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NWS
Website - http://homepage.ntlworld.com/chris.knowles2/index.htm
THE
NORTH-WEST: Meet No 226 (Saturday 5 - Sunday 13 July 2004)
The drive up to Pitlochry
with Brian Billington was mostly in heavy rain, hopefully not a taste of things
to come for the week’s walking around Glen Shiel and in the Glen Coe area.
We met Paul Cassell, Mike Knight and Chris Horne at Pitlochry youth
hostel where a decision was made to dine at the pub in nearby Moulin on account
of the good selection of real ales. Unfortunately
the place was full when we arrived, forcing us to pick a nearby hotel instead. On returning to the hostel we met David Douglas whose arrival
had been delayed by a late train.
The following morning Brian suggested a walk on the hills to the East of the A9 where there are two Munro Tops - Meall a’ Chaoruinn and Glas Meall Mor - that he had not climbed; We were joined for this by Chris Horne. It has to be said that the featureless hummocks that form the high ground to the east of the Drumochter pass do not usually make for the most inspiring hill walking, although the very lack of features possessed by the terrain does make for a navigational challenge in the murky conditions that we encountered. Luckily there is a line of fence posts which provides a guide to the navigation for part of the route, Meall a’ Chaorainn being only a short distance from the line of posts. From here it was easy enough to follow the posts back to the Munro summit of A’ Bhuidheanach Bheag. A desolate plod led from here to the second Top - Glas Mheall Mor. Before reaching this Top the cloud lifted, making the navigation easier and the walk more interesting. An unsuccessful attempt was made to locate an unnamed top between A’ Bhuidheanach Bheag and Meall a’ Chaorainn, despite walking in the vicinity three times during the trip. The return to the car was without incident but we had to make a detour to Fort William en route to Glen Shiel for me to buy a new map case,. as I had forgotten to bring mine from home (although I found out that this had slipped down the outside of my rucksack liner when I got home).
While we were on the Drumochter hills Paul had climbed Meall
Chuaich an equally boring hill further to the North. Mike and David had climbed Saileag in Glen Shiel.
On Reaching Ratagan hostel in Glen Shiel we met John Andrew and John Haddon who John had brought along as a potential new member.
During the evening plans were made for the following day,
everyone being agreed (for a change) on the South Cluanie ridge.
Unfortunately the grey wet weather on the following morning caused a
change of plan as it was agreed it would be a shame to do such a splendid walk
in murky conditions. Chris Horne, David and I opted to climb A’ Glas Bheinn, the
rest going for Ciste Dubh. .
The walk starts from Morvich about 2 miles from the hostel and follows Glean
Coinneachain to bealach an Sgairne between Beinn
Fhada and A’Ghlas Bheinn.
I was hoping that this would be more successful than my last attempt to
climb A’ Glas Bheinn from the North when I forgot my compass and was unable to
find the top due to low cloud and rather confusing terrain.
The path through Glen Coinneachain gains height easily with good views in
to the northern corries of Beinn Fhada and eventually reaches the bealach
between the two mountains, where we
stopped for elevenses.
By this time a strong wind had whipped up and, after putting on an extra
layer, we set off again. We were
pleased to find that there is also a good path up onto A’ Glas Bheinn, even
though there is nothing marked on the map, which
made the going a lot easier. The
low cloud of earlier in the day had almost completely dispersed, making us wish
that perhaps we had stuck to our original plans,
however this walk is not without its merits, and we had excellent views
over to the Glen Affric area where only the highest summits were in cloud.
Another stop at the top to admire the views and more eats
was followed by a trackless descent over some fairly rough ground to the
path at the top of Bealach na Sroine, the way back to the car from here giving
some fine views of Beinn Sgritheall. An
attempt to obtain refreshments on the way back to the hostel met with failure as
both the Jacko’bite restaurant and the Glen Shiel hotel were closed.
The following day’s
plans were disrupted by the fact that an unwanted light had appeared on the
dashboard of John Andrew’s car indicating that he needed to visit the nearest
Ford dealer, this being in
Inverness - to have it attended to. By
the time we rose for breakfast he had already left, leaving the rest of us to
decide between The Saddle and the forcan ridge, and Beinn Fhada, the South
Cluanie Ridge having to be shelved again due to insufficient transport.
