marc123 - Aug 22, 2012 4:05 am Date Climbed: Jul 14, 2005
West East Traverse
After the Pollux we did the Castor traverse
JuliusKramer - Aug 19, 2012 5:39 pm Date Climbed: Jul 18, 2012
What a day!
Camping on the flat part of the glacier between Klein Matterhorn and Breithorn. We were first going for Pollux, but turned around in the beginning of the scramble, and decided to go for Castor instead. Climbed the breathtakingly steep snow slope and reached summit early afternoon,then "rushed" down, probably as the last climbers that day. Stunning view from the summit and absolutely amazing (almost too amazing) weather! On the way back towards Kl. Matterhorn, a small avalanche had totally covered part of the the path. Too close! Castor was my highest mountain so far.
gimpilator - Aug 12, 2012 12:04 am Date Climbed: Jul 24, 2012
4 Peaks Of Monte Rosa
We started at Klein Matterhorn and did Breithorn the first day with Pollux and Castor the second day, and Ludwigshoehe the third day. We descended the Gorner Glacier to the Monte Rosa Hut. On the fourth day I had to descend all the way to Visp to get surgery for a strange illness and we were not able to climb Dufourspitze as we had planned.
Koen - Jul 31, 2012 8:00 am Date Climbed: Jul 27, 2012
Westface
Westface normal route on a clear day from Ayas hut.
Some clouds threatened to move in, and at one point it looked like we might not have a view, but it opened up again and gimpilator, Ryan and I got great views from the summit.
CharlesBath - Jul 9, 2012 10:42 am Date Climbed: Jul 3, 2012
Castor normal route
The short story is that this beautiful mountain required no prior experience (as long as you have a local guide), but I found it both physically very demanding and quite scary on the final ridge.
I have done a fair bit of Alpine hiking, but this was only the second mountain that I have climbed after the Breithorn main summit. I had spent about 10 days doing hikes and getting acclimatised before doing Castor. Castor definitely was much more demanding than the Breithorn main summit.
I climbed Castor with just me and a local guide. We set off on a wonderful blue sky day with no wind and temperatures at about zero degrees. There had been some fresh snow the night before. The cable car was however delayed by about 1 hour which put us under some time pressure as the last cable car down was at 4pm. If you miss the cable car you either have to stay the night at the cable car station or walk to a mountain hut.
The initial walk from the Klein Matterhorn cable car station to the base of the mountain I found quite easy and very pleasant. There were a couple of very short, icy sections where you could have taken a tumble if you were not careful.
However, I found the walk up the face of the mountain on the normal route really physically demanding. I certainly am not as fit as I thought! I was pretty tired by the time I got to the summit ridge. In addition the summit ridge was more scary than I had thought from photographs beforehand. It took me a lot of concentration to avoid making any stumbles on the ridge. The local guide was totally essential for someone of my prior experience level.
We had a quick sandwich on the summit and the walked back along the summit ridge and back down the face. Due to tiredness I found the first 50 feet or so of the face below the ridge quite difficult as it was icy.
The final walk back to Klein Matterhorn felt long and tiring to me and I was very glad to reach the cable car station. In addition a lot of low cloud came in and the area was quite deserted so I was again very glad to have a local guide.
Ski ascent in a group of 6, perfect conditions. The final ridge was interesting! Descend to Rif. Quintino Sella
IvanBraunDK - Jan 15, 2012 5:03 pm Date Climbed: Jul 19, 2011
Castor with Liskamm traverse
Climbed it from the Ayas hut on a windy but clear day - after summit did we traverse to Lisskamm West
Valtho - Aug 26, 2011 4:05 pm Date Climbed: Aug 18, 2011
traverse
Climbed it from the Ayas hut, after Pollux on a beautifull day and we went to the Quintino Sella
climbxclimb - Aug 25, 2011 1:06 pm Date Climbed: Aug 28, 2011
Italian normal route
Climbed the italian normal route form Rifugio Quintino Sella.
We met very high winds on the ridge winch made many teams turn back. Visibility was low at moments.
Overall a very nice easy climb with beautiful views...when the clouds allow..
Route Climbed: Traverse Date Climbed: august 2011 / october 2015 / july 2019
2011: After traverse of the Pollux, we continued from the Zwillingsjoch over the NW Ridge. Fairly steep in places, no track, but in good snow conditions definitely better climbing than the highway of the normal route. Descent to the Felikjoch and then again over the Castor back to the bivouac Rossi e Volante.
2015: Castor lies on the way from Klein Matterhorn to the Rifugio Quintino Sella, hence I traversed the summit a second time. Perfect conditions, clear weather but windy.
