Route Climbed: Normal NNW route from Klein Matterhorn
After we had climbed Pollux we climbed Castor and reached the summit at about 4 o'clock. There were a lot of clouds and the weather started to change rapidly.
bergnasenbaer - Aug 4, 2006 9:36 pm Date Climbed: Jul 27, 2006
west face
Ascent over the icy west face. The summit ridge is a pleasure.
Climb it across from bivouac Rossi Volante to Cap. Qin.Sella.
hansw - Mar 10, 2006 10:27 pm Date Climbed: May 25, 2000
From Pollux to the Sella hut
The long snow flank up Castor became even longer having accended Pollux first. No view was offered at the summit so we headed almost directly down to the Sella hut. A long day. (July 25, 2000).
Route Climbed: Normal from Sella hut Date Climbed: 10 August 2005
Beautiful climb, fantastic views. The gusty winds on the summit ridge made for some interesting and exciting moments of balance, but well worth the day out there. Wonderful views of the Monte Rosa massif.
Route Climbed: route from Rifugio d'Ayas Date Climbed: 13 august
In 2:30 we reached te summit. There was some wind on the ridge to the summit! That was cool! The view wasn't exellent, but later on the day on Pollux it was better!
Route Climbed: WNW route from Rif. Guide Valle d'Ayas Date Climbed: July 22, 2005
We started rather late (9:00 am) in the morning from Rif. Guide Valle d'Ayas (3420m)
After 1 hour we reached the Zwillingsjoch at 3850m. From there on we needed another 1,5 hours to reach the summit. The route was a little bit altered to avoid a big Bergschrund.
It was a perfect day and the ridge was beautiful. Very nice mountain and magnificient view on Lyskamm, and the other Monte Rosa summits.
Route Climbed: West-north-west flank variation Date Climbed: June 21th 2005
Started from the Guide di Ayas hut and followed the fellow climbers to the base of the flank. Instead than taking the most freguently used way to the left and to the base of the summit ridge we decided to take a direct line to the right near the rocky edge of flank.
That made it possible for us to reach height a lot faster than on the normal route which zigzags up the flank.
So we got to the summit from almost exactly opposite direction than usually so we missed the beautiful knize-edge summit ridge. Though I did it the previous time and surely our route was not a bad alternative at all.
Route Climbed: Winter climb (from Klein Matterhorn) Date Climbed: April 3, 2001
This was a tough snow/ice climb crowned by an awesome descent to Zermatt over the seldom skied Zwillingsgletscher run. I was accompanied on the tour by my 17 y/o son Alexander and our local guide was Roman. We started the ski traverse from the tram station Klein Matterhorn at 8:45 under clear skies. We deposited our skis at Zwillingsjoch [alt. 3845m] and began the climb on sheer ice slabs. Other parties opted to abort the climb at that point, but Roman was able to find better snow at the side so we continued.
Alexander and myself had to straddle the completely iced, knife-edged summit ridge while Roman dug hand-holds in the ice for us. We almost had to crawl on the ridge; however, we finally made it (slowly but surely) to the summit at 13:00. It was very windy at the top but nevertheless, it was exhilarating to share those moments with Alexander. Our descent to the ski depot site was much faster and we started our ski descent at 15:00.
The Zwillingsgletscher run was often considered too dangerous to ski because of the ubiquitous crevasses. At the time that we took the run there was a solid, thick snow base so that Roman decided that we should give it a try. Right below the top ridge (where the ski run began) there were some risky Bergschrund crossings so that we were lowered on our skis by ropes anchored in the snow by Roman. The remainder of the run was on soft powder snow and we often skied between huge ice towers. At one spot I had a close miss because the snow under one ski suddenly vanished into a dark crevasse. Fortunately I was able to avoid a fall into the crevasse by maintaining my balance on the other ski. Finally after 2200 vertical meters of fantastic skiing, we arrived at 17:15 to a nice chalet in the valley, to feast our summit triumph with beer and a well-deserved but late lunch!
tonellophotography - Apr 21, 2007 6:23 am Date Climbed: Jul 28, 2005
Normal RouteNormal Route from Rif. Guide Val d'Ayas
DoJo - Nov 12, 2006 5:18 pm Date Climbed: Jul 16, 1997
via Zwillinggletscherrarely climbed in summer via Zwillinggletscher
daniele_p - Nov 6, 2006 10:46 am Date Climbed: Aug 3, 2003
My first ice-routeIt has been my first ice route. I'll always remember this day.
Artoirius - Sep 3, 2006 4:57 pm Date Climbed: Jul 29, 2006
Route Climbed: Normal NNW route from Klein MatterhornAfter we had climbed Pollux we climbed Castor and reached the summit at about 4 o'clock. There were a lot of clouds and the weather started to change rapidly.
bergnasenbaer - Aug 4, 2006 9:36 pm Date Climbed: Jul 27, 2006
west faceAscent over the icy west face. The summit ridge is a pleasure.
David_Holland - Jul 15, 2006 2:45 pm Date Climbed: Jul 5, 2006
accrossClimb it across from bivouac Rossi Volante to Cap. Qin.Sella.
hansw - Mar 10, 2006 10:27 pm Date Climbed: May 25, 2000
From Pollux to the Sella hutThe long snow flank up Castor became even longer having accended Pollux first. No view was offered at the summit so we headed almost directly down to the Sella hut. A long day. (July 25, 2000).
