Just a few months back I posted a blog and video about the Eiger North Face so if you haven’t check it out have a look.  It seemed that climbing the face would satisfy my obsession about this mountain, but I think it only sparked more interest.  After a busy winter, I was fortunate to climb the face not again, but two more times including guiding an ascent. 

This past winter was a long and busy one with a lot of diversity.  The winter began as usual with a mix of ski and ice climbing work, but then I traveled to Thailand and Jordan on a trip with Caroline.  Spending a month climbing in the middle of winter is something I have never done and it provided to be quite a contrast for the season.  Soon enough though I was back on the snow and spent a lot of time in huts (even on a boat) guiding ski trips in Norway, Italy, Switzerland and France.  I didn’t really have any time to get out and Alpine climb, but skiing daily is good for your conditioning.  I ended up with a few days off between ski trips mid-April and the weather and conditions were ripe for an Alpine climb.

Caroline and I teamed up for a climb and the conditions on the Eiger were perfect this spring.  We both had climbed the face before, but doing it in a day was something we were both interested in.  You can read about the climb in a post Caroline wrote so I won’t go into too much detail.  The climb went well for us and it was great to move quickly on such a majestic face.

After our ascent I guided a ski descent of Mont Blanc with a friend, colleague and mentor – Martin Volken-and it seemed like this was a fitting way to cap off the season and put the snow behind me for a while.  That was of course until the phone rang and a friend of Caroline’s inquired about getting a guide for the Eiger North Face. 

The trouble with climbing any alpine route is that three things need to line up: good weather, good conditions and you need to be ready.  So many people have traveled to Switzerland with hopes of climbing the Eiger only to be thwarted by one of the above prerequisites.  When you bring guiding into the equation it only complicates matters further.  My client for this ascent is a doctor in Switzerland which made logistics quite simple.  She was aware of the conditions and her days off looked to coincide perfectly with the weather window.  Furthermore, she has been climbing a lot this winter with many big routes under her belt so conditioning was not an issue.  With everything lining up we were ready to go for an adventure of a lifetime.

Our trip began with the first train from Grindewald.  While this gives you a relatively “late” start by alpine standards, you do have the advantage of day light while starting the climb.  In the spring the conditions on the lower face are usually straight forward and climbing to the Difficult crack can be fast.  We made great progress up until this point and then we encountered two teams who had left more than 5 hrs before us.  After a little waiting we able to pass the group before the Hinterstoisser traverse thus not interrupting out rhythm.  We were making good time and caught yet another team in the ice hose.  Here again we were able to move past them without any delay and wouldn’t have any more resistance for the remainder of the day.  The conditions on the face were good although there was some fresh snow and some sections were getting quite dry.  The new snow and cool temps help mitigate rock fall, which is the biggest concern on a climb like this. 

We made quick and steady progress on the first day and were planning on spending the night high on the Brittle ledges.  The ramp had a couple of tricky pitches to negotiate, which proved to be the route’s crux and all of my client’s training paid off as they barley slowed us down. The beauty of climbing late in the spring is that the days are long.  When we arrived at our intended bivouac there was still plenty of daylight to spare so we carried on another couple of pitches until just before the traverse of the gods.  Normally, this can be one of the most aesthetic places on the route to spend a night, but here we came across a team of three who were trying the climb in a day.

 This party, had either overestimated their abilities or underestimated the face, and it was clear they would not make the summit in a day.  The team had brought virtually no bivy gear with them so they called a helicopter for rescue… only in Europe. However, at this time of the day the face was enveloped in clouds and it was obvious that no pilot would attempt a rescue.  Furthermore, as you may imagine, a rescue here is no simple task and considering there was no immediate danger,  I was a bit disturbed by the fact this team was willing to put a rescue team at risk so they could avoid an unpleasant bivouac.

