Archive for August, 2009
Lagginhorn WSW Ridge
Quick note: Apologies for delay before this write up! I’ve been busy looking to buy my first house, which is hard work… particularly when so few come with the perfect kit room and space to build bouldering problems! Back to the write up…
Early afternoon down at the Weissmies Hütte (2,726m) following a successful traverse of the Weissmies (4017m) we were allowed the chance to relax with cold drinks (i.e. a couple of beers) and size up the challenge for the next day, the Lagginhorn (4,010m). After a mainly snow route the first thing that hit home looking up at the Lagginhorn was the amount of exposed rock, in particular the ridge we intended to ascend via showed only minimal snow cover toward the top. A PD ascent of the WSW ridge would give us more time on a glacier (albeit one considered dead or as good as, meaning it’s stopped moving and danger posed by crevasses is far lower), plenty of scrambling and then a steep snow plod to the rocky summit.
Lagginhorn from Weissmies hut garden, WSW ridge going up left flank
Still tired from the ascent of the Weissmies, we spent the day lazing around at the hut, glancing up from out drinks/books from time to time to the Lagginhorn and the clouds that swirled quickly over the summit. After another huge hut dinner we ventured back outside to savour the spectacular views, as the last rays of sun hit the huge peaks of the Mischabel chain.
View over Mischabel and the Weissmies hut
Waking up felt particularly hard, and the stale bread coupled with bad coffee increased the feeling of early morning nausea. Yet feeling a little worse for wear I thought was normal, so I busied myself getting ready and outside by quarter past 5 as had been agreed. The 45 minute or so walk up to the glacier felt fine, with only some steep sections and a pace that I found made me breathe hard but not enough to leave me breathless. After crossing a couple of snow fields we were looking at the glacier, shades of red appearing over the peaks/ridges surrounding us.
We split into the rope teams as per the day before, with us moving on ahead as a 4 and the second team on a rope of 2 following at a slightly slower pace behind us on the glacier. The slope began gradually and then steadily increasing in steepness, until a traverse over to the ridge toward the top of the glacier. By now the nausea I’d felt earlier was back and getting worse, so I asked if it would be possible to hold on for the second rope and go up the ridge slower.
The rocky WSW ridge of the Lagginhorn from the top of the glacier
On the slower rope and heading up the ridge we got stuck into the first scrambling of the day, which was pretty simple at first as we kept mostly to the crest. Occasionally it felt as though things got considerably more exposed and tricky all at once but this may have been as we lost the best line, overall there was nothing really tricky and we moved steadily upward. Despite things being pretty simple, the ridge felt particularly long and takes up a considerable portion of the overall ascent time. It felt technically on par with the Weissmies scrambling although lengthier and at times our line made it feel ever so slightly more difficult, so it was a decent progression from the day before.
With about 200m left of ascent we came across snow again, so we stopped briefly to put on crampons and grab a drink. At this point I was very much relieved to have completed what appeared to be the largest part of the ascent and able to see what was left; a steep snow plod for the most part. The next 50m of the slope was awful though, with the nausea I’d coped with earlier becoming a lot worse, the slope being quite icey in places as well as steep and finally the real sucker punch was losing my sense of balance. I stopped the team and asked for a quick breather to compose myself, saying if I needed to call it again we’d need to descend. Within a minute I’d had to really plunge the ice ax into the slope to keep my balance and called it off as my footwork was awful. I’d never experienced AMS quite like this; it was shocking how quickly how things went from bearable to quite scarily not. I’m still at a bit of a loss to explain why on this climb it hit so hard, after all I’d gone higher the day before and felt hydrated on the ascent.
Despite being a bit tired and my big toes hurting (school boy error: I didn’t trim them right back. Yes, they’re black and soon to fall off. Don’t fret no photos below!) started to enjoy myself on the descent. There were a couple of points where it made sense to turn into the slope and down climb but nothing tricky, just a case of following the painted red marks over the rocks. After what seemed a long rock descent we were back at the glacier and the other rope team soon with us to talk about a (loose in places) rocky exposed summit after a progressively harder/icier final section.
From the ridge to the glacier on our descent
I guess this article is as much about my experience as the route. It’s been a real pain to write as I’m naturally competitive with myself, so having to call off an ascent due to how I felt physically was really hard and continues to frustrate me (even now almost a month later). But getting back down I was happy that despite struggling with the altitude I was capable of making the right decision for the safety of all of us on the rope. It was a tough day and a hard call, but sat in the cable car on the way down to Saas Grund looking back up at the Lagginhorn I was able to smile briefly and tell myself “I’ll be back up there soon enough”.
Back down in the valley my big toes looked an absolute state and fears I’d over done it with exercise prior and turned up tired started to really get to me. Yet it’s amazing what a beer, decent night sleep in a hotel and then rock climbing in the morning sun (wearing big B3 boots) can do. Next up was the Allalinhorn (4,027m), my final chance to get above 4000m before heading to Chamonix for Mont Blanc.
