With a relatively early 2:45am start, we made good time up the glaciers and rock finish to the summit of Dufourspitze (4634m) in around 7 hours. The descent route was much more exciting with some soloing of fixed ropes over the top of the Spanish and a few monster crevasses to contend with.
For some, its a high intensity sport in its own right. For climbers, via ferrata feels more like a relaxing day off. The route on the cliffs above Zermatt is steep and exciting and with the threat of rain fast approaching we raced around the relatively strenuous course .
Spending two nights in the Rossi and Volante Bivouac, we summited Castor and Pollox in a day via the normal routes as a part of our acclimatization. My head was feeling pretty rough after the first ascent to the hut, so we slept it out for a night and then beat the rush to top out on Castor before the queues arrived from the Italian hut below.
This week, I had the honour of speaking at TEDxBrum in Birmingham. The talk, entitled “Soviet Cartography and the Modern Mountaineer” looked at how climbers these days can use Google Earth and Soviet military maps to find unclimbed peaks to explore. A map of all of the locations featured in the talk can be explored here.
Starting from Rindal, myself and Adam hitched up the road towards Gråsjøen and then set off towards Snota. Snow conditions underfoot were hard going at times and perhaps more suitable for ski touring. Undeterred, we summitted and spent our second night down near Vassdalsvatnet before walking out to Rindal for the flight home. Stunningly unspoilt scenery and endless mountains to climb, a brilliant weekend.
Armed with the International Handbook of Technical Mountaineering, we finished the weekend playing at Gunard's Head setting up Tyrolean traverses. Then it was time for Cornish cheese before the long drive back to the Midlands.
