Allinhorn, 11th August 2011

With Lorna still stuck in hospital in Visp I was starting to get a bit stir crazy up in Saas (not as much as Lorna obviously) so I had an idea to walk up to the col between the Feekopf and Allinhorn, from the Mittelallalin. I wasn't sure if solo-ing was a good idea just now, mentally, although I felt fine yesterday on the straighforward walk to the Brittania Hut.   

The Mittleallalin was busy as usual with ski-ers, boarders and folks heading for the peaks. I spent some time faffing and watching what different teams were doing and it seemed almost all were roping up. After some deliberation I set off for the col up the normal "tourist" route, past the ski lifts and up close to the seracs of the Allinhorn. 

I kept saying to myself that I would turn round if I felt uncomfortable or it turns out I am the only solo climber on the mountain! It's funny how you watch other folks thinking they must be experienced in all this, and they turn out to be more hesitant than yourself!

As I walked on further up the well worn and safe trench, I noticed one other lone soul plodding his way up. Rightly or wrongly I followed all the time wityh a view to stopping at the col and then going back down after some happy snaps! 



Looking back down to the Mittleallalin and the ski area.



On the way I passed through the remains of avalanche debris from what looked like a collapsed serac. Unlike other people I thought the done thing would be to move quickly through such ground, then take the photos; not stand in the middle of it and snap away?      



Hard to tell from the photo, but these blocks of ice amongst the debris were the size of a small car! 

Looking back down at the trail of avalanche debris from above, of course! 

It came to my notice that as slow as I was going, no-one had passed me! I also saw a team of seven including the guide on a rope; I may be wrong but that seems a lot!?

Approaching the col near the Feekopf where I decided on closer inspection not to solo it as everyone was roped and our experience of recent rockfall put me off the idea. Later I would spot the rescue helicopter landing by a group of climbers on the snow just above the rock band. Hopefully nothing serious.  

At the col I got talking to the lone climber I saw earlier, joking I would take his photo for him on the summit if I saw him.

The summit ridge is not too narrow, with just enough room for people to pass as long you don't trip over ropes and crampons and they're not Italian. Falling off shouldn't be an issue but a slide here would still spoil your day! especially if you have to avoid any Italians!  

As it turned out, I met the lone walker who introduced himself as Manfred, so we took some happy snaps by the summit cross and had a chat whilst I enjoyed a squashed jam roll and Manfred enjoyed his mini bottle of wine!    

Shockingly posey photo kindly taken by Manfred, once I'd skillfully negotiated my way past the group of Italians leaving the cross for the wider part of the summit.

There were even dogs up there! Plus some teams, probably families with young-ish kids, around ten - twelve years old. I saw one guy with a small child of about five, six maybe, near the col. 

Looking across to theStrahlhorn and Rimpfischhorn from the summit of the Allinhorn.

A different view of Eginner with it's ridge leading away to the Mittaghorn in the distance.

My good companion for the day, Manfred posing in the sun!

Manfred heading back down to the col by the Feekopf. We enjoyed a leisurely walk back to the Mittleallalin where we enjoyed a couple of celebratory beers before bidding farewell. If Manfred is ever in Scotland it would be good to show him some of the mountains we have to offer.

Felskin to the Brittania Hut, 10th August 2011.

After the last few days, of worry I decided to take a short walk from the Felskinn lift through the Eginnerjoch to the Brittania Hut. Part of the route, on the hut side, is closed due to rockfall so it takes slightly longer than the 90 minutes stated on the signposts. You also get a good view of the south side of the Egginer as you pass through.   

Looking through to the Egginerjoch from the Felskinn lift station. 

Looking back at the route with the Alphubel in the distance. Nothing is hard about this walk, in fact there were many "ordinary" walkers enjoying a taste of the alpine scenery. You do have to pay some attention though but with common sense and the right clothing anyone can make the journey to the Brittania Hut and back. 