2019: Again we traversed Castor on our way to the Rifugio Quintino Sella.
cabouckaert1 - Aug 19, 2011 5:27 am Date Climbed: Aug 11, 2011
Traverse
Clmibed it after Pollux with group of 8. Non-technical climb to the top, only bergschrund to cross near the ridge and then summit ridge. Final climb on the summit ridge and then descent via the other side is good fun though! Amazing weather and views as well!
Fresh powder snow and arctic temperature like in january, but unbeatable view over the whole of Pennine Alps and down to Pianura Padana and to the Appennine. Good conditions on the south side / ascent from Rif. Guide della Val d´Ayas.
LoneRanger - Jul 4, 2011 6:03 am Date Climbed: Jul 3, 2011
From Testa Grigia
with WouterB. The climb was very enjoyable but too windy/cold to allow any proper eating break.
Climbed from Testa Grigia, leaving very early (2am) in very windy weather. Made almost no stops due to the cold and summited shortly after 6am. Wanted to 'quickly' do Pollux afterwards, but my climbing partner decided otherwise.
domipost - Jun 24, 2011 6:32 am Date Climbed: Jul 19, 2010
Italian normal route
Nice and pretty easy snow ridge. Not too crowded for an easy 4000 meter peak.
Kyle22 - Feb 13, 2011 12:53 am Date Climbed: Jun 30, 2010
Castor
Brother, Dad and I climbed Castor to acclimatize for both the Dom and Mont Blanc. Great fun, not so much for my brother who got sick from drinking to much chicken broth the night before but he still managed to summit with us.
JanVanGenk - Aug 13, 2010 1:29 pm Date Climbed: Aug 6, 2010
Traverse
Solo ascent from Rossi and Volante bivouac hut. Continued to Liskamm, and thus had to do the Castor traverse again by return. Good conditions though it had been snowing all day long the day before.
Goof - Jun 30, 2010 6:26 am Date Climbed: Aug 4, 2009
Castor Traverse
Great views, not too much of a queue. A Swiss guide even smiled at us!!!
schulzj - Oct 18, 2009 1:05 pm Date Climbed: Aug 26, 2005
Castor Traverse
Unfortunately, the weather had deteriorated later that day and from the summit we had no views. Nevertheless, it was the end of day 1 on our 3 day traverse over to Nordend.
marc123 - Aug 22, 2012 4:05 am Date Climbed: Jul 14, 2005
West East TraverseAfter the Pollux we did the Castor traverse
JuliusKramer - Aug 19, 2012 5:39 pm Date Climbed: Jul 18, 2012
What a day!Camping on the flat part of the glacier between Klein Matterhorn and Breithorn. We were first going for Pollux, but turned around in the beginning of the scramble, and decided to go for Castor instead. Climbed the breathtakingly steep snow slope and reached summit early afternoon,then "rushed" down, probably as the last climbers that day. Stunning view from the summit and absolutely amazing (almost too amazing) weather! On the way back towards Kl. Matterhorn, a small avalanche had totally covered part of the the path. Too close! Castor was my highest mountain so far.
gimpilator - Aug 12, 2012 12:04 am Date Climbed: Jul 24, 2012
4 Peaks Of Monte RosaWe started at Klein Matterhorn and did Breithorn the first day with Pollux and Castor the second day, and Ludwigshoehe the third day. We descended the Gorner Glacier to the Monte Rosa Hut. On the fourth day I had to descend all the way to Visp to get surgery for a strange illness and we were not able to climb Dufourspitze as we had planned.
Koen - Jul 31, 2012 8:00 am Date Climbed: Jul 27, 2012
WestfaceWestface normal route on a clear day from Ayas hut.
rgg - Jul 26, 2012 3:31 pm Date Climbed: Jul 24, 2012
W-E traverseSome clouds threatened to move in, and at one point it looked like we might not have a view, but it opened up again and gimpilator, Ryan and I got great views from the summit.
CharlesBath - Jul 9, 2012 10:42 am Date Climbed: Jul 3, 2012
Castor normal routeThe short story is that this beautiful mountain required no prior experience (as long as you have a local guide), but I found it both physically very demanding and quite scary on the final ridge.
I have done a fair bit of Alpine hiking, but this was only the second mountain that I have climbed after the Breithorn main summit. I had spent about 10 days doing hikes and getting acclimatised before doing Castor. Castor definitely was much more demanding than the Breithorn main summit.
I climbed Castor with just me and a local guide. We set off on a wonderful blue sky day with no wind and temperatures at about zero degrees. There had been some fresh snow the night before. The cable car was however delayed by about 1 hour which put us under some time pressure as the last cable car down was at 4pm. If you miss the cable car you either have to stay the night at the cable car station or walk to a mountain hut.
The initial walk from the Klein Matterhorn cable car station to the base of the mountain I found quite easy and very pleasant. There were a couple of very short, icy sections where you could have taken a tumble if you were not careful.