Brian was keen to revisit The Saddle which he had not climbed for some
years, and David, Chris Horne and John Huddart were equally keen to join him.
Paul, Mike and I decided on Beinn Fhada, which we embarked on after Paul
and Mike had driven the others to the start of the Forcan Ridge, Mike narrowly
missing a suicidal pine marten which dashed in front of his car.
The start of our walk followed the same track as the previous day’s;
luckily the scenery is so marvellous that it was no imposition to have to repeat
this. Before reaching the Bealach
an Sgairne a good stalkers’ track , which is not marked on my old map was
taken and this wound its way in easy zig-zags up and through one of Beinn
Fhada’s West facing corries to emerge just over a kilometre North of the
summit.
We followed a path a short distance
, leading in the direction of the top of the top before leaving this to strike
out over trackless and in places very boggy terrain.
The aforementioned path leads eventually to one of Beinn Fhada’s
outlying Tops. During this section of the walk splendid views were had
over towards the Five Sisters of Glen Shiel, seen from rather an unusual aspect.
Although the weather wasn’t very sunny, the fairly low temperatures and
strongish winds made for good air clarity which enhanced the views.
On the descent we came across a couple crouched down on the track with a
camera pointed at the ground, thinking that they were photographing some exotic
form of wild life we approached very carefully only to find that they were
photographing a flower. Refreshments
were taken in the Shiel Bridge café before returning to the hostel to discover
that John had returned from
Inverness and left us a note to say that he had gone off to climb Saileag and
Sgurr a’ Bhealaich Dheirg.
The following day was
officially the last full day of the Meet, the
two Johns, Mike and Chris Horne were returning home the day after.
The rest of us were staying until the weekend: all being well one of
these extra days would be spent climbing Brian’s final Munro, Stob Dearg on
the Buachaille Etive Mor. The
weather continued the rather unsettled theme, with low cloud and showers,
although with a forecast for an improvement in the weather later in the day,
plans were made for short walks. The
two Johns, Mike and Chris Horne opted to climb Beinn Teallach on the way to
Pitlochry where they were to spend the night, although I learned later that they
had decided that Dalwhinnie distillery was more appealing.
After a morning visit to Fort William and Nevisport David and Paul went
back to Loch Laggan but had only time for a short afternoon ascent of Sron a’
Choire Garbh. Brian and myself
headed over to Glen Coe for an ascent of Beinn a’ Chrulaiste, a Corbett
on the North side of the Glen, offering interesting views of Buachaille Etive
Mor, according to my Corbett guide. After
parking next to the Kingshouse Hotel we followed a fairly good track up the side
of the Allt a’ Bhalaich which we left at about the 500 metre contour to slog
up steep rough and boggy ground to come out on the South-east ridge about 300
yards from the top, where we had the interesting views of the Buachaille Etive
Mor as promised. We parted company
at the top, Brian taking a similar route on the return, whilst I set off
North-east to the bealach between Beinn a’ Chrulaiste and Meall Bhalach before
heading back towards the Kingshouse Hotel, picking up the ascent track lower
down.
The forecast for the
following day was reasonably promising for the ascent of Brian’s Final Munro -
it certainly couldn’t be as bad as my Final
Munro , Ben More on Mull some years previously where we were soaked to
the skin. Shortly before we set off
Brian presented me with a cardboard box to carry in my rucksack: it contained a
set of four glasses to toast the last Munro with the customary champagne ,which
Brian was carrying himself.
We parked on the A82 at
Lagangarbh opposite Coire na Tulaich, the
ascent seeming almost vertical near
the top from this angle but, having made the climb twice before, I knew this was
just an optical illusion. Although
the cloud was clamped down over the tops of some of the surrounding hills the
highest point of the Buachaille was cloud free, which it remained until we
reached the top. Brian’s
suggestion of climbing the ridge which bounded the West side of the corrie did
not receive much enthusiasm from
the rest of us as the terrain looked a bit awkward in places.
