My friends and I pitched up to the Italian side early last month hoping to squeeze out a few good days, but the whole mountain was out of shape. Pity, but hell, it will be there next year!
Great report and as others have said, good for you for not being overly influenced by guide propaganda!
I'd love to see a chart showing "IN SHAPE/OUT OF SHAPE" days over the summer. I mean, July was quite snowy. Then much of September was bad. Grr. Good luck next year, Nigel!
Thanks Nikman. No, I don't think so, because I don't have the bandwidth to do individual picture uploads anymore. That's why I'm using Flickr. Flickr gives me an easy to use bulk uploader, where captions for pictures can be burned into the metadata. Then I make use of a custom app I built at http://www.mountainwerks.org/mstanton/flickrlinks, to gather all the links in bulk. It saves me so much time, and pretty much makes the difference nowadays between posting nothing or anything at all.
Very well written. While the snow conditions were far worse for you than for us, when we did it, you captured very well what this route is like. We had much the same experiences.
It was rigorous, but my dad had done it and had pretty much brought us up to speed on it. The hut lady said, "Oh, without a guide, expect 13 hours." That did surprise me, but she was on the money. We did it in 13 hours - same time up as down. However, all those climbs on shit-for-rock in Glacier Park really was the right training - we did not suffer as much route finding problems as you indicate. However, we had much better conditions - we didn't put on crampons until part way through the ropes section. But we also have never rushed routes. The weather started to crap out, so we had to cut our summit experience a bit short. You have some fine pictures I wish we had. The clouds pretty much followed us all the way down. My dad later thought we had done a fine job of it. That meant a lot to me. The people on the route are amazing - most don't belong there. As you said, you can't blame them for wanting that summit, however.
I'll probably never climb Matterhorn, but you made me share your climb. Thanks for a nice trip report and some wonderful photos, and congratulations for your success.
Wow...can't imagine doing THAT kind of climbing! incredible!!
Makes my day hikes/weekend hikes seem...well...insignificant compared to what som many on this site do. I suppose that's not the point of climbing/hiking is it?
Anyway, WONDERFUL write up. For some reason, however, the pictures are not coming out on this computer. Not sure why...but, well worth the read.
Thanks Imzadi! Be careful, don't imagine it too much or you will want to do it, and then you will find yourself doing it! I hiked for years and thought alpine climbing was CRAZY :D.
In my view, it's all about delta, not absolutes. Furthest, highest, fastest in absolute terms is not important. What is interesting is what kind of range did you experience?
It must have been that I was viewing at work...the site you pulled them from is blocked (webshots?)
I've only done small (5000 feet or less except for Adams in NH) but, even these are something special. However...did one hike a few weeks ago (Tumbledown) that had some Class III near the end of the trail. I think that technical climbing might be in my future...that was FUN!!
Congratulations! Looking over your Profile & prior achievements, I was surprised that you waited so long to climb the Hoernli Ridge. Have you considered doing the Traverse (Lion Ridge up & down Hoernli)? I have been told that the crowds are much more sparse & you get to downclimb back, thus avoiding the crampons from descending parties.
Very well written report. By the way, the photos are awesome, specially the one that highlights the route.
Thanks Jan! Well I'm more into alpine rock climbing than high summits, so it was always easy for me to cancel a plan if the weather looked iffy and do some lower elevation snow-free climbing. That's why, for example, I lived in the northwest for 8 years and never climbed Rainier! I like rock ridges and faces best. Still, the Matterhorn was awesome.
I didn't consider the traverse, I'm sure you are right that it's a great way to go. I would like to go back and climb the Zmutt Ridge for sure.
Dreamchaser - Dec 12, 2008 10:47 am - Hasn't voted
Gloves
"Overall, our gloves were our most important piece of equipment,"
What system would you recommend? please include manufacturers and models so we can look them up. Great trip report by the way :)
JackCarr - Oct 9, 2008 1:07 pm - Hasn't voted
Nice oneJust got in from work, where I've been thinking about the mountains all day, so this was perfect! Great read, really well written.
mvs - Oct 10, 2008 11:45 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Nice oneWhat's better than N Mountains? N+1 Mountains! Thanks Jack :D.
Luciano136 - Oct 9, 2008 2:57 pm - Voted 10/10
Awesome!I would love to do this but it will probably remain a dream forever. Congrats on the summit!
mvs - Oct 10, 2008 11:24 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Awesome!Thank you! But I don't believe that. A good chunk of time + weather + Switzerland may just line up one o these days :-).
Nigel Lewis - Oct 9, 2008 6:34 pm - Voted 10/10
Good for you!My friends and I pitched up to the Italian side early last month hoping to squeeze out a few good days, but the whole mountain was out of shape. Pity, but hell, it will be there next year!
Great report and as others have said, good for you for not being overly influenced by guide propaganda!
N
mvs - Oct 10, 2008 11:25 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Good for you!I'd love to see a chart showing "IN SHAPE/OUT OF SHAPE" days over the summer. I mean, July was quite snowy. Then much of September was bad. Grr. Good luck next year, Nigel!
