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.