In the lower part of the corrie there is quite a reasonable path
but this gives up in the upper third to be replaced by a struggle up
loose scree, not unlike going up the down escalator. At this point Brian and David took to the rocks at the side to
do some scrambling, so avoiding the worst of the scree. We met up at the top of the corrie where an easy angled ridge
leads to the top with several false summits.
The true summit having been duly attained, the champagne was uncorked and
Brian’s completion toasted.
A couple of walkers
arrived at the top shortly after us, and we could see by the expression on their
faces that they were totally bemused by the whole situation, obviously not being
familiar with the tradition of toasting the completion of a round of Munros with
champagne. When we revealed to them
what was happening, one of them related an article in the paper he had read,
written by a doctor, which suggested that climbing all the Munros was a form of
obsessive compulsive disorder more in need of psychiatric help than celebration.
As the weather was staying
fine it seemed fitting to continue the day by walking along the remainder of the
ridge to Stob na Broige and then descending to the Lairig Gartain.
We walked down to the point where we had exited from the corrie (rather
unsteadily after several glasses of champagne) and then continued to Stob na
Doire which was considered a suitable place for a lunch stop, being a very fine
viewpoint. Shortly after leaving
here the weather started to break and we were rained on persistently, although
the cloud stayed high and we didn’t lose the views on the stroll to Stob na
Broige via Stob Coire Altruim. At
the far end we had excellent views down the whole of the ridge back to Stob
Dearg. We had to return to beyond
Stob Coire Altruim to make the descent to the Lairig Gartain down a path which
started off very rough and steep but improved as we lost height.
On reaching the bottom there was a walk of about 2.5 kilometres to get
back to the road, rather boggy in places. The
day was rounded off by drinks in the Clachaig Inn.
The Friday was our last
full day in the Highlands and, after some deliberation, we decided to round off
the Meet with an ascent of Stob Ghabhar, which was on the way to Killin where we
would be spending the last night. Once
again the weather was rather unsettled, although it did improve slightly as we
neared the start of the walk. We
had decided on two different routes to the summit,
Paul, David and myself would be ascending via Stob a’ Choire Odhair, while
Brian would be Climbing a Munro top, Stob a’ Bhruaich Leith to the west of the
Munro before Stob Gabhar itself. This is a walk which I have
done twice before, and is quite a favourite of mine with a good path most of the
way round and excellent views over to Glen Coe and Ben Nevis.
After walking about 2
kilometres we parted company with Brian to walk up the path which followed the
Allt Toaig, eventually reaching a stalkers’ path,
not marked on the map,
which winds its way gradually up the slopes of Stob a’ Choire Odhair, finally
giving out a short distance from the summit.
The weather got colder and windier as we gained height prompting us to
put on extra layers. The low
temperatures discouraged us from lingering too long on the summit and we quickly
picked up the path which drops down to the bealach between the hill we were on
and Stob Ghabhar. We stopped for
lunch at the lowest point before starting the steep climb up to the Aonach
Eagach ridge which leads to a point just below the summit of Stob Ghabhar.
After crossing a small boulder field Paul and myself
managed to lose the path and made our way to
flatter ground higher up over grass and scree where we met David who had managed
to stay on the path the whole way.
From here we walked along the Aonach Eagach which, although it is a well
defined ridge, does not have any of the difficulties of its more celebrated
namesake in Glen Coe. From the end
of the ridge we walked up the final 50m to the top, meeting Brian who was on his
way down. Again the cold weather
did not encourage us to stay long on top and before long we started the descent
down the South ridge. About half
way down David treated us to a display of fell running, which he does on
occasions, completely disappearing from view.
We found him lower down waiting for us where we crossed over the burn for
the return to the car.
The journey to Killin was
not without incident; several miles north of Tyndrum my car developed an ominous
grinding noise from the front of the car whenever I braked.
After calling out my breakdown organization, I was told I needed new
brake pads and I had these fitted in Stirling the following day.
The Meet was rounded off
by an excellent meal in the Falls of Dochart Hotel.
My thanks to Mike for
organizing the Meet, to everyone else for their company, and congratulations to
Brian for “compleating” his Munros.