In the end, no rescue came and ironically I think we suffered the unpleasant bivouac.  The team of three, who had arrived before us, took the good part of the ledge to spend the night huddled together.  We however, had to chop a ledge into the snow which offered sitting room only.  So, despite having the necessary equipment it wasn’t one of the more pleasant night’s I’ve spent outside.  Oddly enough, when morning arrived with clear skies, this team decided to carry on rather than pursue a rescue. 

We made sure to start off ahead of this team and quickly made some distance on them.  This part of the climb is truly majestic.  The route sneaks through some improbable features crossing over some of the most well known landmarks: the Traverse of the Gods and the White Spider.  We had good conditions, but things were a bit drier and a little more tenuous then on the ascent I had made two weeks before. The Exit Cracks were in good condition to start, but as we got higher conditions changed a bit.  The longer days in the spring bring sun to the upper part of the mountain in the afternoon.  With sun on the snow the final pitches can get quite wet on a warm day.  By arriving at these pitches early in the morning they are frozen and can be covered in verglass, such was the case when we arrived.  These final pitches presented one final challenge in our ascent.  The pitches are not extremely difficult, but in these conditions they a bit insecure and offer little protection.   Atlas, it is the Eiger after all and ascent that is too easy just wouldn’t seem fair.  After negotiating the final snow field and ridge we were on our way down to catch an early afternoon train.  After less than 34 hours we were back down in Grindelwald where spring was awaiting.

After doing this climb for the third time, and this time guiding it, I was struck by a couple of things.  First, you can never be too prepared for a climb.  My client was very fit and had put in a lot of mileage over the winter.  This allowed us to move quickly and allowed her to enjoy climb rather than simply get up it.  Second, this is a face that still demands respect.   Today the face has been climbed in less than three hours (still mind blowing to me) and it seems that somehow this has trivialized the undertaking.  But, make no mistake; it is a long climb that offers some challenging pitches.  So, no matter what style to choose make sure you come ready to play ball.  For me it is probably the best climb I have done and it was a privilege to help someone accomplish a goal like this.

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The Haute Route is the ultra classic high mountain traverse linking Chamonix to Zermatt, sleeping in huts at night and only going back to the valley flooronce, to connect Champex to Verbier. The traverse takes 5-6 days. It can be done many different ways, but the most travelled itinerary goes like this:

Grands Montets (Chamonix) – Trient Hut – Verbier – Prafleuri Hut – Dix Hut – Pigne d’Arolla – Vignettes Hut – Zermatt.

The Haute Route was first done by Chamonix guides in 1903, traversing up and over the Col du Sonadon, which is a little more difficult than the Verbier option, which was in turn done in 1919 by Marchel Kurz. The Haute Route covers over 100km and climbs 6000m in elevation. Some people have done it under 24hours, which is an incredible feat. It is impressive to imagine that over a century ago, people found a way through the mountains’ weakness – passes and valleys, sometimes having to climb a peak such as the Pigne d’Arolla -, which connected Chamonix to Zermatt.

The ideal time to do the Haute Route runs mid March through early May. This year, snow conditions have been quite bad because of the lack of snow and warm temperatures over the Alps. Yet, early April still offered enough snow that we didn’t have to carry skis much at all. We left from the Grands Montets cable car on a very busy Saturday morning, skied down to the Glacier d’Argentiere below and started up to the Col du Chardonnet, the first pass of the Haute Route. Yet, at the pass, one of the clients hurt his calf and we had to turn around, skiing back to Chamonix in difficult snow conditions.

The following day, we took a taxi to Verbier and enjoyed a nice breakfast at the “Off Shore”, one of the local mainstream restaurants by the lift. I thought that we wouldn’t leave until 9am, giving the people arriving from the Trient hut enough time to get to Verbier. I was hoping to share the lead with some other guides because both the visiblity and the weather were really bad. We took the lift to the “Col des Gentianes”. Skiing down the piste, we had to ski pole to pole to remain on the piste because the visibility was at the most 5m out. When we got to the flats at the base of the Col de la Chaux – our next pass -, we put our skins and headed up to the pass. Old tracks had mostly been covered so it may for interesting route finding, almost all the way to our destination: the Cabane de Prafleuri, which is nestled on the one end of the Lac des Dix. Much to my dismay, no other parties or guides were on route that day. When we arrived at the hut, the hut keeper told us that out of the 80 reservations she had, only 17 people showed up. The parties that were already there had started from the Mont Fort Hut, on the Verbier pistes.