As I got closer to the steep face of the Eginner, I noticed a team of climbers making their way up one of the chimneys. After the previous few days I was aware of what might be loose rock and hoped they had a safe journey to the summit of what looks like a complicated mountain to route find on.   

The "normal" route through the Eginnerjoch was closed due to rockfall! Ironic considering, so you are diverted to a more circuitous route to the bottom of the Chessjengletscher which follows its left hand edge before striking off right, across the glacier itself to bring you just below the Brittania Hut. I chose a more private spot away from the hut to have my one jam roll, chocolate bar and flask of tea.     

My peaceful spot had a view of the Strahlhorn and Rimpfischorn, both acccesible after a night at the Brittania Hut. 

Lagginhorn as seen from the Brittania Hut with snow on it's upper slopes, apparently making it slightly harder than normal? The Fletschorn is to it's left.

Looking across to the Almageller Hut and the Dri-Hornli Ridge.

Epic on the NNE Ridge of the Egginer from the Mittaghorn, 8th August 2011.

Hoping for a cloud inversion on the Mittaghorn summit.

Looking at our first gendarme as we head south along the North-North East ridge of the Egginer. I was a bit apprehensive at first as although it was meant to be no harder than V-Diff for some of the moves, I was aware of there being no one else on the ridge and despite being able to see some of the lift stations, they still seemed a long way away.     

Some of the scrambling/climbing was scrappy in places, not too difficult but was it a sign of things to come?

Occaisionally a veil of cloud would cover the ridge adding to the drama closely followed by a brief spell of hailstones which was worrying, but it soon cleared leaving us just the cloud to peer through.  

The next gendarme was more "soild" and a variety of lines seemed possible although I aired on the side of caution and tried for the simplest!

We were getting close to what I thought was the lowest point in the NNE ridge, and the sight of the small glacier below seemed to confirm that. The last downclimb seemed trickier than it should've been, but we were soon on a level-ish section with possibly 20m or so to what appeared to be a final downclimb before the descent. 

At this point,after doing so well for our abilities, I suggested that instead of staying on the crest, we take a  gradually descending traverse line towards the final descent. I went first on belay, but as I moved along and down, it became clear that there was a lot of unstable rock. It was hear that I had my first feelings og doubt at my route choice and told Lorna not to descend as far as me, but to go back up to the crest (no more then 10m above) and make herself safe.
Once I was back on belay, I followed the rope as Lorna was out of sight for a while due the nature of the blocks and pinnacles.
At about 5m from the crest I came to a fridge-freezer size block.
Here it was basically walking around the large rocks, and as I stepped between the block and the mountain side - it moved.
From here everything happened so fast. The block toppled like a domino and broke in two (maybe more?). The top half went downwards, which was good as Lorna was not directly below me, and at least 5m along and very slightly below. However the remaining piece of rock decided to defy the laws of science and bounce, slide and roll towards Lorna.
As I shouted to her to move, she jumped into a recess, but not far enough.
The rock caught her right ankle between another rock , essentially acting like a vice resulting in a broken ankle.                

Looking across the the NNE ridge of the Eginner. Not far from the lowest point is where we were picked up by the Air Zermatt helicopter. I never got the names of the pilot, loadmaster or the paramedic that was winched down to us, but they were all amazing, calm and non-judgemental. Rolf, the Saas Fee mountain rescue guy who came with them was also brilliant,especially with his "shit happens", quotes!
At some point in this blog I will return to this post and talk more about the rights, wrongs, mistakes or wether it was just an accident?        

A short walk below the Mischabel Hut, 7th August 2011

The morning rain had put off the local guides from organising any trips in the "Gorge", so after a stroll around the village and a visit to the Bergfurhrer Buro , we decided to take the Hannig cable car and do as much of the walk in (ie up) to the Mischabel Hut. 

