For this particular trip it was a case of packing the car with every concievable bit of equipment to cover ascents of big remote 4000er,'s to road side cragging shorts and T shirts.
Charles Sherwood collected me from my house and we headed to the Furka Pass at the head of the source of the Rhone river. It is well known for its wonderful granite rock. The last time Charles and I had climbed here together was in 2004.
We headed up to the wigwam shaped Sidelenhutte. It was originally built by the friend of mine who I worked a lot with in my early guiding days:-
Martin Epp, a famous Guide from Andermatt, who pretty much single handedly carried the frame up on his back.
Since then it has been modified and extended out of all recognition. It was busy too because it was a Friday night with a good weather forecast, despite arriving in thick mist.
Our plan for the next morning was the Gross Bielenhorn via the classic south east ridge. We were away before first light, which was perhaps a mistake because we walked into a big boulder field [which despite head torches], was difficult to navigate in the pitch black. Yet we still found our way through more efficiently than the other team which started in the light.
Mind you we were eventually treated to a memorable sunrise.
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| The boulder field & Sidelenhutte |
The climbing was first class and provided for some wonderful settings.
About 2/3rds of the way up the route moved into the shade and we found ourseles climbing in rock boots in ankle deep snow.
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| Charles arriving on the tricky summit block |
From the summit there is a 25meter rappel followed by a lot of down climbing followed by 3 further 25 meter rappels followed by another descent through various boulder fields. All in all we were 10 hours on the go, by the time we arrived back at the car. So a fine warm up climb.
Naturally we needed to now find ourselves somewhere to sleep and headed for Andermatt. Yet we arrived on a beautiful Saturday afternoon which coincided with a big bike race. Our tried and tested plan of " Oh we will just wing it on the accomodation" fell apart. There was no where to stay apart from the "Andermatt Chedi". So it provided a complete contrast to the previous nights Hut experience .
The next day it rained, more significantly, it snowed in the higher mountains, thus putting pay to the idea of climbing a really high peak. So we used the day to relocate to the Bregalia travelling over various alpine passes. The most memorable being the descent into Italy via the Splugenpass which after passing through the village of Pianazzo embarks on a series of switch backs the like of which I have ever seen. Utterly terrifying.
We arrived at the gondola lift of Pranzairia, which we took us to the dam at lake Albigina and then had an easy 45minutes walk to the marvellous Capanna da L'Albigina Hut, where copious amounts of draft beer were on tap.
The next day we climbed the south ridge of the Piz Balzet
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| looking towards the dam and our route of approach |
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| Charles following the ridge |
Again we saw no one all day. The conditions were perfect and we were quick and efficient with the whole excursion taking about seven hours.
We spent the night at a B&B at the side of the road. The next day it was raining again heavily. We used the day again to re position . We drove through St Moritz, then put the car on the train through the tunnel to Klosters via the Veraina tunnel. Then headed towards Zurich before ending up on the shores of Lake Brienz where we found a lovely hotel right on the lake shore.
Some serious examination of the weather forecast was now needed, because not for the first time it was not being co operative. We decided on heading to the Fribourg region. More specifically the Gastlosen range, which I had got to know a couple of weeks earlier.
By the time we arrived it had stopped raining and we were able to climb a pleasant rock route called Glenfiddich for William.
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| Charles on " A Glenfiddich for William" |
We stayed in the same hotel I had stayed in a couple of weeks beforehand in Jaun. The Waterfall Hotel.
The next day was going to be a long day. Our plan was to try the complete traverse of the Gastlosen range. [ I had failed to climb it on the last trip not least because we ran out of time!]
The approach starts with a brutal slog up a steep wooded path which then morphs into a steep scramble. The actual climbing starts right at the top of the Oberbergpass. At first its not too hard, but it is exposed. Then it gets very hard and very exposed [and polished ] Thankfully its not sustained and eventually you arrive on the top of the Eggturn. From there on, the climbing is steady but it is intimidating especially having spent the last week climbing on granite. The main challange is the route is a long way, with many pillars to climb up and around intermixed with a considerable amount of rappels.
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| Charles with the Eggturn in the background |
Then when you think it is about to finish, there is a far from obvious key passage which is not mention in any guide book, yet is mission critical:
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| The key passage squeeze. |
Yet eventually we made it and it gave a very memorable day on another classic Swiss mountain route.
On the following morning we a woke to heavy rain... We took a look at weather forcast and concluded that if we headed towards Martigny it would be sunny and dry. Which it was. We climbed in the Saliena valley before heading back to Chamonix in the late afternoon.
On our final day, we finished by climbing the impressive Asia on the Grande Floria above La Flegere. We needed to be quick because although the morning forecast- the afternoon was for snow!
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| Charles on the final pitch Asia Grande Floria |
