I have been to this mountain before, thirteen years ago, but had not quite got to the summit.
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From a mountain climbing experience, this has to be the toughest challenge yet.
Because of this we have both decided to write separate blogs about it. We trust they will not be too similar. We hope you enjoy them. Mine first.
Yesterday, as we were approaching the mountain, we got to see the enormity of the task that we were trying to accomplish the next day.
In the bottom right hand corner you should just be able to see the Monte Rosa Hut, 1800m above it, that is vertical metres, is the summit. Normally, the final days climb of a mountain we have been attempting is about 1000m.
Now much of Dufourspitze is a snow slog. Hour after hour of plodding up glaciers. But Dufourspitze has a surprise during the last hour and a half.
Like many mountains, you start climbing at night. The reasons for this are mainly safety. After midday, when the sun has been heating up all that snow, it becomes more difficult. Travelling across glaciers becomes more dangerous as the snow bridges that allow you to cross the crevasses could collapse. So we want to be off the glacier by lunchtime. This is a big mountain, so we set the alarm for 2.00am. We never get to hear the alarm. Others have beaten us to it and a head torch is switched on at 1.45am. No matter, we get up anyway.
We have everything packed, it is just a case of putting on our clothes, packing up our liners and heading downstairs to where our packs are waiting for us.
We are exceptionally lucky. Tonight is a full moon.
Even without a full moon it is amazing how much light is available on a mountain at night. All that snow reflects whatever light it gets, this together with the fact your eyes rapidly adjust to the darkness, means that traveling at night is not as daunting as it sounds.
The first part of our journey covers the rocky terrain we explored yesterday, then our path negotiates its way up a rocky bluff to eventually deposit us onto the Monte Rosa glacier. We are now at 3200m and have climbed just over 350m. The temperature is surprising mild, but we expect it to get much colder as we climb. It is also incredibly still, with very little breeze at all. Surely it won’t be like this at the top?
Once on the glacier, it is a relentless plod, plod, plod. The trick here is never to let your heartbeat rise too fast. Slow and steady. Most importantly never stop. Always keep going, step, step, step. One foot in front of the other.
You rarely look at the view. The focus of your attention is your feet. Secure footing is of paramount importance. So when we do look around, we notice that the dawn light is just joining us from the east. The surrounding mountains are becoming more prominent, especially the Matterhorn. It is a beautiful sight.
Clothing choice can be really difficult. This is hard work, so you produce heat really quickly. And you sweat. This can rapidly cool you as you get higher and it gets colder. We wear several layers, to ‘wick’ away the moisture, but still keep us warm. We wear woollen long johns on our legs, no trousers, instead waterproofs. Gaiters over our boots, to stop the snow making its way into our socks. A hat to keep our head warm and a helmet to keep our head safe.
When dawn starts it rapidly changes the mountains. It is going to be an amazing day, but a tiring one.
Since joining the glacier we have roped together. This is essential when crossing glaciers. You might inadvertently fall into a crevasse. It is then up to your partner to try and arrest the fall and to pull you out. The advantage we have today is that this is a well travelled route. Over thirty people summited yesterday and twenty are heading up today. The path is really well defined and therefore the chances of careering into a crevasse are minimal, but the risk is still there.
You don’t do this for the view, but it certainly helps.
When you participate in such crazy activities you become aware of all the beauty in the world that you miss every day.
We are getting high on the glacier now and have been walking three and a half hours. We are probably getting close to 4000m I am surprised that breathing is still OK. The altitude should really be kicking in now, but we are still feeling good. No headache. The slow steady pace is working.
We are getting a better view of what is to come, although Dufourspitze’s surprise is still too far off to appreciate.
There are several groups ahead of us. We can clearly see our route (the red line). The yellow line indicates the bergschrund, the last crevasse, where the upper most glacier detaches from the summit snow. We will need to find a snow bridge to cross this, it is probably over to the right, the blue circle.