Chris
Knowles
CHAMONIX TO ZERMATT - THE “WALKERS’ HAUTE ROUTE”: Meet No 227 (Sunday 17 – Sunday 31 August 2004)
The aim of this year’s Alpine Meet was to undertake the long distance
walk “The Walkers Haute Route” from Chamonix to Zermatt.
In addition, Chris Knowles and I planned to make a guided ascent of the
4160m Breithorn when we arrived in Zermatt.
On the 12 day trek to Zermatt, Chris, Paul Cassell and I walked around 150
kilometres and ascended over 30,000ft, crossing a great many passes of which 9
were 9-10,000ft high. And we
skirted more glaciers than we could count. Chris
and I also succeeded in making our planned ascent of the Breithorn.
And the three of us spent our “rest day” walking up into the Täsch
valley and back to Zermatt.
Some days were very hard work with long ascents and descents, although the
easier days allowed us to recover. But
it was the vistas of snow-covered mountains that grabbed our attention every
day. In fact from the summit of the
Breithorn so many peaks were in view, ranging from Mont Blanc to Monte Rosa and
the faraway Gran Paradiso (the area of our Alpine Meet four years ago), that it
was impossible to identify all of them. The
entire two week trip - skilfully organised by Chris - was simply fantastic with
superb views in all directions. The
accommodation was good, being generally in valley based dortoirs with three
nights in high altitude mountain huts. The
weather was mainly dry and sunny, though we did endure a morning of sleet
showers, several hard frosts, and a day of torrential rain.
I enjoyed every minute of it, this trip being one of the best I’ve ever
been on.
A flight to Geneva and then a comfortable bus trip saw Paul, Chris and
myself in Chamonix spending the first sunny Saturday afternoon window shopping,
having a few beers and admiring the vista of peaks on the Mont Blanc massif.
Our plan was to catch the early bus next day to Argentière at the end of
the valley and start our walk from there. Although
we were up bright and early we nearly missed the bus as it was 20 minutes early. But this was not unwelcome and, even more happily, the driver
refused to charge us any fares. Alighting
in the middle of Argentière, we walked across the river L’Arve and set off up
an easy climb through trees and around the mountain side to Le Tour.
Here the path wound its way steeply up open hillside, which meant a 2
hour grind in strong sun. The hut
on top of the Col de Balme provided cold drinks and, temporarily refreshed, we
continued steeply downhill for 2 hours to Trient and a cold beer in the local
Relais where Chris had booked accommodation in the dortoir.
A 5½ hour day and an easyish start to our trip.
Monday morning was overcast and this did not help us to face the prospect
of what we expected to be the hardest day’s walk of the Meet.
Way up on the skyline 4,500 feet above us we could see the Fenêtre
D’Arpette, a high pass that we were to cross.
It seemed - and was - a long way. A
steady climb on a good path beside a small man-made stream brought us alongside
the Glacier de Trient. From this
point onwards the route became progressively steeper and rockier, and it felt 10
degrees colder. But then the very
steep last section warmed us up.
As we toiled up towards the col we met
for the first time a man and a woman whom we were to meet again on several later
sections of the walk. We nicknamed
them the “Happy Campers” because they were camping out at night and carrying
their own food but were always cheerful (albeit finding it harder going than
us.) The many Continentals at the
col seemed amused at our breathless arrival shortly after we were passed by
Clive (an energetic Englishman) whom we were to meet again so often that he
almost became part of our group. The
descent was desperate, being loose and steep over extensive boulder fields with
limited signposting much of the time. It
was a long way down to our dortoir at Champex.
A very tiring 8 hour day but the food that evening was good, the beer
cold, and I was in bed at 8.30.
We left Champex early on the Tuesday after a 7 o’clock breakfast, and
descended on bridle ways for about two hours to Sembrancher in rain which became
heavy and persistent. So we took
the train a short distance up the next valley to Le Châble where, as planned,
we made use of the cable car to take us to Les Ruinettes above Verbier.
This left only 400 metres of ascent to the Cabane du Mont Fort (2457m).