It was actually really nice to have so few people along. It made the experience much more relaxing and enabled us to have more a “wilderness experience”. It froze overnight, and we were able to cross over to the Dix Hut, without going back down to the valley, as a lot of parties had had to do because the snowpack was too soft. We had an interesting traverse, offering a mix of avalanche debris, grass skiing and lots of poling to get to the base of the Pas du Chat, the infamous steep section leading to the Dix valley. We arrived at the hut in time for the delicious Rosti, specialty of the Dix Hut.

The fourth day, we skied up and over to the Pigne D’Arolla via the Serpentine. Since the Vignettes Hut was closed, we added a little leg to the day and toured up to the Col de l’Eveque, skied down to the Col Collon and ended up in Italy at the Nacamuli hut. Although Italy is amazing and the food is orgasmic (let’s not be afraid of words here ;-)), they are architects of toilets. The toilet is outside, way down some steep metal staircase in a rectangular box, whose door doesn’t close, and to top it off, you stand on a see-through grid which offers a view on a pyramid of… well… you know.

That being said, the hut was lovely… less lovely was getting out of there and back on the main Haute Route the next morning, touring up some SW facing refrozen steepness. I worked the trail so hard with my my ice axe that my arm hurt and with my ski crampons that I managed to break one of them. Our itinerary for the day was Col Collon-Col du Mont Burle-Col de Valpelline, which offers the most stunning view on the Matterhorn. A real treat. We skied on down to the Schoenbiel hut, as the clients didn’t want to stay in Zermatt that night.

With one more day on the schedule, we skied down to Furi (the mid station in Zermatt) and took the cable car up to the Klein Matterhorn and finished the trip with an ascent of the Breithorn, the most accessible 4000m peak around. We enjoyed a nice and very long ski down to Zermatt with a stop in Furi for some beers and Croute au Fromage… or was it Rosti again?

Thanks to James, Steven, Dan and Adam (not my Adam) for an unforgettable Haute Route!

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View more pictures here

I first climbed the north face in 2003 with friends from Chamonix. The idea had sprung when I crossed ice axes with a friend on a classic Chamonix ice gully and I mentioned that conditions on the Eiger must be stunning. We had just had a spell of 6 weeks of blue bird weather and I knew that the climb had seen lots of traffic. The next day, we were driving there to climb the mighty north face.

In my family, the north face of the Eiger could almost be condsidered an heirloom. My dad had always talked about it and wanted to climb it but deemed that having kids and climbing the Eiger weren’t compatible. I therefore felt that I should climb it before I had kids. I climb so much because I always have this perspective in sight. Although, realistically, I don’t think this would change much for me. But it’s good excuse.

The whole drive there though, I thought that I would say that I was going to bail right once we got to the parking lot, then on the train, then at the hotel at the base of the Eiger (the Eigergletscher Hotel), then at the base of the climb… but suddenly, I have 400m up the face and there was no turning back. I was overwhelmed in some way and the whole climb felt unreal. But it was a landmark in my career as alpinist.

Last Fall, Adam was looking for a partner to climb the north face of the Eiger. I had already done it and had no desire to ever get back on the face. But he really couldn’t find anyone motivated, so I said I would go. At the last minute though, Tim Connelly motivated to go and I then realized that I had really wanted to get back on it, especially with my husband. The whole next day that Adam was on the route, I so regretted not sharing that experience with him. View his video here. So I went and climb the north face of the Drus instead, one of the most beautiful alpine route I have never done.