The inclines are getting steeper, but the snow is of a reasonable depth and there are previously kicked steps. It is not too intimidating.
We get a better view of the bergschrund now, and where the bridge is. We are getting close to the point we turned back before.
Thirteen years ago I had tried to climb this mountain with a friend, Marteen. We had planned a weekend assault following a successful summit of Mont Blanc.
The new Monte Rosa Hutte did not exist back then, and we had decided to camp rather than use the old hut. We were even more cost conscious in those days.
That weekend there were far fewer people on the mountain, I only remember one other couple and it was also probably earlier in the season.
Lower down the mountain I remember vague tracks that we could follow, but these lessened as we got higher. We were still able to find the route and successfully negotiated our way through the crevasse field.
But it was when we got to this triangular face of snow that we began to have difficulties.
For some reason we did not go to the right, we did not head for the ridge, instead we found a bridge over the bergschrund (yellow dotted line) further to the left (the red circle). I was ahead of Marteen (the top yellow circle). The slope is pretty steep, and there were no tracks. We zig-zagged up (green line), gaining height. Marteen was probably ten metres below me (the bottom yellow circle). The higher we got the thinner the snow got and underneath was a thin layer of ice. I was getting quite uncomfortable on the terrain. I called down to Marteen. No problem, he would come up to join me so we could discuss what to do.
As he started to move, he slipped, and started sliding down the slope. Everything seemed like slow motion. Was he gathering speed? Would he fall into the bergschrund? Would he have enough momentum to clear the bergschrund? Could he arrest himself in time, plunging his ice axe into the snow and ice deep enough to bring himself to a stop?
As I watched him, peering down, I also slipped, and although was able to stop within a few metres I had taken my gloves off, and the harsh ice had grazed the sides of my hands as I forced the ice axe into the snow. But it was just a graze.
Marteen had stopped about ten metres above the bergschrund. Carefully, I eased myself back down the steps I had already kicked into the slope back to him. Had he been wearing his gloves? No, the cuts and grazes were pretty deep. It was time to get off this mountain. The summit would have to wait another day.
We retraced our steps to safer ground, Marteen leaving a trail of blood drops in the snow. On safer ground we were able to retrieve the first aid kit and bandage up the hand, and walk off the mountain.
We were not roped together at that point, but even if we were I don’t believe I would have been able to prevent the fall on that grade of slope.
We had made two mistakes, not taking the route up the ridge and not wearing the gloves.
But we both survived and had a good story to tell of our adventures on Dufourspitze.
This time around we have others ahead of us, and a well trodden route to follow.
We have no problems in crossing the bergschrund, climbing the thin snowy ridge and soon we are up near the rocky ridge- this is the surprise that Dufourspitze has for climbers.
This is something neither of us has much experience with. Marteen and I did a mixed climbing course up in Scotland, which also taught us the self arrest techniques, but that was over a decade ago.
Climbing across rocks which are covered in snow and ice, while wearing crampons, is a tricky skill. It is not a feeling I am particularly secure with. Climbing in boots, you are in contact with the rock. The harsh metal points of the crampons somehow never feel quite as secure.
They haven’t let us down yet.
We take our time over the first rocky ridge. We have made good progress so far, so we don’t need to rush. Another steep snow ridge.
I am not quite sure what is more intimidating, being there, or seeing the photo afterwards, knowing you were there!
Now, in the cold light of day, afterwards, as we write the blog, it looks pretty brutal.
Quite steep!
A nearby peak has an alpine hut. This one lies in Italy. Probably much more reasonable cost!
We finely make it across the second ridge of rocks and are able to stand exhausted on the summit. The summit is pretty small, and has enough room for just six people. We don’t stay around too long. We have to cross those rocks again, and we have a long way to go to get back to the relative safety of the hut.
You might be top of the world, well the alps anyway, but it just reminds you of how small and insignificant you really are.
