Matterhorn, Switzerland

Thursday August 17, 2017

The Matterhorn

Weather had been terrible for several weeks leading up to our trip to Switzerland. 70 cm of snow at the Zermatt ski area in the last week put the Matterhorn in full winter condition. Our original plan was to hike from Zermatt, up over Theodul Pass, moving around the southeast side of the mountain and up to Carrel hut in Italy. From there, we would ascend the Lion Ridge, or Cresta de Leon. But with the unusually high snow levels, there was no way we were making that happen; so as always, be flexible!

Lots of snow on the Matterhorn

We had heard horror stories about crowds, crazy guides, lines at fixed ropes and general chaos climbing the Swiss side of the mountain, the Hornli Ridge or Hornligrat. The most popular route on the Matterhorn seemed like it might be the only accessible route for us due to the high snow levels, so after much discussion we decided we would take it if it came into condition.

As the snow began to clear in the next two days, Laura and I would go back and forth on what route to take. Looking at the mountain from town, we really wanted Lion Ridge but both knew it was most likely unobtainable. We would watch weather almost hourly and every time I checked and with each different weather source, it would change. By this point the indecision about when to go and what route to take was bothering both of us and I had just about given up on chasing mountains at this point. I knew that a big part of alpine climbing is patience, but I wanted to get the mountain done and get on with our trip to the Eiger and rock climbing in the Yosemite of Switzerland, the Albigna Valley.

Still lots of snow

With spirits high, Monday morning we woke up early and made the 20 minute walk from our camp to the train station in Tasch, something we had become very accustomed to. The train takes 20 minutes to Zermatt, the town at the base of the Matterhorn, and put us in town around 7 am. Our plan for the day was to approach to the Hornli hut near where the route begins. We began our approach but by the time we stopped to check weather and see the crazy wind and snow coming in the following days, we cancelled our plan and decided to head back to camp.

In looking for something to pass the time while we waited on better weather, we grabbed the rock climbing gear and headed back toward Zermatt. We settled on climbing an 8 pitch rock route up Riffelhorn; an excellent rock climb below the current snow level and was a good substitute for the lost high alpine day.

Climbing the Riffelhorn

Tuesday morning we woke up to fantastic weather and a two day window for no snow. The mountain had been slowly melting out so we decided that we would at least make the trip up to Hornli hut and take a closer look for ourselves.

Approach trail to Hornli Hut

That morning, we rode the cable car halfway up the ski area and made the two hour hike to the hut. There were no guides, and only two other groups there to climb since the conditions were poor. We had heard the hardest part of the climb of Hornli ridge was the route finding so we decided to take an hour and climb the lower portion of the mountain. The part we would plan to do the following day in the dark. Up the initial fixed ropes we went, around the ledge, scree fields covered in snow...is this really the route!?!? We continued on what we thought was the correct path for an hour and then made our way back to the hut.



Relaxing and talking with the other 10 people staying in the normally overbooked 160 person hut was a good way to spend the afternoon and proved to be a good experience to what we were expecting to be madness.

Although we knew conditions were not good, we planned to leave at 2 am the following morning and make an attempt on the mountain. We felt like we had around a 30% chance of making it, but knew we couldn’t sit. We were served a hearty dinner by the hut staff, had some tea and headed to bed to catch a few hours of sleep before what we thought would probably be a 16-20 hour day tomorrow.

Scouting the start of the route with the Bulgarians

The 2 am alarm goes off and Laura looks out the window. The flag is straight out and it's cloudy enough that you can't see the next mountain over. I suggested sleeping till 3 and see what it looks like then. We went back to sleep and woke up to no wind. Gearing up and eating breakfast, I put on my jacket and pack and headed outside to take a look around to learn that it was pouring rain and the deck on the hut was already iced over. I walked back inside and while taking off my climbing harness told Laura "It's pouring. We're not going". She looked disappointed, but knew that there was no argument. We were not going. She sat in the breakfast area with her harness and jacket on for several minutes and then wandered outside as if hoping the rain would stop and somehow the freeze was only in my mind. A few minutes later she came inside and sat with me, both disappointed but knowing we were making the correct decision for safety.

From our breakfast table, we sat and watched a headlight flicker midway up the mountain. We also watched the group of 6 from Bulgaria who had left at 2:30 am slowly make their way up the lower portion of the route. After a while, we went back to bed until 6 am and woke up to another breakfast! I ate again and we watched as parties retreated from their attempt on the mountain.

We waited anxiously to talk to the Bulgarians about conditions. We thought they were the most experienced and likely to make the summit. A father and son team from Manchester was high on the mountain still. They had actually made it to Solvay hut halfway up the mountain; however we later learned that they were air lifted off by helicopter because they had called for rescue. This made 3 rescues in the 3 days we had been around the mountain, obviously a common thing here in Switzerland.