Yet, the Eiger loomed in the back my mind. I suddenly had the desire to climb it in a day. I figured I would train all winter for it, but training really isn’t something I ever do. I climb all the time, go ski touring a lot, but I never had the perspective of training for an objective. I don’t really know how to I guess. Plus, I traveled so much this winter that there was never any time for specific training. I thought about the Eiger on and off but it was no longer a big goal of mine. I climbed routes like the Supercouloir, Pinocchio on the Tacul, etc. Yet, a week before going on the climb, I tried to do a route on the north face of the Droites with my friend Tania. It had just snowed and the accumulation at the base worried me. We were sinking in to our waste and making slow progess so we pulled the plug and decided to go ski touring instead. In a day, we toured to the base of the Droites from the Argentiere glacier, skied to the Col d’Argentiere and then to the Col du Tour Noir, making for around 2500m elevation gain. It isn’t that much, but I thought that if I could do that easily, then I was fit enough to climb 1800m on the Eiger. I felt good. With a window of great weather ahead and Adam and I looking for an objective for the week, we decided to give the “Eiger in a day” a go. Upon arriving there, we heard the record had been broken down to 2h30! so there was no longer any excuse for us not to be able to do it in a day. With that in mind, we headed for the north face, with no bivy gear or stoves, committing to being back down by dusk.

The climb went really smoothly, with a perfect track the whole way. The climbing felt a lot easier than the first time I did. I never felt tired or wishing the climb would be over already!!, a feeling I often get on long routes. We both knew the routes and I felt that knowing what was ahead was made it less stressful. What was stressful however was having the helicopter a 100m away from us for most of the day, dropping off the new record holder, Dani Arnold, on sections of the face, just to take footage of him. Definitely ruined the wilderness experience for us.

We topped on on the Mitteleggi in the afternoon. And then came the crux: the knifeedge ridge that leads to the top. Quite unnerving. We hung out on the summit for a quite a while, enjoying the fact that we had just shared one of the best climbs of our lives together. Eventually, we descended the west face back to the Eigergletscher, where comfortable Swiss beds awaited us.

View the gallery on my facebook page by clicking here.

What do you get when you cross WWI artifacts, four course meals, 12,000’ glaciated peaks, beautiful huts with Italian charm and ski touring? The Ortler-Cevedale range located in the Central Italian Alps. 

This spring I guided two week long hut trips for Pro Guide Service and got to experience some of the best Italy has to offer in terms of Ski touring and hut culture.  The Ortelr-Ceveldale range is home to several peaks which rise to nearly 3,800m (around 12,500ft).  Nearly a hundred years ago this range was littered with barbed wire, bunkers and trenches as the Italians battled the Austo-Hungarians during World War I.  While many signs of these battles are still visible (old bunkers and even cannons), soldiers have been replaced by eager skiers.  Most of these peaks are glaciated with complex terrain offering a wide range of skiing objectives.  Whether you prefer wide open glacier cruisers or steep exposed faces there is something for everyone.

Despite the amazing ski terrain, this represents only half of the experience on any hut trip.  It is really the history, culture and, well, the food that really rounds out the adventure.  In my opinion this is what really distinguishes a trip to the Ortlers from some of the other popular ski trips in the Alps.  During these trips we based out of two huts and did day tours rather than skiing from hut to hut.  This itinerary allows you seemingly unlimited skiing options during the days while also allowing you to relax and enjoy the huts during the evenings.    Everyone has a different vision of how to enjoy huts but here are some ideas: hot showers, nice local wine, 4 course meals, a sauna or perhaps just having a conversation or chess game with a fellow skier from a neighboring country?

If you’re looking to experience a unique and adventurous hut trip in Europe a trip in the Ortles should not be overlooked.  Combine this with a visit to Milan, a trip to the baths in Bormio and a night on Lake Como and you truly have a trip of a lifetime.

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