Weissmies SSE/WNW traverse
Posted by Ian in Ascents - Over 3000m, Mountains on August 10, 2009
The Weissmies (4017m) in the Eastern Valais Alps of Switzerland, is justifiably one of the most popular 4000ers, with uplift (i.e. cable cars to 3100m) if desired and then good huts as a base for attempts on interesting/varied routes to the summit. So a PD (what the hell does PD mean? check out Alpine Grading on Wikipedia) traverse of the peak made sense as our first goal for the week.
Weissmies summit ridge arête
After acclimatizing on the Jegihorn via ferrata and a night down in Saas Grund to relax, we made our way to Saas Almagell (1672m) on the bus, where we began our walk up to the Almageller hut (2894m). The approach route we took was fairly pleasant, with the first section through a wooded area that opened up to a valley with the old hut (now turned into a bar/hotel) about half way serving us cold soft drinks that we greatly appreciated on a break from the scorching heat of the midday sun.
Steady trail between wooded area and traverse up to Almageller hut
Up the valley and traversing North East the trail whilst not exactly steep, soon gains ground and the group rope was passed around (I’d had enough after the middle couple of hours hauling it… it was my birthday!). After about 4hrs walking from Saas Almagell we were at the hut, looking up to SSE ridge of the Weissmies and back behind us to the absolutely stunning Mischabel chain.
View toward the Weissmies’ SSE ridge from the Almageller hut
With a storm set to roll over the range in the late evening we set about eating plenty of the good hut food (amazing what they’re capable of with supplies that need bringing up via helicopter!) and trying in vain to get some sleep in the dorms (they’re not the quietest of places) before our 4:30am breakfast. The storm came and whilst not big by standards for the area, when coupled with some loose shutters and constant rumbling/flashes of thunder, was enough to make sure we only had minimal rest that night.
Bleary eyed we sat at breakfast, with awful (but turned about to be the best of all hut) coffee, muesli (again this turned out to be a luxury) and stale bread (the bread was always stale). Just a quick observation, but has anyone ever seen anyone looking remotely happy/excited to be up at 4:30am (or earlier!) to go out in the cold/dark to climb? I know I’d rather have had another 15mins in bed!
Yet by about 5:10am we were all outside, and after 10mins fiddling with kit and blinding each other with head torches, we were ready to get cracking. “You’re taking turns with the rope, yeah? Okay well you take it at first”, so I had the rope again to help wake me up even quicker. We shot off, eager to cover the first section and get onto the ridge proper before the other teams preparing by the hut, and soon found ourselves lost in a huge boulder field in the dark, sliding all over the place. Thankfully we were soon out of the boulders and onto a fairly gentle slope of snow up toward the col (Zwischbergenpass, 3268m) and the ridge we were after.
After some walking over rocky terrain we popped up over the top of the lower ridge and looked down onto the snow slopes on the Northern side as the sun really started to come up and spread light over the range. A quick stop to pop crampons on and rope up, and we were off, now as a rope of 4, with 2 of the team turning back with 1 person struggling with the altitude and feeling generally unwell.
The snow slope wasn’t too eventful, although a couple of sections of steeper gradient had me even more out of breath and thankful when things became more shallow. As we reached the top of the slope and the rocks at around 3700m the altitude really started to kick in with a headache growing and with my breathing struggling to keep up with the less thin air, dehydration kicked in again as it had done on the previous climb. Yet the stop to take crampons off for the rock scramble meant a quick pause and chance to take on liquid, that helped clear my head and focus on the next task.
I’d wondered what PD translated to and found to my relief that on the Weissmies it was nice simple scrambling, easier than some of the longer sections on for example Tryfan’s North Ridge (grade 1). However, whilst fairly simple stuff, the altitude makes things more tiring and a couple of moves did feel quite airy as we went close to the sides of the main crest. After around an hour and a half of climbing we reached a plateau at just short of 4000m and with it we were back onto snow again. After speedily devouring a sandwich I’d bought the day before in Saas Grund and taking on copious amounts of water we were up again and plodding carefully to the summit.
The short snow arête that leads to the top whilst not difficult is worth taking time over, not just because of the seriousness of a fall here but because of the amazing setting and means to the summit. Within a minute we were on top, celebrating our first 4000er of the trip with an absolutely fantastic view over the tops of the other large peaks around us and the clouds that lay around their mid-sections, down in the valley between.
On the summit of the Weissmies
Looking West from the summit of the Weissmies
We descended at decent pace and as we went my head cleared, allowing me to think clearer and concentrate easier on the terrain which by now was snow of varying degrees of steepness. About half way down, our guide asked how were doing with layers and if with the sun up we wanted to lose some clothes to our packs before we had to get past the objective danger posed by seracs. After this quick stop the pace increased considerably as we raced past the towers of ice looming above the trail and down onto the glacier to deal with a smattering of crevasses on much shallower terrain.