Climbers descending the fixed ropes

In Switzerland, there is some crazy expectation to be way over prepared, very conservative about mountain attempts, requiring a guide even for simple hikes and needing rescue insurance. We just didn't understand. There is constant helicopter activity here. Goods to mountain huts, rescues and more, seemingly never ending. The other thing we had learned is that everyone must think that even for short day hikes you need full winter mountaineering boots?! We were in tennis shoes and people thought we were a little crazy and definitely underestimated us as even being hikers let alone heading into the alpine. "No boots! How many toes do you have?" "Light and fast, you're crazy!" "No climb in shoes, must have boots" "Cold here, way colder than in Colorado!" We disregarded the comments as we know what we are capable of and regularly climb in snow and colder conditions at home with just the gear we have here.

Disappointment after the failed attempt

Anyway, we waited around until the Bulgarians made it back to the hut and chatted with them. I had made pretty good friends with the group the day before so they were friendly and helpful, even asking if they could climb with us at some point. They didn't really understand our preparedness but were interested in how we prepared and looked at the mountain, conditions and gear differently than everyone else around including themselves. They told us that conditions were not terrible, but there was deep snow in sections and that they retreated because of scary clouds and already being rained on. They didn’t want to push their luck and would come back in a year’s time. We completely understood and congratulated them on their attempt.

Off we went, hiking the 2 hours down to the gondola and back to Zermatt. We again headed to camp, making the 20 minute walk from the train station in Tasch. Looking at weather, we decided that we needed to give the mountain another shot soon before more rain and snow hit. We had 2 days of warm and clear weather ahead so we did a load of laundry at camp, rested and made the plan to head back up again the next day. We were undecided as to what the real plan of attack would be but we knew we had to get back up there, even with the mountain being in bad to moderately poor conditions.

Summit day:
Walking the 2 miles to Tasch and taking the train, we arrived in Zermatt Thursday morning at 8 am. We had discussed a variety of options on our ride down to Zermatt. Stay at Hornli hut again, explore the lower part of the mountain and head down, see how weather is and head to Solvay hut halfway up, and that seemingly positively known but unspoken plan of going all the way to the summit and down in one big push. Laura was 100% positive that we would stay at Solvay and try for the summit on Friday, but I had a different plan in mind. I know how far I can push myself and how strong Laura is on long days. Those 50 and 100 mile runs really pay off for her in the alpine...me, I don't run!

We again took the cable car up the ski area, made the hike to Hornli hut and went to the beginning of the climb where the first fixed ropes are. We would start climbing and evaluate our options every 2 hours. Weather was perfect and was forecasted to stay good so we were in little danger of getting caught in a storm.

Climbing the fixed ropes at the start of the route

The start of the climb is up a set of very large fixed ropes with several metal ladder pieces set into the rock to use as steps. With heavy backpacks, rope, climbing gear, winter gear, food and a jetboil camp stove in case of an emergency, we worked our way up. It is strenuous hand over hand climbing for the first 250 feet. Probably 5.9 or so without ropes, but we gladly took the assistance and made the first three ledges in about 5 minutes. Up the first section of scree and across loose ledges we went making it in just 20 minutes to where we had scouted over an hours’ time just a day before.

The previous day at the hut, I had talked with a guide based out of Chamonix France, Pete. He used to live in Colorado so we had much to talk about. The main point he kept repeating about the Matterhorn was that you need to follow crampon marks and stay out of the loose stuff. He repeated "If you feel like you're off route, stop immediately and go back to where you last knew you were correct. Do not proceed!"

We were making good time but started having route finding difficulty just above where we had scouted. At each successive ledge and gully, I would pull the topo map and compare to trip reports I had saved as a backup plan in my planning stages back home a month ago. 20 meters left to the base of the first gully, climb for 60 meters on 5.5 terrain with the occasional metal stake in the rock and across a well-marked path. We found the well-marked path - pretty obvious when you see the red arrows painted on the rock! We felt good that we were on route and continued on.

We passed a guide on his way down from taking a client to the summit earlier in the day but as expected, he said nothing and simply passed us by offering little knowledge. When they reached the bottom, we figured he spoke about us heading up so late because we started seeing helicopter activity and from then on, they regularly checked on us. "They're spying on us" Laura says. "I'm not going with them; I'll walk down in the dark."

