By the end of March I was desperate for a holiday – and a week of wonderful sun, scenery snow and even some summits (not to mention Swiss chocolate) was the perfect antidote to months of office life.
A group of six of us – mainly organised by Peter – had been keen for a while to venture off the piste and explore the Alps on skis in true mountaineering style. Having no experience of ski touring, we entrusted ourselves to the capable hands of guide James Thacker and headed for Andermatt intending to complete the Tour Soleil. We started with a day from the Gemsstock lift, warming up with a few runs then getting to grips with all manner of unfamiliar items of gear (skins, harscheisen (ski crampons), suncream) and techniques (skinning, kick turns, correct use of above items). The cable car queues were a good reminder of why we were escaping!
On day 2 we started early from Hospental, taking the Matterhorn-Gornergrat Bahn to Fiesch and a couple of buses to the unspoilt village of Binn. By the time we set off up the valley the sun was already warm, and as the day progressed it only got hotter. An initial couple of kilometres on tarmac and a pair of almost unbearably uncomfortable ski boots did not get me off to the best start, but once on snow I started to enjoy myself a bit more – especially after we had successfully negotiated a narrow valley with rather too much avalanche debris strewn across the path for comfort. We reached the small and quirky Mittlenberghütte mid-afternoon and promptly drank around 5 litres of water between us, followed later by some polenta soup and curry topped with squirty cream. Here there was a change of plan, as an aggravated pre-existing injury within the group meant we could not risk continuing with the planned tour, which would take us into a remote area where we would be several demanding days from safety. While this turn of events was unfortunate, no one resented what was the only sensible decision in the circumstances, and we reflected that weather, snow conditions or equipment issues could equally have affected our itinerary. As mountaineers, and armed with James’ knowledge and logistical wizardry, we were well prepared to change plans and make the most of our new hand.
The following day the uninjured party continued up the valley to the Hochsandjoch pass, enjoying the cool clear of the morning and unmistakeable Alpine-ness. Crossing the col into Italy, we made our way on skins up to the summit of the Ofenhorn (Punta d’Arbola). Several other groups were also ascending the peak and there were good tracks to follow. The summit proved an excellent viewpoint to the Bernese Oberland, Valais, Italian and Eastern Alps and there was much pointing and discussion. After some “lunch” (it must have been about 10am) we skiied back down to the glacier – some of us more elegantly than others! Returning to the Mittlenberghütte, the powder gave way to some fairly consolidated crust – pretty unski-able, I concluded, after falling over three times in five minutes – though others in the group proved me wrong… We decided to push on down to Binn and back to our Hospental base in order to put ourselves in a good position for the rest of the week. This meant another tough, hot afternoon, but we reached Binn safely and had ample time for ice cream and paprika crisps while waiting for the bus.
We then completed* a day tour of the Winterhorn just behind our hostel – a pleasant ridge ascent and surprisingly good snow on the way down. Just above Hospental we discussed and practised crevasse rescue techniques, with an emphasis on how this might differ in ski touring contexts from summer mountaineering ones (e.g. being unroped, and having skis). *In a ski touring sense – apparently turning around some way below the summit in order to make the most of snow conditions counts as success!
We finished the week with a two-day tour to the fabulous Rotondohütte. An overcast, speedy ascent left us with an entire afternoon to sit in the cosy lounge, read alpine magazines, play cards, rouse ourselves to go outside and practise transceiver techniques, drink tea and generally enjoy life. Despite our fears, the sky was clear again the next day and we ascended the Leckihorn (finally digging our crampons out of the bottom of our rucksacks) – a worthily pointy and satisfying summit – and all ours. A long glacier descent, short sharp skin and wonderful high level traverse later, we were descending into Realp and taking off our skis for the last time – at least for this year…
Some photos are below, and there are more on our Picasa pages: – Jo’s & Dave’s
Yellow Van Mountaineering 