Monte Rosa - Day 2

15th September - The weather turns

Stuart is happy to be up on the Grenz revisiting old territory. 

This morning has seen the first of the autumn snow fall. Of course up here there is no autumn. A bishop visiting the 900 year old Monastery at the Grand Saint Bernard Pass, 2469 metres, home to the St Bernard dogs, once said that the Alps was nine months of winter and three months of summer. That's a pretty accurate assessment of the Alpine weather at that location and anywhere else in the Alps at that altitude.

So this morning, as predicted, there was a light snow shower going on around the hut. We finished breakfast and set off up the band of rock that tuns for several hundred metres behind the hut and trails slowly upwards to the south and forming one edge of the Grenz Glacier, nick named 'the man eater'!

Crevasses on the mighty Grenz

On reaching the glacier we donned harnesses and helmets and after roping up set off onto the glacier to continue in a southerly direction so that we could acclimatize, by gaining as much height over the 3,000 metre mark,where mountaineers that have not been at altitude for some time, can sometimes start to feel light headed as the oxygen level reduces slightly. The other reason was to carry out a reconnaissance of our proposed route to cross over to the Italian side, at the Lisjoch pass, 4,151 metres, just to the East of Liskamm (one of the 4,000 metre plus summits in the area). 

As we continued up the Grenz we could here Serac falling onto the Grenz. These columns or towers of ice have been thawing all summer and as they had become more unstable. They sounded like they were falling off the rocky ledges of the Schalbetterflue, a steep rock band on the other side of the Glacier. The occasional rumble and crashing of shattered ice echoed down the glacier.

View from outside the Monte Rosa Hutte that evening

We climbed steadily for another hour or so before reaching a height of 3,330 metres. Now we were just below the hardest point of our proposed route. Here guide books advise moving to the south side of a band of rock at 3,700 metres. The crevasse field is more 'intense' at this point as the ice is steeper and serac's form. As we began to plan the best route up the view ahead of us began to disappear, firstly into a mist and then a white out as we realised that a snow storm was gathering pace as it came down the glacier and began to envelope us. The snow was settling fast and before we knew it, it was covering the glacier in a thick white coat. Deciding that the weather appeared to be deteriorating for some time to come and that this was not a passing shower we turned and headed back towards the hut taking a slightly different line in order to help make up our minds about a fast route up the following day.

Video clip link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok97JXlYn-0

The snow continued to follow us down to the hut and we arrived back at our accommodation later that afternoon in poor visability but happy that we had acclimatized well so far and found a good route for the day ahead. 

Onto the Monte Rosa range (Part Two)

Down climbing the ladders to get to the first Glacier

Once you are down the ladders and have crossed the bridge it's time to don crampons and keep the ice axe out and handy. To be honest the first section is relatively flat and you could manage without crampons as long as you are steady on your feet.

As we progressed across the glacier I could see some small Ice bridges still clinging to the side of the glacier. At this time of year they are pretty thin, although this one, should you choose to use it, presents a small risk if it collapsed.

Many mountaineers favor the early part of the summer season, say late May and into June. Whilst you still have snow covering most, if not all of the glacier, it is still relatively well frozen and good use can be made of ice bridges in speeding up travel across the glacier as you can take more of a direct route.

As summer progresses Crevasses open up more as the snow and ice begins to thaw. By August many ice bridges that you could use in June will now be weakened by summer sun and may show signs of 'dipping' in the middle as they weaken. By late August the snow covering has gone and you are on a 'Dry' glacier. 

The crevasses are clearly visible, making the risk of falling in a bit lower.

Markers, described earlier, put up by local guides from Zermatt, help everyone to find their way across quickly.

It should be pointed out that these do not represent a path for anyone who does not have the skill, experience and correct equipment for glacial travel. They merely help people venturing onto the glacier with a general direction avoiding the worst of the crevasse fields.

 Taking a break prior to crossing the crevasse infested top section (sorry but I was a bit busy on that bit to get any photo's!)

After the glacier there are a few hundred metres of 'fixed equipment' which allow you to gain the main path, on solid ground, that runs up to the Monte Rosa Hutte, at over 2,800 metres. The new structure is self sufficient in terms of energy (through solar panels) and water efficient (taking glacial and snow melt and filtering it prior to use and then 'cleaning' it afterwards before allowing it to flow back onto the mountainside lower down).

Finally we arrived at the hut and after dinner could plan our assault on the ridge at Lisjoch, at a height of 4,150 metres, that would take us over into Italy.

On the Monte Rosa Massif, Italian/Swiss Alps

Saturday 14th September 2013. After a months work guiding groups on the Tour of Mont Blanc (TMB), it was time to return to home turf and a chance to visit the Swiss side of my new forthcoming 'escape route'. This route traverses part of the Monte Rosa massif, following the few who took perhaps the biggest ascent in a bid for freedom.

The Monte Rosa massif is the biggest in the European Alps. It includes 10 peaks that are over 4,000 metres high and has the highest building in western Europe, Rifugio Regina Margherita, sited on the summit of the Signalkuppe at 4,554 metres.

I traveled round to Zermatt and started the day with a traverse along the south side of the Gornergrat at around 2,700 metres. To the south the Monte Rosa shone, above the mighty Grenz glacier, one of the longest, highest and toughest glaciers to navigate, in the Alpine range. To the west the Matterhorn stood, a coating of snow on it's slopes already showing signs that winter approached.

Just below me on the path a Marmot called out, standing sentry aside a rock that partially covered the entrance to his underground dwelling. Marmots seem to live higher here, certainly higher than on the Mont Blanc massif. He was probably disturbed during the last few days of being able to gather grasses to drag back into the lair to help him through the long winter, when in hibernation they reduce their body temperature to help sleep and preserve energy.

At the end of the 'tourist path' a blue sign (paths are 'signed' in yellow, glacial routes in blue in this area) showed that the way ahead to the new Monte Rosa Hutte, a huge silver and grey refuge, perched on the rock outcrop at over 2,800 metres above the Gornergrat glacier and adjacent to the Grenz glacier.

Reaching this hut involves descending the rock ledges onto the Gornergrat Glacier, followed by a traverse of this giant ice sheet, split into three sections. The first is a fairly straightforward traverse out towards the middle of the glacier, following occasional markers in the form of two meter high 'pyramid' towers of three poles painted blue and white, sometimes with a red flag atop. The second section requires the removal of crampons to cross the loose rocks and boulders that have been 'pushed to the middle of the glacier by it's merger with the Grenz glacier. On this section the crevasses run deep and care should be taken using some of the looser boulders that sometimes act as a 'bridge'. Once over this section it's time to re-attach the crampons for the final and most difficult section, crossing a multitude of crevasses with many peaks and troughs between which means that the route is not straight and easily achieved.

In times past the glacier cut through the rock of the Gornergrat and perhaps you could have stepped straight onto the glacier. But that must have been many years ago because as the glacier recedes and melts away it has shrunk in height leaving a cliff to be descended to reach the glacial platform. First there was a thick rope, of which some belay points and old rope remain. Now the path is marked, offering at first a walking decent. This is followed by 'protected' pathway - a safety rail in the form of fixed cable that can be held with confidence. Finally the last 30 metres or so is achieved by means of two vertically bolted ladders (you step from one to the other half way down) before a metal bridge is crossed to arrive on the side of the glacier.

More tomorrow....