Matterhorn video

Matterhorn Traverse

After three years of  thwarted attempts at climbing the Matterhorn  - we finally got lucky with the weather and made a successful traverse of the mountain via the Liongrat and Hornli ridges this week.

Previous trips had been abandoned due to poor weather / conditions / serious rock fall to such an extent that Rob and I were getting to the stage of giving up on the mountain, however, after a long drive out to Cervino on the weekend, an area of high pressure moving in from the west suggested we might get lucky.

We walked in slowly to help acclimatise, hoping to spend a comfortable night in the Abruzzi Hut - only finding it closed for refurbishment - a long cold night in a store room ensued ! with the next day again spent slowly moving up to the more comfortable Carrel Hut where the route started properly.

A beautiful morning greeted us and it was a delight to be moving fluidly on the mountain in the sunshine. The route was in excellent condition and with fixed belays and ropes over the hardest sections we made good time to the summit. The poor quality rock below the Tete de Lion had given us a few nagging doubts about descending via the Liongrat, and as the weather looked settled and the Hornli hut looked very inviting, we decided to complete the traverse of the mountain via the Hornli Ridge - a long and tiring descent ensued, with the lack of sleep and food over the last few days taking its toll - even with only brief stops at the Solvay Hut and a few photo's of the evening sun we slowed down, only just making it to the Hornli Hut before another team got the last two beds ! - luckily they had sleeping bags, and had a comfortable night on the verandha.
We returned to Italy the next day over the Furgg glacier and the Breuiljoch, getting back to Cervino for lunch. Moving back towards Chamonix in the afternoon, hoping to finish off the trip with a short route on the Aiquilles for Friday, however, our luck finally ran out with the weather and it was time to head for home. It all seems a little unreal, now that we are back, a plan we have talked about for three years - over in three days !

Matterhorn trip



Packing for the Alps today - usual thing, what to take, what not to take, keep it light or prepare for all eventualities ? Which boots ? Which rope ? Which rucsac ? Will it be cold ? Will it be hot ? etc.
This trip we are taking the truck, so no limits with weight, which means we'll probably take to much ! Last years experience at Geneva airport ( when I was stopped from carrying my ropes on as hand luggage - causing a  few stressful moments ! ) persuaded us to drive this year. It's been 15 years since the last time I drove and I'm not sure I'm looking forward to it, hopefully it'll be worth it. Webcams are showing our proposed route ( The Liongrat ) to be suffering a little from the unsettled weather - alternating dry and snow free to a light covering of snow - fingers crossed for some good weather !

Autumn mountains

 
Some lovely weather this week for some mountain training in the Brecon Beacons, and although the excellent visibility meant that the navigation was a little too easy, it was a pleasure being out in these beautiful hills, finishing off with some climbing in the Wye Valley - again, in gorgeous sunshine. Quite a few people out making the most of it, also the Gower Climbing Festival should be well attended, given the forecast,  and will generate even more interest in this fantastic area.

Outdoor courses

Warm and sunny conditions for this weeks 'outdoor rock' courses allowing us to concentrate on the some of the techniques used for climbing on natural rock - anchors / gear placements / belaying, climbing movement etc. One reccuring theme of recent courses is belaying with climbers of different weights - where a belayer is a lot lighter than the climber - leading to a lack of control / high stress / and a lack of confidence in the system , especially at indoor climbing walls. This can very easily be overcome with a little pre-planning and a few tweaks of technique or equipment - such as belayer position / stance /anchor, semi-direct belays, different belay devices etc. We've been spending a little time on this for the last few courses, enabling some much more confident belaying

Mountaineering in the sun

After last weeks' rain, it was real pleasure to get some warm sunshine and dry rock in Snowdonia over the last few days, supposedly for some alpine training, with big boots and bigger rucsacs, instead we enjoyed some very relaxed scrambles in a beautiful setting - blue skies and bluer lakes with warm rock and a gentle breeze - perfect !