Bas Visscher - Jan 24, 2006 12:33 pm
Route Climbed: west face Date Climbed: july 2003my first 4000m peak with my dad and little brother
simo - Dec 26, 2005 5:28 am
Route Climbed: normal from sella hut Date Climbed: july 2005Reached the summit fighting against a bad blizzard!!
marco979 - Sep 27, 2005 3:38 am
Route Climbed: Normal from Sella hut Date Climbed: 03 September 2005With two people meeting on the path (my friend prefer to stay in the refuge because he not feel good). Nice climbing!
Corvus - Sep 5, 2005 6:31 pm
Route Climbed: From rifugio Guide d'Ayas Date Climbed: 25.08.2005The final ridge was great, similar to Lyskamm.
romfrantic - Aug 24, 2005 9:05 pm
Route Climbed: Normal from Sella hut Date Climbed: 10 August 2005Beautiful climb, fantastic views. The gusty winds on the summit ridge made for some interesting and exciting moments of balance, but well worth the day out there. Wonderful views of the Monte Rosa massif.
roadmountain - Aug 23, 2005 10:06 am
Route Climbed: route from Rifugio d'Ayas Date Climbed: 13 augustIn 2:30 we reached te summit. There was some wind on the ridge to the summit! That was cool! The view wasn't exellent, but later on the day on Pollux it was better!
toffa77 - Aug 1, 2005 2:11 pm
Route Climbed: Normal from Ref.Sella Date Climbed: 01 Aug 2005Ideal condiction of snow, 2:30 from Ref.Sella
Artoirius - Jul 25, 2005 12:32 pm
Route Climbed: WNW route from Rif. Guide Valle d'Ayas Date Climbed: July 22, 2005We started rather late (9:00 am) in the morning from Rif. Guide Valle d'Ayas (3420m)
After 1 hour we reached the Zwillingsjoch at 3850m. From there on we needed another 1,5 hours to reach the summit. The route was a little bit altered to avoid a big Bergschrund.
It was a perfect day and the ridge was beautiful. Very nice mountain and magnificient view on Lyskamm, and the other Monte Rosa summits.
Samuli Mansikka - Jul 18, 2005 5:39 am
Route Climbed: West-north-west flank variation Date Climbed: June 21th 2005Started from the Guide di Ayas hut and followed the fellow climbers to the base of the flank. Instead than taking the most freguently used way to the left and to the base of the summit ridge we decided to take a direct line to the right near the rocky edge of flank.
That made it possible for us to reach height a lot faster than on the normal route which zigzags up the flank.
So we got to the summit from almost exactly opposite direction than usually so we missed the beautiful knize-edge summit ridge. Though I did it the previous time and surely our route was not a bad alternative at all.
Claude Mauguier - May 15, 2005 1:16 pm
Route Climbed: east ridge Date Climbed: aug 1990From Sella hut, via Felik Joch...Nice ridge, good snow and bright sun. Not too crowded either.
Joerg Marretsch - Apr 18, 2005 5:39 pm
Route Climbed: Italien Normal Route (from Southwest) Date Climbed: 14 Aug 2004Beautiful weather, mountain and group. A perfect day.
JanG - Nov 16, 2004 10:15 pm
Route Climbed: Winter climb (from Klein Matterhorn) Date Climbed: April 3, 2001This was a tough snow/ice climb crowned by an awesome descent to Zermatt over the seldom skied Zwillingsgletscher run. I was accompanied on the tour by my 17 y/o son Alexander and our local guide was Roman. We started the ski traverse from the tram station Klein Matterhorn at 8:45 under clear skies. We deposited our skis at Zwillingsjoch [alt. 3845m] and began the climb on sheer ice slabs. Other parties opted to abort the climb at that point, but Roman was able to find better snow at the side so we continued.
Alexander and myself had to straddle the completely iced, knife-edged summit ridge while Roman dug hand-holds in the ice for us. We almost had to crawl on the ridge; however, we finally made it (slowly but surely) to the summit at 13:00. It was very windy at the top but nevertheless, it was exhilarating to share those moments with Alexander. Our descent to the ski depot site was much faster and we started our ski descent at 15:00.
The Zwillingsgletscher run was often considered too dangerous to ski because of the ubiquitous crevasses. At the time that we took the run there was a solid, thick snow base so that Roman decided that we should give it a try. Right below the top ridge (where the ski run began) there were some risky Bergschrund crossings so that we were lowered on our skis by ropes anchored in the snow by Roman. The remainder of the run was on soft powder snow and we often skied between huge ice towers. At one spot I had a close miss because the snow under one ski suddenly vanished into a dark crevasse. Fortunately I was able to avoid a fall into the crevasse by maintaining my balance on the other ski. Finally after 2200 vertical meters of fantastic skiing, we arrived at 17:15 to a nice chalet in the valley, to feast our summit triumph with beer and a well-deserved but late lunch!
hhsilleck - Sep 13, 2004 5:03 pm
Route Climbed: traversed from Pollux to ref. Sella Date Climbed: June 29 2004Neat summit ridge ... stunning panorama.