You might want to read the previous blog before reading this one...no blogs at all for months then 2 in a day!
Anyhow, everything this far had been 1:1 guiding so the bi-annual visit from St James' School was a bit of a shock! As usual they were super-organised and very keen so we climbed...
Then, back to having only 1 client and a better chance of me getting names right!
Our Eiger summit photo was taken by Daniel Toferer, an Austrian guide we'd met in the hut. These shared moments are an important part of climbing I think, conversations in huts and swapping summit photos and handshakes, shared experiences with like-minded people. The next time I met him was on the Matterhorn 2 weeks later, swapping fist-bumps and congratulations again as he passed us on the summit slopes. Tragically he was killed in a fall at the Roter Turm maybe 30 minutes later. RIP Daniel. So sad.
A happier memory of the Matterhorn...later the same week traversing the mountain from Italy to Switzerland. There were 2 other teams in the Abruzzi hut/hotel and they seemed to get lost early on the dark. Carrel hut was closed except for a small Cervinia guides' room and there were only 2 guides that day so we had the route to ourselves, hours of solitude on the most famous peak of the Alps!
A couple of days in my home valley climbing the excellent Tsalion West ridge, a fine climb and no pushover at AD...we'd had a lovely night at the Tsa hut with dinner al fresco followed by a classical guitar recital!
A late start on the Weissmies after waiting for it to stop raining! With BMG guide Jon Holliday
Then back to the Matterhorn...22nd August. A great days' climbing with a sad memory.
The following week we started with a completely deserted Pigne d'Arolla
Then over to Grindelwald for another ascent of the Eiger
Back to the Valais for the Pointe de Mourti, climbed from the carpark after a not-so-early start! With cooler temperatures and less snow on the glaciers in the late season, this late-start approach can work well and makes a nice change from 3am breakfasts!
And here we are, fully caught-up to this week! It's definitely late season now with a big drop in temperature and snow down to 1800m today. Yesterday traversing the Pigne we had the mountain to ourselves again. A beautiful day with some tricky glacier travel, stunning views, silence and solitude in the mountains. (Carpe every ******* diem if you're reading this Richard!) Thanks Ian Loombe (BMG aspirant) for helping with the trail breaking and crevasse detection!