Rob Ricks - Oct 9, 2008 11:12 pm - Voted 10/10
CongratulationsExcellent report. Switzerland has so much to offer. Thanks for sharing. RR
Nikman - Oct 10, 2008 4:24 am - Voted 10/10
Nice report!Will you also upload the pics here on SP?
mvs - Oct 10, 2008 7:42 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Nice report!Thanks Nikman. No, I don't think so, because I don't have the bandwidth to do individual picture uploads anymore. That's why I'm using Flickr. Flickr gives me an easy to use bulk uploader, where captions for pictures can be burned into the metadata. Then I make use of a custom app I built at http://www.mountainwerks.org/mstanton/flickrlinks, to gather all the links in bulk. It saves me so much time, and pretty much makes the difference nowadays between posting nothing or anything at all.
Moni - Oct 10, 2008 9:40 am - Voted 10/10
Excellent!Very well written. While the snow conditions were far worse for you than for us, when we did it, you captured very well what this route is like. We had much the same experiences.
mvs - Oct 10, 2008 11:22 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Excellent!Thanks Moni, and Fred too. Yeah, did it kick your butt a little more than you expected? (like me?) :D
Moni - Oct 10, 2008 8:59 pm - Voted 10/10
Re: Excellent!It was rigorous, but my dad had done it and had pretty much brought us up to speed on it. The hut lady said, "Oh, without a guide, expect 13 hours." That did surprise me, but she was on the money. We did it in 13 hours - same time up as down. However, all those climbs on shit-for-rock in Glacier Park really was the right training - we did not suffer as much route finding problems as you indicate. However, we had much better conditions - we didn't put on crampons until part way through the ropes section. But we also have never rushed routes. The weather started to crap out, so we had to cut our summit experience a bit short. You have some fine pictures I wish we had. The clouds pretty much followed us all the way down. My dad later thought we had done a fine job of it. That meant a lot to me. The people on the route are amazing - most don't belong there. As you said, you can't blame them for wanting that summit, however.
eza - Oct 10, 2008 10:16 am - Voted 10/10
WowI'll probably never climb Matterhorn, but you made me share your climb. Thanks for a nice trip report and some wonderful photos, and congratulations for your success.
mvs - Oct 10, 2008 11:26 am - Hasn't voted
Re: WowThanks Eza, you are welcome!
imzadi - Oct 10, 2008 10:59 am - Voted 10/10
WowWow...can't imagine doing THAT kind of climbing! incredible!!
Makes my day hikes/weekend hikes seem...well...insignificant compared to what som many on this site do. I suppose that's not the point of climbing/hiking is it?
Anyway, WONDERFUL write up. For some reason, however, the pictures are not coming out on this computer. Not sure why...but, well worth the read.
Keep reaching for the summit!
mvs - Oct 10, 2008 11:16 am - Hasn't voted
Re: WowThanks Imzadi! Be careful, don't imagine it too much or you will want to do it, and then you will find yourself doing it! I hiked for years and thought alpine climbing was CRAZY :D.
In my view, it's all about delta, not absolutes. Furthest, highest, fastest in absolute terms is not important. What is interesting is what kind of range did you experience?
I'm bummed you can't see pics? :(
imzadi - Oct 10, 2008 10:15 pm - Voted 10/10
Re: WowHEY!! Here are you pictures!!
It must have been that I was viewing at work...the site you pulled them from is blocked (webshots?)
I've only done small (5000 feet or less except for Adams in NH) but, even these are something special. However...did one hike a few weeks ago (Tumbledown) that had some Class III near the end of the trail. I think that technical climbing might be in my future...that was FUN!!
JanG - Oct 19, 2008 5:20 pm - Voted 10/10
Great trip report!Congratulations! Looking over your Profile & prior achievements, I was surprised that you waited so long to climb the Hoernli Ridge. Have you considered doing the Traverse (Lion Ridge up & down Hoernli)? I have been told that the crowds are much more sparse & you get to downclimb back, thus avoiding the crampons from descending parties.
Very well written report. By the way, the photos are awesome, specially the one that highlights the route.
JanG
mvs - Oct 20, 2008 1:30 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Great trip report!Thanks Jan! Well I'm more into alpine rock climbing than high summits, so it was always easy for me to cancel a plan if the weather looked iffy and do some lower elevation snow-free climbing. That's why, for example, I lived in the northwest for 8 years and never climbed Rainier! I like rock ridges and faces best. Still, the Matterhorn was awesome.
I didn't consider the traverse, I'm sure you are right that it's a great way to go. I would like to go back and climb the Zmutt Ridge for sure.
Dreamchaser - Dec 12, 2008 10:47 am - Hasn't voted
Gloves"Overall, our gloves were our most important piece of equipment,"
What system would you recommend? please include manufacturers and models so we can look them up. Great trip report by the way :)