Later that afternoon the “Happy Campers” and Clive also arrived at
the hut. An easy and uneventful
day, ending in a comfortable hut which had only the 6 of us as guests that night
rather than the usual 50.
Although there had been heavy rain and a thunderstorm overnight, Wednesday
morning was bright and sunny giving super views across to the Grand Combin
massif and its extensive glaciers. We
made another early start heading for the Col de la Chaux (2940m) up a ski track
then over glacial moraine to a snowfield. The snowfield eventually merged into the glacier forcing us
up onto a very steep, loose boulder field on the sidewall of the col - more like
a scramble than a walk. The col was
reached with a struggle and here we disturbed a huge ibex.
A steep descent through another boulder field led us into an enormous and
desolate looking bowl surrounded by mountains.
It seemed full of broken rock and boulders and took ages to cross.
An improving path took us over the Col de Louvie (2921m) beyond which we
made a long descent to skirt the lower edge of the Grand Desert Glacier.
Having found a way across the outlet of the melt lake below the glacier,
we were faced with another long climb to the Col de Prafleuri (2965m) across
broken ground.
The guide book had warned us that there was no path for some distance at
the start of this ascent and advised us to look for a large marker higher up.
We failed to spot this and spent over 30 minutes wandering around before
we found the right route. From this
last col a long stony descent over glacial rubbish and moraine brought us to the
Cabane de Prafleuri (2624m) and a cold beer.
A 6½ hour day but it seemed very much longer.
Mountain views had dominated the day with the Grand Combin, Mont Blanc de
Cheilon, the Tête Blanche and Mont Avril prominent to the south.
In the Prafleuri hut we were rejoined by the “Happy Campers” and
Clive. This hut is so overshadowed
by mountains that it appears a somewhat sun-less and rather gloomy location.
It proved to be comfortable, having been rebuilt fairly recently, but
none of us quite got used to the unisex washing/shower/toilet facilities - a
small room with four wash basins, two small loos and two minute shower cubicles.
Thursday dawned cold and windy and we set of on an initial steep climb up
loose scree to the Col des Roux (2804m). On
the col we emerged into the sun and were greeted with good views to the south,
dominated by Mont Blanc de Cheilon (3864m) and the Pigne d’Arolla (3772m)
which had huge glaciers below its summit. Our
planned route was alongside the Glacier de Cheilon and over the Col de
Riedmatten (2919m) which could just be made out in the distance.
But first we had to undertake a long walk alongside the Lac des Dix, at
the end of which we crossed a gorge by a spindly metal suspension bridge and
then began the long climb towards the col.
As is so often the case on these passes, the path became steeper and
rougher as it got higher and there were some delicate moves: the final 100m was
almost vertical scree which made for uncertain footing and very slow progress.
Then there was a 900m descent to Arolla but, thank goodness, all on good
paths. We arrived at the very
comfortable Hotel du Glacier – which had an excellent restaurant - just as the
rain started. We were followed not
long after by Clive who was also staying there.
A spectacular and satisfying 6½ hour day.
The next day was almost a rest day with only 4 hours of walking - a gentle
saunter down the valley on good tracks in bright sunny weather.
We even had two coffee stops, overtaking the
“Happy Campers” at one of them.
But there was a slight sting in the tail when a 200 metre ascent in very
hot sunshine was needed to reach our dortoir above a
rustic wooden restaurant in La Sage, where we were the only overnight
guests. Here we enjoyed the luxury
of our own somewhat dilapidated “lounge” with soft chairs and a settee.
Saturday dawned dull and overcast and across the valley we could see fresh
snow down to about 2500m. This gave
rise to worries about
possible difficulty in crossing today’s pass, the Col de Torrent, at 2919m.
Early doubts over which path to take were quickly resolved and we were
soon moving steadily up good tracks towards the snow line.
The path became steeper as we reached the snow but neither that nor
flurries of sleet and snow slowed us down.