And from here, even the Matterhorn looks tiny.
So we carefully went our way back across the rocks. This takes some time. Another skill we have not developed enough yet, is moving while roped. On this terrain you loop the rope over rock spikes or lay it around boulders, should one of you fall it should act as a temporary belay point, preventing both of you being pulled off the mountain. This is a skill that is less than fluid and agile at the moment, it takes us too long, slows us down. It is probably down to tiredness and insecurity. We will both be glad when we get back to safer ground.
But we still have a long way to go just to get off this ridge, let alone get off the glacier, or the mountain. Dora seems a lifetime away, the security of her cabin and bed.
We have managed the first rocky ridge. The red line indicates the route across the rest of the ridge. The yellow line below is the route across the glacier.
To give an indication of scale you may notice two small dots on the yellow line, fairly close to the start. These are people!
Before long we are again back at the bergschrund. The snow bridge has begun to deteriorate with the amount of people crossing it and now the heat of the sun.
We stop just beyond this point. Apart from the few minutes we spent at the summit this is pretty much the first time we stop. We decide to un-rope on the way down, it should be quicker. We can rope up again as we cross the crevasse field. We are on steep but safe ground, but when Susana takes off her helmet it starts to tumble down the snow slope. Luckily it eventually comes to a standstill quite close to a path, (red circle) we can pick it up on the way down!
That is one pretty deep crevasse you would not want to slip into, especially at this altitude.
The trudge back down the mountain seems even more exhausting than the slow plod up. We have been walking without any real breaks for over nine hours now.
The snow is getting quite soft, which makes it even more tough to walk through.
The crevasse fields looks beautiful now in the sunlight, we last passed this way in darkness.
Beautiful but sinister.
Almost like merengue.
We are so glad to get off of the snow, back onto the terra firma that is rock. We can move a bit quicker again. It doesn’t seem possible, but after twelve hours and ten minutes we are back at the hut. It took us seven hours to reach the summit and another five hours to descend. The day is not quite over as we didn’t book another night. We want to get back to Dora, which means a bit more walking, maybe three hours back to the train station at Rotenboden.
We collect the rest of our stuff from the hut, grab something to eat, a couple of tins of tuna salad and some fruit. We repack our bags, they feel pretty heavy with the extra clothes, the pots and stove, even though there is less food now.
We pass down the rocky ridge that the hut sits on, down past the two lakes. Groups of sightseers are heading up to the hut for the night, ready to spend their 100 SFR. Looking at some of them we wonder how they managed with the ladders, the crossing of the icy glacier. They certainly seem to be taking their time on the ascent to the hut. Do they realise what we have just accomplished? Probably by looking at the state of us they do!
We cross the dry glacier, dirty, covered with grit and stones. We don’t bother putting on the crampons, we will see if we can cross without them. We have our sticks for additional support.
We cross the bridge, climb the ladders and are back again on the path back to the station. The train goes at 18.23, we should just be in time.
On the way up we pass a small spring. A fellow summiteer sits next to it, his feet bathed in the cold water. We fill our water bladders, glad of the freshness. He took a guide with him, he won’t tell us how much it cost, too painful. He is in no hurry, we leave him and his feet immersed in cooling water. We continue upwards.
It is further than we thought but we get to the station a few minutes before the train. The train is packed, standing room only, but almost everyone gets out after one stop, at last we can relax. Less than an hour later and we are in Dora driving up the valley to Visp. We will spend the night in the safety of a Lidl car park.
It is difficult to believe we stood on that summit a few hours ago.
| Date | 29th August 2015 |
| Departure time | 02.20 |
| Start point | Monte Rosa Hutte |
| Objective | Dufourspitze |
| End point | Rotenboden station |
| Distance | 22.5 km |
| Ascent | 2100 m |
| Descent | 2300 m |
| Time | 15 hrs |
| Satisfaction level | High |
GDR
29/08/2015
