Five days and four 4000m peaks – Matterhorn success

The classic Matterhorn photo from Zermatt

As an honorary member of the “Matterhorn Boys” club, Rob was well overdue a Matterhorn ascent himself. Arthur was easily persuaded, and so we had a little team for a five day trip.

Based from Zermatt, we would have three days preparation and training before tackling the ‘horn on the final two days. The boys were gambling on the weather being good for that final day, but at least we would be well acclimatised and practiced before the final ascent.

Acclimatisation and training for the Hornli ridge on the Matterhorn

After coffee and kit faff we headed up the Zermatt lift system to the top of the Klein Matterhorn. We were now at 3800m and although Rob and Arthur had gotten quite high the day before we met, we took it pretty easy walking across the glacier and down the the Ayes refuge in Italy. We were due to spend two nights here, which at 3400m would be excellent acclimatisation as well as giving access to the spectacular high peaks that form the frontier between Switzerland and Italy.

Dawn light after leaving the Ayes refuge

The normal route on Castor, followed by a traverse of Pollux

During the night we had another thunderstorm, and it had put down a surprising amount of hail that had settled on the snow and rock ledges. We had a five o’clock breakfast and left the hut just before it got light, using the head torches to work our way up the crevassed glacier and towards Castor. This was a pretty straightforward ascent, with just one section of ice in the middle that we protected with ice screws. Dropping back to the col, we got a bit more rock gear out of the rucksack and climbed up the quiet south-east ridge of Pollux making a traverse of the mountain which was good Hornli ridge type practice for the Matterhorn.

Summit ridge of Pollux, with Castor in the background

A half-traverse of the Breithorn – replicating the mountaineering on the Matterhorn

For our final day of preparation we wanted a good representation of what we would find on the Hornli ridge. The half-traverse of the Breithorn was the obvious choice, taking us to high altitude again and giving plenty of rock scrambling and mountaineering along the way. After more overnight showers, we put in a trail to the start of the half-traverse and were the first team on the ridge. I hadn’t climbed the route in its entirety before, and so we checked the guidebook pages and followed the crampons scratches along the ridge. The boys did well and we made good time, getting back to the lift and down to Zermatt for lunch.

Fellow BMG guide Stu, on the Breithorn traverse

Will it snow or won’t it? Gambling with the weather on the Matterhorn

On our fourth day we had a lazy start and walked up to the Hornli hutte in the afternoon. The refuge wasn’t too busy and so we settled in to see if we were going to get an afternoon or evening snow shower, making the rock wet and spoiling our chances of the summit.

However, when we got up for the 4am breakfast the skies were clear and it was looking good. As usual the scrum leaving the hut was slow and bizarre and we took our place roughly halfway up the pecking order. Rob was going really well, as was Arthur who was now climbing with friend and fellow guide Neil Mackay (the guiding ratio on the Matterhorn is 1:1). It is always frustrating to be stuck behind people who are going slower, and we gradually overtook teams as we made our way up the lower half of the mountain. Before the Solvay hut I spotted a few guides going off route, and a gap…. we were off! After ten minutes of harder effort, Rob and I were ahead of all the crowds and suddenly had the mountain to ourselves. We then made good steady time and found ourselves on the summit just over three hours after leaving the hut, a super quick ascent and the fastest I’ve made by far.

Rob and I passed Arthur and Neil on our way down just at the top of the fixed ropes. They were in amongst the crowds still, and it was too windy to hang out for a team summit. Rob and I had a great clear run down the mountain, with very few teams to share the route with. Neil and Arthur joined us back at the Hornli hut, where we swapped stories and drinks before the walk and lift back to Zermatt. A job well done!

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Ascending the SE ridge of Pollux

On the Briethorn traverse

Briethorn summit ridge

Cloud inversion from the Hornli ridge

Stunning views from the summit of the Matterhorn

Lowering Rob on the snow slopes of the shoulder