But it was very cold. Once
over the pass the sleet and snow stopped, the sun came out and the views opened
up. Even Mont Blanc came into view
and to the south we could see an extensive panorama of snow covered mountains
and glaciers. Good paths took us
down 700m to the restaurant at the Barrage de Moiry where we met the “Happy
Campers” again and finished the afternoon sitting in the sun outside the
neighbouring dortoir. This dortoir
is quoted in the guide as a 5 minute walk from the restaurant which provides its
meals: but it is all uphill - after another enjoyable evening meal and a beer
that was probably one of the hardest ascents of the trip!
Overnight there was a hard frost but Sunday dawned bright and sunny.
We started early climbing above the hut over frosted grass and then rock.
This was a 600m climb in the shade - it was so cold!
But an hour later we reached the Col de Sorebois (2840m) and were in hot
sun. Here the views are dominated
by the Weisshorn (4506m), the adjoining Bishorn, Schalihorn and Zinalrothorn and
- beyond - a massive wall of mountains. Now
we faced a 1200m descent to Zinal but this proved no problem on a pleasant
afternoon on good tracks with a coffee break half way down.
We reached our dortoir on the outskirts of Zinal after only a 5 hour day.
Zinal itself was packed with people attending a festival in the village.
We couldn’t understand what the festival was about but the main street
was filled with tables and benches where the main activity was drinking beer.
Monday was to be another shortish day of about 5 hours, our destination
being the Hotel Weisshorn which is perched on the mountain side at 2337m.
There were bright clear skies but it was cool as we made the 600m climb
on the shady side of the mountains before contouring about 8km to the hotel.
The views ahead were into ’lowland’ Switzerland and quite ordinary
but behind us were amazing views which became steadily more outstanding the
further we walked. Most prominent
among the mountains behind us were the Dent Blanche and Ober Gabelhorn with
their extensive snowfields and glaciers. Behind
them we could just see the Matterhorn’s north face peeping at us.
Our continual stopping and photo taking greatly delayed progress towards
the hotel and it was mid-afternoon before we reached it.
Despite attempts to refurbish its main public areas at ground level the
Hotel Weisshorn retains its Victorian feel, with slanting floors and crooked
door frames in the rooms above. But
it was still a taste of luxury to have comfortable beds, central heating, and
endless hot showers - bliss!
There was torrential rain all that night and next morning we set out in
light rain heading for the Meidpass (2790m).
We soon had waterproofs on. On
the final approach to the col the cloud came down and we could hear thunder in
the distance. As we descended over
stony ground the rain became torrential making the rocks slippery.
We hurried downwards with the sound of thunder following us, eventually
almost running down through the forest to the Hotel Schwarzhorn in Gruben where
we had booked accommodation in the Matratzenlager.
We arrived before lunch as the bad weather had caused us to force our
pace to such an extent that the duration of the day’s trip had been cut almost
in half. Clive arrived a few hours
later. We had all got quite wet and
spent the rest of the day hanging up our wet clothing around the building.
At least it all dried.
Wednesday was to be the last hard day of the trek - a 1000m ascent of the
Augstbordpass and then a 1700m descent to St. Niklaus, an overall distance of
16km. Dawn brought blue skies and
sun with an extensive white frost. Alongside
the hotel a good path zigzagged up the mountainside, initially through forest,
and we made height quite quickly to more open and less steep terrain.
But the last 300 metres to the pass were up a steep boulder slope with
scree. I tried a short cut to the
top but was forced back to the scree as the rocks were covered in verglas.
At the col Clive caught up with us again.
I was keen to climb the neighbouring Schwarzhorn (3201m) as this is
recommended in the Cicerone guide as a good viewpoint and he readily agreed to
accompany me whilst Chris and Paul continued towards St. Niklaus. The climb up the south ridge of the Schwarzhorn was tricky
and loose, and route finding was problematical.
At times it was probably a Grade 1½ scramble. The views from the top were fantastic with mountains
stretching for miles. Mount Blanc
was away on our right with Monte Rosa on our left, and in between were all the
peaks I’ve mentioned plus many more - just amazing.
Eventually we descended to the col, collected our rucksacks which we had
left there, and then began to make our way downwards. Very soon the path stopped descending and for a considerable
distance followed a rising traverse towards the top of the ridge above.