So on we continued, solving route finding problems one after another but still making good time to Solvay hut. Guides who know every step of the mountain and are said to "drag their clients up at a ridiculous pace" do it in 3 hours. We made it in 3.5 not even breathing hard. All those inclines and steep night hikes with 30 pound packs are really paying off. We passed a group of two who were planning to stay at Solvay hut due to exhaustion. Solvay is supposed to be for emergency bivvies’ only but it was clear that this was their plan from the beginning. We passed by, made a stop at the hut for food and water and as agreed earlier, discussed our options.



Last section of the lower Mosley slabs before Solvay Hut



View of the upper mountain from Solvay Hut

With clear skies and low winds, we decided to make push for the summit. We thought it would take 1.5 hours in prime conditions but estimated 3-4 hours on this day due to snow. As we started the upper half of the route, the route finding difficulties eventually eased. We got into a solid boot pack on the snow and onto the ridge once again. Metal pins, stakes and pigtails showed the route. Several fixed lines and cables lead to more fixed rope - the big ones like at the beginning, but this time we were tired. One after another up very steep and highly exposed terrain, it seemed like 50 but was probably 15 rope lengths or so.

We made it out onto the north face and followed more pins and stakes, clipping each one as we were roped together for safety. The steep snow slope was long but eventually I spotted the statue just below the short summit ridge. I finally knew we would make it! A short walk later we stood atop the mountain we had planned and dreamed about for so long. The most photographed mountain in the world. The one over 450 people had perished on. The mountain so many travel to Switzerland to see up close. The Matterhorn.

It was 5 pm. 7.5 hours after we had started. Probably way too late to be on summit and we would positively be descending in the dark. We stayed for 5 minutes and took some pictures before starting the long descent down.

The slightly lower Italian summit in the background with the cross. 

The snow up high was very unstable and made it far too dangerous to down climb the upper sections. We had been practicing simu-rappelling at home for a few months as a technique to move faster in the mountains, so we rappelled, both at the same time on the same rope, making double time like we knew we had to. 5, 10, 20 rappels later we made it to where we could down climb to Solvay hut. When we arrived there were 4, or maybe 6 people in the 2 beds. None English speaking, 2 seemingly sketchy and upset we walked in and none offering any assistance. They asked if we would stay but without confidence in being safe there overnight, I told them we were only stopping to eat and that we were planning to go down. They seemed amazed and shuffled under the wool blankets and torn mattresses.

Rapping down above Solvay

We left Solvay hut, again rappelling time after time. Slowly we lost light and this is where the adventure turned into an epic. We began descending a snowfield, around a rib on the east face. There were tracks in the snow in every direction, but I felt that we were heading the correct way. Laura is the best route finder I have ever climbed with so when she says something doesn't seem right, I almost always go with it. Something didn't seem right. We had read too many times not to go out on the east face. Our friend Chris went too far out on the east face. My friend got lost and shivered a night away out there just a month ago. Don't go too far out on the east face!

We turned around and headed back up to the ridge, traversing over until we located rappel slings. The mountain is littered with them and we should have known we were going wrong. Tired and unsure of what to do, we rappelled a few times and discussed where we thought we were at. It was now late in the night, dark and impossible to see. We were lost. Neither of us had been in this situation before but I am proud of the way both of us handled it. We collected our thoughts, considered boiling water for warmth and bunking down for a few hours, consulted maps and pictures we’d taken earlier in the day and made a solid plan. Warming our hands and feet, we decided we were way too high on the ridge and that we should have descended around the rock rib we were at earlier. We needed to keep moving down, so we rappelled on old slings along the mountain and when those ran out, made some of our own down lower.

After being lost and off route for nearly 4 hours, we found what we thought was the correct path down. We followed the crampon marks down rock ledges and loose scree. Down climbing consistent 5.2+ terrain. Past the solar area and "the vacuum cleaner" as Laura called it. Down, down, down for 3 more hours before making it to the base of the route where we had started almost 16 hours before. We went to the hut where all the climbers were up and preparing for their climb that day. As we sat and rested in the dry room away from the breakfast area, climbers came in and out, none of them suspecting that we had attempted, let alone sumitted the Matterhorn as they slept. We relaxed and ate for an hour or so and then made the walk down to the cable car.

We caught a short nap from 6-7 am on the concrete before being woken up by stray sheep almost stepping on us as Laura screamed “watch out, crazy animals were heading right for you!” We caught the first gondola back down to Zermatt, had breakfast, took the train back to Tasch and made the 20 minute walk once again back to camp.

The fighting sheep that almost trampled Justin in his sleep

We made it, the Matterhorn. I really couldn't remember the details until I actually sat down to write this blog the following day. Lying in the tent that morning at camp, everything seemed to blur together at first but now the details are clear. What a fun day out. It is amazing how quickly the body can recover, forget the pain and cold and all you remember is the amazing scenery, the stars and the sun, the crescent moon rising as we descended and all the choices we made and paths we took that day.