One day looking at Hikr.org I come across a picture with a very interesting route drawn on it...and the interest rises immediately. That was the Eiger west face and the route was the winter-spring one, which is also used a ski touring route or as the descent route for those climbing the north face in winter and spring. The route is basically a very long snow and possibly ice ascent, with the steepest section at around 50°, graded as AD. It's the easiest route up this mountain. Nowhere close as famous as the North Face but that is still too difficult for my technical level...but one day I'm going to try that one also!
The plan is simple. Sleep at the train station Eiger Gletscher and start early in the morning for this long ascent (and descent). I was ready to go on my own but luckily I find someone else via Kletterportal.ch that wants to come with me. Since we are two, I also take a 30m rope and some basic gear in case of a tricky ice/rocky section. They will never be used...only dragged up and down. But I guess that can be considered as good training.
After an 80km bike ride on Saturday morning (always good to warm up before a long climb) get the train direction Kleine Scheidegg and walk up to the Eiger Gletscher train station, where I arrive around 19:00. Quick "dinner" and then in bed...before it was even dark.
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| A short breach in the clouds on the walk up to Eiger Gletscher |
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| Another breach in the clouds |
Wake up call is at 3:30 am, and at 4:15 we are outside making our way (hopefully) to the top. The trail starts just to the right of the railway tunnel that goes inside the Eiger. It follows the blue and white marks that lead to the Rotstock summit. In the dark and with the snow is difficult to see the signs and we only manage to see one of the many fixed ropes...so we end up making our own way up above all the ledges. The snow at this point is frozen on the surface but does not hold very well...let's hope it gets better later on. At around 2600m close to the notch of the West Ridge of the Eiger we see a tent of two swiss guys that camped here for the night...quite a nice spot actually. And we can also see them making their way up, no so far ahead. In a short distance from this point the large couloir under the huge serac starts. Until a certain point is possible to walk on the left hand side, having shelter under a rock face. At the end, one must get into the couloir, being completely exposed to the serac. Before doing this we take a short break because we know we cannot stop in the couloir for any reason whatsoever. Apparently there has been a recent serac fall and in fact avalanche traces are very visible all over the place. Therefore it should be "safe"...but you know...better safe than sorry. Getting inside the couloir and looking up at this large serac makes me feel strange. It's a bit like feeling at the mercy of chance...one can try to reduce the risk by being fast and crossing this before it gets hot during the day...but in the end a serac is always moving and it could fall at any time. I guess that's what mountaineering it's all about.
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| Look at that... |
During the short break before entering the couloir there is the chance to admire the spectacle of the sun firing up the summits all around..."a million bright ambassadors of morning" (guess who's quote is this) which tinge of orange the summits covered in snow.
Luckily no issue in the couloir. The route goes up almost to the bottom of the rock wall underneath the serac, and then turns left. I guess the exact traversing point cannot be defined as it depends on conditions. In our case there was still plenty of snow and no ice, so it was rather comfortable. The serac can then be overcome on the left, on relatively gentle slope. Once above it, the temptation would be to aim straight for the ridge in front...but that is not a good idea. The route once again depends on the conditions, but this is what we did. We went up straight above the serac up to approximately 3500m and then started traversing to the left. The traverse is first at a constant height and then starts going up aiming directly for the summit ridge. At this point, finally, the second ice axe comes into the game. Not that it was really necessary...but I carried it all this way, and now the terrain starts to get steeper.
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| My climbing partner is following |
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| The other rope party...roped up unlike us and making nice tracks :) |
The snow is not as much as in one of description that I have read (http://www.chmoser.ch/trips/berichte/tourendetail.php?TourId=671) and we have to take a slightly different route, including a couple of short traverses on rubble barely covered in snow. Finally we reach the last slope where the conditions of the snow are absolutely perfect. It is evident that there is a new layer of snow (given the fact that it snowed one week before) on some older ice/really hard snow. With my two Petzl Quarks and crampons is a real pleasure to get up this 45°/50° snow slope...until the ridge is finally reached at around 3900m.
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| The very last few meters...the other two already on the summit |
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| Looking back on the face, steep but not too much |
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| Nice GoPro shot! |
Sun glasses are finally worn because the sun has just risen beyond the summit and it starts shining on the west face. I can see the other rope party already on the summit, and I know it's not that far. On the ridge there is more fresh snow, and I try to stay away of the actual ridge as much as I can to try and avoid cornices. All the physical fatigue, thirst and so on just vanish all of a sudden once the summit is within reach...and within a few minutes I finally stand on the summit! Wow...what a view...how could you not be absolutely staggered by this? The wind is rather weak and the sun shines with very little clouds in the sky...and I could just take a deck chair and enjoy all this for hours.
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| What can I say... |
Almost as soon as I get on the summit two alpinists are making their way on the summit ridge, coming from the North Face!! I look at them like if they were superheroes. The Eiger North Face is in my opinion THE North Face and being able to do it is a clear proof of really good mountaineering skills. One day, I promise...I will try it too.
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| These guys... |
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| ...just did the North Face |
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| Grindelwald...only a FEW hundreds meters below... |
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| Looking back on the West ridge from the summit...and people ski this stuff... |
After having extensively enjoyed the view from the summit we start to go down...never forget that the summit is only half way! Several sections are "down climbed" meaning that we walk backwards. The two alpinists that did the North Face just walk down almost everything, except the really steepest bit...and they seem to be walking in the park. Clearly, a lot more experienced than me! However, even backward walking is quite fast because the snow is still in decent conditions. Only dangerous moment is when I'm once again under the serac. Now it almost midday and is very hot. I know there was a serac fall recently, but this does not make me feel any safer and I try to walk down the coluoir under the serac as fast as I possibly can. Once I'm out of the serac fall line I take a break rest...snow is getting quite soft and I sink more and more at every step. With the help of daylight is much easier to find all the fixed ropes and the way down on the last section proceeds really quickly until the train station of Eiger Gletscher is finally reached.
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| Again the steep section...this time going down |
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| Still a long way... |
What an experience. Technically not that difficult but considering that me and my climbing partner never roped up, and were also quite apart from each other almost all the time, it's like if I did the whole thing on my own. I never felt "scared" or exposed and finally I've properly baptised my two technical ice axes! Thanks to the good conditions there were no technical difficulties, but still it was physically quite tough since it involved almost 1700up and down in a single day, getting to 3970m. This time I took the easiest route up this mountain...but next time it will be the North Face...or at least the Mittellegi!
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