View back up the glacier toward the Weissmies. Summit peaking over the middle left
This final part of the walk was soon over, and by midday we were at the Hohsaas cable car station, able to enjoy a cold drink and ice cream over discussion of what had been an enjoyable climb and then onto what lay ahead for us. Finishing off and with the day still ahead we then made our way down toward the Weissmies hut where we’d stay the night, with our goal for the next day, the Lagginhorn, looming behind us to the East.
The altitude hurt going up but I absolutely loved the Weissmies traverse and of all the routes I completed during the trip, it’d be the first I’d go back to do again. The scramble was fun and made me work hard enough at altitude to feel I was really putting in a decent shift as I made my way over 4000m for the first time on the trip. And that final snow arete to the summit is just fantastic, a really great way to lead up to the top.
Jegihorn via ferrata
For acclimatization before attempts on 4000m peaks in the Saastal, the group made the way up the Hohsaas lift to Kreuzboden at 2400m and then along a trail to the North East to the foot of the Jegihorn (3206m). By this time we’d already spotted the summit cross and the high wire that offered a means of getting from the face we’d climb, over to the highest point of the mountain.
Wire crossing from 3/4 way up the Jegihorn via ferrata
The route begins at around 2800m and starts steadily with little more than exposed walking, which helped get quickly used to the idea of using the lanyards. Lanyards for those who’ve never used or heard of them are basically two carabiners on cord that attach through your harness and clip onto to the cable. Using the system soon becomes second nature, with the cord moving up the route alongside you and then when you reach a bolt, unclipping the top carabiner and moving it beyond the bolt, then doing the same with the lower, meaning you’re always attached, simple/effective = good.
My first reaction to the route was to use rock and only use the cable for clipping in, but as the rock became more rotten and loose I switched to making use of the cable for the majority of the time, as dictated by our guide “stop messing about with the rock and use the cable” (it may have been more bluntly put than that). With other people on route it’s sensible when the rock is loose to make full use of the cable but some advice, consider how your hands will cope with pulling on a cable for a couple of hours, particularly in this case if the weather is very hot and you’re sweating. If in doubt take thin durable gloves!
My hands suffered through over use of the cable
The cable runs almost the entire route and for the majority you’d be wise to stay clipped in given the seriousness of a slip on the terrain. There’s variety thrown in when you reach points where ladders, metal rungs and other attachments provide means of ascending. The exposure didn’t really bother me but there was one particular section that is as close to “knife edge” as I’ve encountered that took me back a little, but it’s nothing overly tricky. Over half way through the route, our group not possessing much climbing experience avoided the rope wire crossing option as it leads to a section more akin to a rock climb, instead opting for a drop down to a continuation of the scrambling with a “fun” part of steep rock that you needed to make use of small footholds and lean back whilst holding the cable to shimmy across.
“Fun” on the Jegihorn
Being my first via ferrata and unsure what grade it is (and how the VF grading works), I can only really compare it to scrambling I’ve done previously. Having spent quite a lot of time scrambling recently (on almost exclusively UK grade 1 routes) and starting to wall climb, I found myself really comfortable for the majority of the route apart from when I opted for the wrong move and made it more tricky than it should’ve been. The exposure didn’t bother me but there were times when it was quite airy. We all wore our large insulated boots for the route which were fine. Having said that, in summer conditions it would’ve made more sense to wear a lighter and not quite so warm boot if the option was available.
In terms of acclimatising it would’ve been perfect, had I not tried to get away with 1 litre of water and ended up feeling horribly dehydrated, which made the descent unpleasant over loose rock.
Jegihorn summit looking out toward the Mischabel chain
Overall, I really enjoyed trying out via ferrata, but in a funny way I felt it was potentially more dangerous than normal scrambling, as the attachment to the cable gave a feeling of safety that’s a bit false, as you’re still falling over rock if you slip! Still once you’re into moving with the cable it can speed up the ascent and the attachments provide interest and variety in the route. Definitely something I’m keen to try out again and a good way of experiencing fantastic routes and even more exposure than you’d normally be comfortable with.
Alps 2009 Trip
Just returned from a tough but really successful trip to the Alps. As there’s so much to get down into words and write up, I wanted to give a quick summary of what’s coming…
- Write ups of the Jegihorn via ferrata, Weissmies SSE/WNW traverse (PD), Lagginhorn WSW ridge (PD) and Allalinhorn WNW ridge (F+) routes taken from Saas Grund and the huts we stopped in.
- Some of the bits of kit that worked fantastically well and bits I’ll be disposing of.
- And finally a piece on how it all came together so that on the 4th August at 8:15am GMT I reached the summit of Mont Blanc via the Gouter route.
I learnt lots out there, not just about how to tackle 4000m peaks in the Alps but also what I really enjoy and what I need to work on that’ll shape/change my plans for 2010/2011, that I hope to come back with more on soon. And with parents moving (read clearing out the loft), there’s a few photos come to the surface that will help explain a little about what started all of this off.
Just need a quick lay down and to compose myself and we’ll be off!
On top of Mt Blanc