However, I found the walk up the face of the mountain on the normal route really physically demanding. I certainly am not as fit as I thought! I was pretty tired by the time I got to the summit ridge. In addition the summit ridge was more scary than I had thought from photographs beforehand. It took me a lot of concentration to avoid making any stumbles on the ridge. The local guide was totally essential for someone of my prior experience level.
We had a quick sandwich on the summit and the walked back along the summit ridge and back down the face. Due to tiredness I found the first 50 feet or so of the face below the ridge quite difficult as it was icy.
The final walk back to Klein Matterhorn felt long and tiring to me and I was very glad to reach the cable car station. In addition a lot of low cloud came in and the area was quite deserted so I was again very glad to have a local guide.
Nikolas_A - Apr 14, 2012 7:08 pm Date Climbed: Apr 17, 2011
Normal Route from Rif. AyasSki ascent in a group of 6, perfect conditions. The final ridge was interesting! Descend to Rif. Quintino Sella
IvanBraunDK - Jan 15, 2012 5:03 pm Date Climbed: Jul 19, 2011
Castor with Liskamm traverseClimbed it from the Ayas hut on a windy but clear day - after summit did we traverse to Lisskamm West
Valtho - Aug 26, 2011 4:05 pm Date Climbed: Aug 18, 2011
traverseClimbed it from the Ayas hut, after Pollux on a beautifull day and we went to the Quintino Sella
climbxclimb - Aug 25, 2011 1:06 pm Date Climbed: Aug 28, 2011
Italian normal routeClimbed the italian normal route form Rifugio Quintino Sella.
We met very high winds on the ridge winch made many teams turn back. Visibility was low at moments.
Overall a very nice easy climb with beautiful views...when the clouds allow..
il.rocciatore - Aug 20, 2011 11:38 am
Route Climbed: Traverse Date Climbed: august 2011 / october 2015 / july 20192011: After traverse of the Pollux, we continued from the Zwillingsjoch over the NW Ridge. Fairly steep in places, no track, but in good snow conditions definitely better climbing than the highway of the normal route. Descent to the Felikjoch and then again over the Castor back to the bivouac Rossi e Volante.
2015: Castor lies on the way from Klein Matterhorn to the Rifugio Quintino Sella, hence I traversed the summit a second time. Perfect conditions, clear weather but windy.
2019: Again we traversed Castor on our way to the Rifugio Quintino Sella.
cabouckaert1 - Aug 19, 2011 5:27 am Date Climbed: Aug 11, 2011
TraverseClmibed it after Pollux with group of 8. Non-technical climb to the top, only bergschrund to cross near the ridge and then summit ridge. Final climb on the summit ridge and then descent via the other side is good fun though! Amazing weather and views as well!
selinunte01 - Jul 24, 2011 12:47 pm Date Climbed: Jul 22, 2011
Arctic conditionsFresh powder snow and arctic temperature like in january, but unbeatable view over the whole of Pennine Alps and down to Pianura Padana and to the Appennine. Good conditions on the south side / ascent from Rif. Guide della Val d´Ayas.
LoneRanger - Jul 4, 2011 6:03 am Date Climbed: Jul 3, 2011
From Testa Grigiawith WouterB. The climb was very enjoyable but too windy/cold to allow any proper eating break.
WouterB - Jul 3, 2011 3:11 pm Date Climbed: Jul 3, 2011
From Testa GrigiaClimbed from Testa Grigia, leaving very early (2am) in very windy weather. Made almost no stops due to the cold and summited shortly after 6am. Wanted to 'quickly' do Pollux afterwards, but my climbing partner decided otherwise.
domipost - Jun 24, 2011 6:32 am Date Climbed: Jul 19, 2010
Italian normal routeNice and pretty easy snow ridge. Not too crowded for an easy 4000 meter peak.
Kyle22 - Feb 13, 2011 12:53 am Date Climbed: Jun 30, 2010
CastorBrother, Dad and I climbed Castor to acclimatize for both the Dom and Mont Blanc. Great fun, not so much for my brother who got sick from drinking to much chicken broth the night before but he still managed to summit with us.
JanVanGenk - Aug 13, 2010 1:29 pm Date Climbed: Aug 6, 2010
TraverseSolo ascent from Rossi and Volante bivouac hut. Continued to Liskamm, and thus had to do the Castor traverse again by return. Good conditions though it had been snowing all day long the day before.
Goof - Jun 30, 2010 6:26 am Date Climbed: Aug 4, 2009
Castor TraverseGreat views, not too much of a queue. A Swiss guide even smiled at us!!!
schulzj - Oct 18, 2009 1:05 pm Date Climbed: Aug 26, 2005
Castor TraverseUnfortunately, the weather had deteriorated later that day and from the summit we had no views. Nevertheless, it was the end of day 1 on our 3 day traverse over to Nordend.