Mountaineering, 'Alpine Endeavour', Alps, Monte Rosa, Mont Blanc, Aug 2011, ID 1119
East Midlands UOTC
Alpine Endeavour was a three week Alpine mountaineering expedition, tackling peaks in Switzerland and Italy.
On the first two days we travelled to Saas Grund in Switzerland. From our vantage point in the campsite we could see what laid ahead.
The fourth and fifth days were spent on the Hohsaas glacier; for some of the mountain novices in the group, the technical and altitude challenges were easily surmounted, and everyone left the mountain feeling strong and confident of what lay ahead. A tough Via Ferrata route followed with a high level of exposure, which presented technical challenges for many in the group.
The next day was rest and preparation for our first assault of a 4000m peak, the Allalinhorn. We set off early to catch the first lift to 3000m, and made the summit in 3 hours. The team were elated to have summited, especially those for whom this was their first real mountain.
Next, the Weissmeiss, we headed up from the valley to the Almagella Hut and went to bed early in preparation for our maiden Alpine start of the expedition. A rocky route was followed by scrambling. We then hit the snowy ridge of the Weissmeiss and continued along the ridge with sheer drops either side until we reached the summit. Second 4000m peak, done!
After the Weissmeiss, we moved into Italy for phase two. We made our way to the Gnifetti Hut in overcast conditions, the first time we had experienced bad weather on the expedition. Well-fed and rested, we felt ready for the morning. The next day we made good time to the Margherita Hut. The following day we hoped to do the classic ridge walk: ‘traverse of the tops’, taking four 4000m peaks in one chomp. However, a restless night spent at the Hut, the highest building in Europe, was compounded by thunder and lightning for a large part of the night. In the morning we all awoke suffering from differing degrees of AMS (acute mountain sickness), so we spent the day acclimatising and set off early the following day. It started well but the weather was soon against us. With no improvement we made the decision to head back to the hut and wait for a break in conditions. That came the next day; it was well worth the wait as the views along the ridgeline were spectacular if not a bit scary!
We then moved from Staafal to the Sella Hut in preparation for our attempt on Castor. We successfully climbed Castor, including a captivating walk along a knife edge snow aręte, to the small, pyramid shaped summit. That night we made our way back to the campsite in Staafal.
Our final mountain beckoned; Gran Paradiso, the only 4000m peak to reside wholly in Italy, a sight to behold in all its splendour. We moved to the Vittorio Emanuele II Hut and took a dip in the lagoon of fresh glacial melt near the Hut. The summit of Gran Paradiso entails a vertical ascent of 1400m. We left at 4.00am to give us plenty of time to make it up and down while the ice was in good condition. We made our way along glacial moraine until we hit the glacier itself, which was rather crevassed. We were accompanied by other groups on the day. The summit itself was a rock outcrop with fixed ropes - due to the large numbers on the hill that day we had to wait our turn for almost an hour. Nonetheless, we made the summit and headed back down the hill, both tired and relieved.
We were all left with a strong sense of achievement after claiming eight 4000m peaks, and introduced several previously novice climbers to the joys of the Alps. It wasn’t as many as we had wanted to do but the weather was not on our side. Sincere thanks must go to all that assisted with this expedition, SSgt Daley and all at EMUOTC, and the Ulysses Trust without whose generous grant reduced the cost for all attending.
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