The plan is pretty simple. Take a car (we had to rent one) and a tent and set somewhere in the valley next to some nice big mountain waiting for good weather. Despite the weather has been rather bad the whole summer, we got quite lucky with the weather so there was not much sitting around.

Saturday 23.08

First objective is the south ridge of the Weissmiess, a route which I already did two years ago, but it was good to get my brother used to alpine routes. We start in Saas Almagell and walk up all the way to the hut...no chance we were going to take a cable car. The hut is suprisingly full, to the point that two turns have to be organized for dinner. I have to say it is not so much fun to go in the mountains when there are so many people around...but this is an easy and famous route, plus the forecast for Sunday is good. 

View from the hut, Allalinhorn in the middle 

Sunday 24.08 - Weissmiess from the South Ridge - PD+ 4023m

In the morning there are so many people outside the hut like I've never seen before, but at least there is no risk of getting lost. From the hut the route follows the path up to the pass, which I find is a good way to either wake up or warm up before the "real stuff" begins. Up on the pass is rather cold, and the wind is really strong. After traversing a bit to the left we need to put on crampons, harness and rope up. At this point my fingers get really cold because of the wind but best approach is not to think to much about it and start to get going as soon as possible to get warm again. There are people everywhere...and everyone seem to take his/her own track. We decide to zig-zag up the snow field until a "flat" part of the ridge with few rocks. Once up here the wind has gone down a little and due to the physical effort it feels a little bit warmer too. Take off the crampons because not much snow on the ridge and start walking up. Climbing up on the ridge is very easy and fun, maximum II. But because of so many people it's a bit of a mess. People are trying to overtake at any single moment, and even passing in between your legs if you don't pay attention. Also it's not really possible to stop to take a rest without stopping dozens of people. Route finding is not that difficult.
Finally though we reach the snowy part of the ridge and here the ridge gets a bit larger and we can take a good break for putting on crampons. From this point onwards the route is again very easy even though the snowy ridge might be a little bit thin in places...but it depends on what you are used to...if you believe this one is thin than you probably need some more experience :). 
Getting to the top, even if the route is easy, is always a good feeling...especially if it's a 4000m summit. The summit plateau is very busy and the normal route on the west face looks like a pilgrimage of people. But in this case that's probably good news since the path will be really well trodden. In less than one hour we reach the bottom, after having basically run in the lower part to avoid the danger of the overhanging seracs.

At the beginning of the ridge

Somewhere on the ridge

Last part of the snowy ridge

My brother on his first 4000m summit!

On the way down, looking at tomorrow's objective

Looking back at the way down...quite windy up there

Monday 25.08 - Lagginhorn from the South Ridge - AD- 4010m 

After the warm up trip it's time to do something a little bit more "serious". The weather for the day is not looking really awesome, but not that bad...so we give it a try. From the Hohsaas restaurant we start walking directly towards east and then towards north in direction of point 3329. We don't follow the path under the small ridge that goes up to the 3329 point, but instead follow the snow field which is a little bit longer but much easier to find the way. From point 3329 we traverse at an approximately constant height on the  Hohlauggletscher until the Lagginjoch. Once on the ridge the good fun starts. It's still rather cold, but not that bad. In the initial part the climbing is rather easy and the route is not that difficult to find. In some places there are friends stuck into cracks...you never know whether to trust this things, but at least they indicate what could be the right way. 
Things start to get a little bit more tricky on the first steep part of the ridge, where we have to start traversing to the left before going up. Once again, bunches of rope loops are a good indication that we are on the correct route. After the first steep part of the ridge we reach the point where one of the west ridges is joining the south one. Here things start to get a little but more tricky because the amount of snow is considerable. Crampons have to get back on our boots and they will stay there for the rest of the route. 
Finding the route is never difficult, but good care is recommended in some places due to ice and snow. Weather starts also to deteriorate and could close in...not that fun anymore I must say. The route however is always quite easy to find as it's always on the ridge. Towards the end there is one section where the ridge goes down again towards a small saddle. Here there is one bolt at the top of a 3a slab from which abseiling is possible. This is located on the right side of the ridge (looking towards the top). I preferred to lower the other two and then downclimb the slab. A fall would have probably been fatal because is more than 20m downclimimbing...but it felt pretty safe. Once on the saddle you have to shortly downclimb once again (always on the right hand side) and then traverse using some fixed ropes until the other side of the saddle. From here onwards the ridge goes up rather steeply and then almost flat until the end. Before the end it is advisable to go to the left before climbing up. 
View from the summit should be amazing as always...but we are wrapped inside the clouds and apart from the summit cross there is little else to see.
Descent is from the normal route which follows the west ridge. The rather high amount of snow makes the descent a bit easier because it's all tracked quite well. Once back on the rocks the route should be really easy with some short sections of downclimbing. Unfortunately it started raining on the way down and this made all the rocks incredibly slippery. So also the way down takes longer than expected until we finally reach the snowfield at the bottom of the west face. From here onwards we traverse on the Lagginhorngletcher aiming for the point 3123 and the marked footpath that leads directly yo Hohsaas. An incredibly long day, in quite bad conditions...but still a good day out.