It became very rocky and some parts afforded only poor footing which made
us feel quite exposed. In one place we had to clamber over loose avalanche debris
with only narrow and uncertain footholds. And
then there were a series of ledges. Once
we had rounded the ridge the path descended but it seemed to take all afternoon
before we caught up with Chris and Paul at the hamlet of Jungen which is perched
over St Niklaus. After such a long
hot day we took the easy option of a cable car down to the sleepy town of St.
Niklaus in the valley. Luckily for
us the only visible bar and restaurant was just opposite our bed and breakfast
dortoir. This very comfortable
dortoir had unusual washing facilities in that the clear glass sided shower
cubicle was prominently located in the huge laundry room.
A room with a view.
On Thursday we had planned to walk 18km to Zermatt along the valley bottom
following the road and railway. But
this did not seem likely to be a visually attractive route.
So, hopeful that the good weather would hold long enough for us to climb
the Breithorn on one of the next two days, we opted for a rest day and took the
train to Zermatt where we stayed in the super new YHA conveniently located close
to the cable car up to the Klein Matterhorn glacier.
We now had plenty of time to hire our guide for an ascent of the
Breithorn next day. Whilst window
shopping in Zermatt we met the “Happy Campers” again and saw Clive who was
contemplating an extension of his trip to complete a circuit of the Monte Rosa.
The Matterhorn and the Breithorn dominated the town and I took dozens of
photographs.
Early on the Friday we met up with our guide and took the cable car to the
glacier. The cloudless sky was a
brilliant blue and the sun shone brightly on the white snow.
Chris and I were part of a rope of 6 which the guide took charge of and
we set off across the glacier at high speed passing several ropes of climbers.
Then, after stopping to don crampons, we rushed up hard nevé, passing
more climbers. The ascent was
technically straightforward but very hard work at that altitude.
When we summited we had the place to ourselves - the speed had been
worthwhile. The summit is dome
shaped, with enough standing room for about a dozen, with easy convex slopes
disappearing in all directions. At
4160m the clear views were amazing - the Matterhorn is a close neighbour on one
side and the extensive Monte Rosa massif on the other.
We could see ropes of climbers crossing glaciers heading for Castor,
Pollux and Liskamm (all 4000+m peaks). To
the south we looked down into Italy and the town of Cervinia and to the north we
peered down into Zermatt.
Leaving the summit, instead of reversing our ascent route our Guide took
us east where the convex slope quickly became a knife edged snow ridge with just
enough room to place your feet - a veritable tight rope.
As we edged along the frozen snow ridge the exposure became mind boggling
- to the left over 2000m to the Gorner glacier, to the right only 1000m to
another glacier. The ridge dipped
steeply and was covered with ice so hard it was difficult to get a purchase even
with crampons. But we were soon on a small col where we stopped for lunch -
and to get our breath back. A
further steep descent over hard nevé soon had us back to the cable car station.
It had been hard work but a brilliant experience.
Paul had spent the day by taking the mountain railway up to the
Gornergrat (3090m) and then walking back down to Zermatt.
Saturday was to be a rest day but Chris had spotted a good route (with a
long mountain traverse and ascent) to the Täsch hut (2700m), and Paul and I
were happy to accompany him. We
took the first funicular of the morning to gain height and found ourselves to be
alone on this traverse. Because of
this we saw chamois, deer and squirrels and had a very pleasant walk through
forests and across open hillsides. The
last 500 metres of ascent were up a steep narrow stony path but by lunchtime we
were at the hut sunbathing. We had
planned to descend to the valley and catch the train but the weather was so good
that we took an alternative path through the forest and walked all the way back
to Zermatt. The rest day turned out
to be an 8 hour trek.
Sunday saw us at the station for the long scenic journey back to the
airport. It had been a brilliant
trip, thanks to Chris’s organisational skills and to the favourable weather.
John Andrew
FORTHCOMING
MEETS
MEET No 229:
REUNION AND AGM
Dates: Friday 29 -
Sunday 31 October 2004.
Area: Snowdonia.
Accommodation: Snowdon
Ranger youth hostel.
