Swiss AlpsSeptember 21
Hans and Heidi In the Swiss Alps, August 21 – 31, 2009, (AKA: Joe and Alison)
Before leaving home Hans and Heidi bought authentic Swiss outfits so that we would blend in with the locals….
Next, our weblog finds Hans and Heidi in the charming Swiss Village of Zermatt. No cars are allowed in Zermatt.
After one night in Zermatt we proceeded to the Hornli Hut, the standard overnight stop for aspirants on the Matterhorn’s Hornli Route. Most climbers had a Swiss guide and a ratio of 1:1. That’s because the Matterhorn is rather long and involved and you need to be efficient and fast. This picture shows we are in a crowd of gnarly climber types who will tear the hut apart if dinner is late….
We left after a breakfast in the Hut. The Head Guide was the first one to be let out the door. It’s considered bad form to try to beat the Head Guide out the door. As one Brit told us, “Its like riding ahead of the Master of the Hunt in a fox hunt.” Heidi and I duly queued up and left the hut about 4:20. Here is Heidi climbing with her headlamp….
Here is shot of Heidi defying gravity, with the town of Zermatt below her feet.
The climbing is all exposed but not especially difficult. We were short- roping like the guides, keeping about 10 meters of rope between us and the rest coiled around my shoulders for when the need arose. It is a fast method but requires that the guide not fall off the mountain and pull his client with him. They say that 500 people have died on the Matterhorn since it was first climbed by the Edward Whymper party. On the descent of that first climb four of a party of seven fell off the mountain, thus starting a rather disturbing trend…
This picture shows the Hornli Ridge on the right skyline. The Hornli Hut is below the clouds.
Hans, the Swiss Guide. The ‘Shoulder’ is seen above, also visible in the previous photo as a band of white snow.
Here is a view looking East toward the Klein Matterhorn, or “Little Matterhorn”.
There were lots of other people on the mountain….
Hans, unfortunately was feeling rather poorly physically, and had to admit defeat, just below the Solvay Hut, about 2/3 of the way to the summit.
Hans still got in a couple of pastels from the Hornli hut.
The next day we spent at the Schwarzee Hotel which had terrible views.
Two nights in Zermatt and a visit to a Swiss Doctor, then we were back up to the Huts. First we climbed the Rifflehorn.
And the Breithrorn
Why did Heidi keep saying, “Just a few steps closer to the edge and I’ll snap your picture….?”
Next we stayed at the Gandegghutte, which again has terrible views of nothing but rocks and ice.
Hans found an old guitar on a shelf and tuned it up for some music after dinner. A British psychologist and a computer programmer from Pennsylvania joined in the singing. Both of them were in training for the Matterhorn. Jon, from PA. took our photo. We saw him later and found out he had made the summit. He also shot this picture of a chamois in the Alps.
From the Gandegghutte we went over to the Schonbielhutte, which is up a drainage beneath the north face of the Matterhorn, being on the left in sunlight in this picture.
On the right is the Carrell Ridge or “Italian Route”.
Here again we were with a rough crowd, eating supper without plates or cutlery and braying through the night. (Dent D’Heren is in the background.)
We just stuck around the hut doing pastels, drawings and watercolors, and trying not to look offensive.
On the way back to Zermatt we stopped by the tiny village of Zmutt and did some art.
And finally, on the last morning we were in Zermatt I did the perfect Toblerone view of the Alps:
Ah, the perfect reward for all my labors….