On the first part of the ridge

Still having fun

Somewhere higher...cold starts to kick in

Hang on...is this summer or winter??

Wednesday 27.08 - Hike up to Rothornhut

The plan for 27 and 28 was originally to try the Obergabelhorn or the Zinalrothorn. But we changed our mind and decided to go only for the Wellenkuppe, which is still above 4000m, but a much shorter climb compared to the other two. The hike up to the Rothorn hut starts in Zermatt, from the city centre. It's probably one of the longest hut approach that I have ever done, but quite nice indeed. There are two restaurants on the way, and in the middle the path gets much more gentle and almost flat, allowing for some "rest". However, the last part up the moraine is really killing the legs and the feet...but hey, we are not here to have fun, are we??

Hotel Trft, more or less half way up the hut

Well...this is a view

Thursday 28.08 - Ober and Unter Aeschhorn

Weather forecast for today are very good but once outside the hut after breakfast it's snowing and we even see some thunders in the distance. This is very similar to what I saw last summer before attempting the Matterhorn, and that time I had to climb back because of bad weather on the route. Not willing to make the same mistake twice I decide not to trust the weather forecast and to aim for a different objective, the Aeschhorn. Those are two little summits not that far from the hut and most of the route is on a rather flat glacier. Therefore a retreat in case of bad weather would be quite easy. We first aim for point 3550 on the saddle between the two Aeschhorn summit, then to the Ober first. This route allows for some interesting climb at the beginning and then it's all scrambling on relatively easy terrain. We climb back along the ridge and then follow the snow ridge to the summit of the Unter. At this point during the day the weather has prefectly cleared and the view is simply magnificent...absolutely stunning. 

What to say, the weather forecast were correct and we "wasted" a good chance for another 4000m summit. But nevertheless it was a nice day with quite relaxed climbing and wonderful views.

View from the Ober Aeschhorn, just before the clouds vanish

Ridge to the Unter Aeschhorn

Poetic?

The ridge towards the Unter Aeschhorn

Stunning!

Saturday 30.08 - Hike up to the Mischable hut

The plan for the next two days is to attempt the Nadelhorn from the normal route. So the starting point is the Mischable hut. I thought the hike up to the Rothorn hut was the tough one...but this one...is a real killer. From the centre of Saas Fee we follow the sign posts and we reach the hut in a rather fast time, 3h 15m including breaks. But this foot path is really a tough one. Steep, steep and again steep from the beginning until the end with never a single break. And towards the end there is even a sort of via ferrata that makes things a bit more interesting. Once at the hut we feel like having reached another 4000m summit, so tough it was to walk up. Weather is not looking very good. Clouds surround everything and it's not looking like it will get any better...let's see what happens in the morning.

Sunday 31.08 - Nadelhorn normal route - PD+ 4327m

In the morning the weather is in fact not that good, and very cold and windy. Well who cares, until the beginning of the ridge the route is really easy to find and does not present that many problems so we decide to start and see what happens during the day. The route follows the ridge until point 3620 and then veers right on the glacier. Once on the glacier the route keeps a rather constant height until under the slope that leads up to the Windjoch. This slope can be easily overcome by two or three zig-zags. As the guidebook says, the windjoch is really wind and here it feels really cold. But the weather still seems quite good and we decide to keep on going. From this point onwards the route simply follows the ridge until the summit, and getting lost is basically impossible, aslo because it's all quite tracked. the conditions however look like winter rather than end of summer.
Until the very last bit of the ridge there are almost no rocks as it's all covered in snow. And even on the last section where we expected to climb a little bit on rocks it's all still covered in snow. It's not so hard this snow and it does not feel very safe, especially because there are many people on the same route and if someone slips it can be quite critical. However, slowly progressing on very short and tight rope we finally manage to reach the last short and almost flat section of the ridge. And there we are, on the summit of the third 4000m summit in this week. Views are again magnificent even though mostly covered in clouds. The Dom looks absolutely immense seen from here. 
All the excitement and the adrenaline are not enough to cope with the very cold temperatures. And seeing all the people still aiming for the summit along the normal route we decide to quickly turn back down and get to safety. Downclimbing the first sections of the ridge on steep soft snow is not that much fun, especially because of too many people going upo and down at the same time. But in a short time we are again on the glacier and then on the ridge back to the hut.

On the top!!

The magnificent Dom

Looking back at the ridge

 The Lenzspitze north face

This was an incredible week. A total of 3 4000m summits plus two little ones in between. I lost approximately 5 kg in this week even though we kept eating a lot...and this says a lot on the level of effort and how cold it was. The original plan was to attempt the Matterhorn and also other more technical routes, but technical skills of someone and bad conditions on the mountains forces us to change the plans. Nevertheless, fun, excitement, adreanaline and magnificent views were all the ingredients of this good 9 days in the Alps.