Programme: All the
mountains and big hills in North Wales should be readily accessible.
The AGM will be held on the Saturday evening, and will be followed by a
slide show if members care to bring slides of their exploits during the year.
Transport: By car.
Picking up arrangements will be made once the participants, availability
of cars and routes are known. If
coming by car, please advise the Meet organiser how many passengers you can take
and indicate approximate route and times of journeys.
Maps: OS 1:50,000
No 115 or “Outdoor Leisure” 1:25,000 Nos 16, 17 & 18.
Food: It is
planned to purchase all meals at the hostel (a la carte menu – prices vary.).
Anyone who does not wish to do so will need to bring and prepare his/her
own food. In order to obtain a
hostel meal on the Friday evening it is essential to telephone the
hostel in advance to place an order and to arrive before 7 pm that day.
In addition, when requesting the Meet organiser to reserve places at the
hostel please advise him what other hostel meals are required.
Bookings: To reserve
a place, please send a deposit of £25 payable in person to the Meet organiser
who will reserve accommodation in respect of all bookings received by 6
October. The balance will
be payable on the Meet itself.
MEET No 230:
HOGMANAY
Dates:
To be notified.
Area: The Central
Highlands.
Accommodation: To be
advised.
Programme: Celebrate
Hogmanay in the Central Highlands. Numerous
good walks are readily accessible on the high mountains in this region.
The New Year period is a great time to scale peaks as they are usually
snow covered.
Transport: By car.
Picking up arrangements will be made once the participants, availability
of cars and routes are known. If
coming by car, please advise the Meet organiser how many passengers you can take
and indicate approximate route and times of journeys.
Maps: To be
notified.
Equipment: Crampons
and ice axe essential.
Food: To be
provided by the Meet organiser, unless requested otherwise. Details will be provided later.
Bookings: To reserve
a place, please complete the booking form and send it with a deposit of £40
payable in person to the Meet organiser who will reserve accommodation in
respect of all bookings received by 1 November.
The balance will be payable on the Meet itself.
2004 ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING
This year’s AGM will be held at the Snowdon Ranger youth hostel in the
early evening of Saturday 30 October 2004.
The usual agenda will apply and copies will be available at the meeting.
2005/6 MEET
PROGRAMME
The Chairman would be grateful if all members would complete a copy of
the attached questionnaire and return it to him as soon as possible.
At the latest, he needs this information at least one week before the
start of the AGM Meet.
Page 9 of last quarter’s NeWSletter (NWS 119) contained a small but important error. The last letters of Chris Knowles’ new e-mail address is “net” and NOT “com”. The correct address in full is:
crisk999@netscape.net
MEET PLANNING – 2005/6
Is there a particular area which you have always wanted to visit or are
there certain hills which you especially want to climb?
Now is your chance to do this with like-minded members.
Just fill in your preferred locations and dates below.
If you are willing to organise a Meet, please indicate this also.
If you have not organised a Meet before, easily understood Meet Guidance
Notes are available.
Please send me the completed form as soon as possible, so that I can
compile a provisional Meet programme for 2005/6 in time for discussion at the
AGM this October.
David
Douglas
Chairman
NWS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name:
I would like there to be NWS Meets in the following areas at the
following times:
Season
Venue
February/March
2005
................................................................................
Easter
................................................................................
April/May
................................................................................
May/June
................................................................................
June/July
................................................................................
August/September
................................................................................
September/October
................................................................................
October/November
(AGM) ................................................................................
New
Year 2005/2006
................................................................................
February/March
2006
................................................................................
I
have marked with a cross the Meet(s) which I would be willing to organise.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Food: To be
provided by the Meet organiser, unless requested otherwise. Details will be provided later.
Bookings: To reserve
a place, please complete the booking form and send it with a deposit of £40
payable in person to the Meet organiser who will reserve accommodation in
respect of all bookings received by 1 November.
The balance will be payable on the Meet itself.
2004 ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING
This year’s AGM will be held at the Snowdon Ranger youth hostel in the
early evening of Saturday 30 October 2004.
The usual agenda will apply and copies will be available at the meeting.
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