We only had a couple of hours to walk as far as we could before returning to catch the last lift back down to Saas Fee. The walk is interesting though and would make a good day out in itself with lunch at the hut. 

We had seen people hand feeding Marmots the previous day as we took the cable car down from Spielboden, so I was hoping to catch a glimpse of one today. Luckily something caught my eye and sure enough there was a marmot, sitting on a rock about 30m away. I was tempted to leave the path to get closer but felt sure if I had I would've scared it off!  

We didn't make it as far as the start of the cables up to the hut unfortuneatly as we decided to about turn and make for the cable car and a beer! The return walk gives good views over Saas Fee and the surrounding peaks. 

There are also pockets of Ibex (as I call them , although I have heard them being called Bouqetin) around  the hillsides. Some of them appear in the most unlikely and exposed places.

On the way down we passed what I think was the edge of the Fall Glacier. I assume the Hohbalm Glacier would be further left as you face the mountain?  

There are always plenty of signposts and waymarkers on most of the routes. Some may say too many, but they do come on handy though! We made it back to the Hanning resteraunt in time for a quick drink before taking the last car down.

Around Saas Fee, August 2011.

Sunshine and showers in Saas Fee.

Religion is still present in the valleys of the Saastal.

Heading towards the "Bergfurer Buro" in the centre of Saas.

Typical wooden chalet style buildings can still be found amongst more modern hotels and appartments.

Once the grass had dried out from the previous weeks rains, it was time to harvest.

 

Saas Fee, Langfluh - 6th August 2011.

Looking across to the Mittaghorn and the Eginner on our first afternoon in Saas Fee, where we had enough time to take the lifts up to the Langfluh station and take a look around as we'd never been over that side of the Fee Glacier before. For a saturday afternoon, the lifts and the cafe were very quiet, something which we thought we noticed alot over the nex couple of days. Is it getting too expensive now? 

The pictures don't do justice to the scale of the glacier and it's crevasses.

Looking up towards the Alphubel Joch from the side of the Langfluh.

A team heading up towards the ice above the Langfluh.

Looking up at the Feekopf with Mittleallalin high on the left and the Alphubel out of shot to the right.

Atmospheric view across the Fee Glacier to the Eginnerjoch with the Eginner on the left. 

Mittleallalin's revolving resteraunt just visible with a trail from Felskinn visible.

A new use for old boots at the Langfluh resteraunt.

Our singing, harmonica playing companion on the descent to Saas from the Langfluh.

 

Hogget Gill to the Priesthole Cave, 30th August 2011.

A short walk from Sykeside Farm Campsite, as if heading into Dovedale, leads you to the start of Hogget Gill. This grade 1 scramble is a great way up the fells (in not too wet conditions) for beginners, and  the interest is kept up all the way. 

Myself, Lorna and Lennon made our way up through the jumble of rocks and fallen trees, around various small pools, and up small waterfalls. Getting wet was all part of the fun, although never anything too serious. The gill was fairly dry although some sections need thoughtful footwork to avoid a slip on the wet, slimy rock: even for a grade 1 scramble.     

We did avoid the alternative grade 3 section in the middle, which takes a rising rightwards traverse, up the slabby left wall by a steeper fall. Although not to high, the hardest part looks like the first few moves, with little protection a slip would've been possible especially for a beginner. The rock close to the fall was also damp so we opted to escape left out of the ravine an rejoin the gill about 20m higher.

Between rocky scrambly walking, you get sections of larger boulders to negotiate between and the option to get as wet as you like!

Lorna and Lennon near the top of the gill.

Looking down Hogget Gill onto Sykeside Farm campsite at the bottom of the valley. The short grade 3 section is just where the gill drops down the ravine in the centre of the picture. 

From the top of the gill it is possible to traverse over rough ground below the crags of Dove Crag to join the path rising up from Sykeside. From here you can find the seemingly not so secret Priesthole Cave where we stopped for lunch before heading back down the campsite.