Gutted....The ice hadn't frozen and was still like mush. Unfortunately we weren't able to climb up as it most likely would have ended in disaster. Instead we abseiled and down climbed the whole route.... it took a good day, sideways abseils, ropes getting stuck, prusiking up ropes, chopping tat, getting sun burnt.....
Today Kenny, Paul and I got the first lift up and walked down onto the Argentier Glacier to the base of this massive route. Rock climbing was on the cards for our first day, ice climbing for the second. Our third day would probably be spent getting back to Chamonix. The climbing was great, we all had rock shoes on with our big boots, crampons, axes and bivi kit tucked away in our bags. We had an ace days climbing on varied terrain which got us up to the ice around 5/6pm. Unfortuntely the ice was thin and mushy so we were unable to climb a couple of pitches so instead we bivied so it would freeze up over night......
Today Kenny and I climbed another long multi-pitch route in Grinderwald. I cant remember what it was called but it was very very good. More granite slabs with a fantastic Yosemite crack/offwidth/groove crux pitch!
In the top 10 rock route I've ever done! Absolutley brilliant. This Eldorado classic is a must do. It is lightly bolted so a trad rack is needed for this 14 pitch route. It felt like E1/2 which just kept coming. Every pitch was good, the sun was shining with a light breeze, it was like a fairytale. What a day!
Today was another 3am start and we battled into the winds to get to the bottom of this 500m snow-ice route. It is sustained at about 55 degrees all the way to the top. After crossing the Bergshund we just kept the rope on and ploughed up to the top reaching the summit at 6am in very high winds. The plan was to the press on along the ridge to Nadelhorn but as we were getting blown around we decided we should just down-climb the whole route...... so we did. It was quite fun down climbing the route and was surprisingly quick. We took only one axe each which was fine but with two axes you can really race up this (D) route. Once back in the hut we packed up our kit, headed down to Saas Fee for some coke then drove over to the Grimsel Pass for some rock climbing.
What a brilliant day we had on this. So yesterday we walked up to the Mischabel SAC Hut and had a good relaxing evening, even went for a wee wonder up the hill to see where we were going in the morning. We set off at 3am this morning and headed over the Windjoch and onto Ulrichshorn (3925m), then climbed up the Dirrujoch Coilour which was horrendous as it wasn't complete and the snow was very poor. We escaped onto the rocks on the right but still wasn't fun as it was super loose and slabby. We then went on and summited Hobaryhorn (4219m), Stecknadelhn (4241m) and finally Nadelhorn (4327m) to complete one of the classic ridge traverses in the Alps, the Nadelgrat (AD-). A great day out!
Today showed some unsettled weather in the mountains so Kenny and I opted for a day with a light rucksack and hands covered in chalk. We headed into Grindlewald and climbed the 450m 13 pitch route of Sagittarius (6b) in Gelmerfluh. It is a fantastic route with plenty of bolts to aim for. Immaculate granite slabs keep the concentration levels high and had some fantastic pitches on which would be much better if there were no bolts and a small trad rack was carried. An ace route, well worth seeking out. From the top we made 6 abseils off fantastic ab stations and a quick wander back to the van. What a day!
Yesterday Kenny and I spotted the South Ridge (AD) to the summit of the Lagginhorn (4010m) and it looked great fun. So today we got the first lift up and went for it. We didn't want to hang around to much so again we made good progress and got up in quite a quick time. This ridge felt easier than the North Ridge of Weissmies but still lots to keep you occupied. Maybe if your wanting to do these two ridges then start with the Lagginhorn. The best way to do the two ridges would be to do them in a day. Get an early start though!
