Säntis (2502m)

BigT was visiting from Germany. We had to show him the landscape so we took the cable car up Säntis (2502m) and hiked down.

Ulrichshorn (3925m) attempt, returned from ~3800m

Ralf had planned another weekend mountaineering trip. Looking for a good weather window in Switzerland, the Wallis, and Saas Fee in particular, seemed like the best bet. So Andrey, René, Ralf and me left Zürich main station at 7 in the morning on Saturday. The plan was to spend a night acclimatizing in the Mischabel hut, climb the Ulrichshorn (3925m), continue along the ridge to the Balfrin (3795m) and descend on the other side of the ridge to Grächen.

An indication of things to come.

Andrey charging ahead.

Ralf.

Despite my usual philosophy, that only a mountain climbed from the valley counts as an ascent in good style, we intended to use the cable car to shorten the first leg. Alas, it wasn't running because of strong winds higher on the mountain. So we hiked instead and rewarded ourselves with crêpe and ice cream at the top station of the cable car. The ridge up to the Mischabel hut at 3340m is great. It's almost a via ferrata with lots of metal rungs and steel cables bolted to a steep jumble of boulders. Fun scrambling in beautiful scenery.

René.

Once at the hut we take an afternoon nap. The hut is fully booked and the night will be short. While we can sleep in till 4 o'clock in the morning, there are a few crews going for the more ambitious Lenzspitze north face (4294m). They'll have breakfast at 2 o'clock...

After a timely start in early dawn we quickly cover the last remaining meters to the Hohbalm glacier and rope up. Even this early quite a few rope teams are meeting us coming in the other direction. They have concluded the conditions to be too dangerous to continue with strong winds and an uncertain forecast.

The price of admission - heavy duty gear.

We continue across the glacier. Instead of hanging slack down, the rope between us is taut from the wind blowing sideways. Gusts of wind make it hard to walk in a straight line. Light snowfall makes the exposed skin in our faces feel sandblasted. We make it to just below the aptly named Windjoch at 3845m at which point Andrey and René decide they've had enough and turn around. It is well below freezing and the windchill factor is immense, making us worry about frostbite if we stay out here all day. Also clouds are shrouding the summit and the wind is picking up more and more. If it is hard to walk here - how much worse will it be on the exposed ridge?! Stumbling around drunkenly is not a good idea when you are balancing above steep drop offs.

Afternoon nap. Before the air in the crowded room got too bad to sleep during the night.

Lenzspitze.

Early morning on the ridge.

Me enjoying the wind. Bring it on!

Ralf's and my heroic effort to continue lasts for all of 3 minutes. Gusts of wind are nearly strong enough to blow us over and we are only staggering forwards. Time to retreat.

Two rope teams in the 50° - 55° steep ice of the Lenzspitze Northeast face.

Threatening clouds looming above.

Retreat.

On the way down. From here to the hut requires about 3 hours of scrambling. It looks much closer.

Once off the glacier the weather gets better and better with every bit of altitude we lose. The sun is shining even while light snow is falling. Back down in the valley it is warm enough to sit outside and enjoy ice cream and pizza. The weather seems to be mocking us. At least the surrounding peaks are still covered in fast moving clouds.

Andrey.

Mountaineering is mostly lying around, resting.

Despite not reaching our original goal it was a tremendously fun trip. Thanks for organizing and having me along Ralf! Special thanks also to René for many of the pictures in this post. Thanks to him I have a few with me in them for once ;-)

+-2000m, ~18km

Wind is more convincing in animation than still frames ;-)

Hiking Arena Sardona

Anna and Bernd were staying with us for an extended weekend. Unfortunately Anita and I had to work, so the two of them spent Thursday and Friday exploring the area and the lake on their own. Friday late afternoon we drove up to Flumserberg to go on a three day hike of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Sardona. Since it was already late in the day we only hiked a small distance and made camp at the Heusee. Beautiful evening only spoiled by too many mosquitoes.

Bernd carried 5 tonnes of field guide up the mountain.

Mosquito Gangsta! Yo!

We had a severe weather warning for Saturday with thunderstorms, hail and hurricane winds. The morning looked nice though, so we climbed the Gross Güsslen (1833m) and continued along the ridge to the Munzchopf (2174m). All the while our two botanists, Anna and Bernd, were completely over the moon with all the plant discoveries they made. Bernd in particular was running back and forth like a young puppy, delightedly pointing out his latest finds, challenging Anna with all the Latin plant names. Fun ;-)

Rappa loved the snow.

Daredevil Bernd testing a fragile snow bridge.

Keep cool!

Since slopes with Northern exposure were still heavily loaded with snow we decided to deviate from our original plan of heading straight for the Murgsee and take a detour via the Murg valley instead. Considering the uncertain weather forecast this seemed like the safer bet than being trapped high on the mountain in severe weather. We made camp at Guflen (1700m). Just when my pasta was almost ready Anita turned around and pointed out some dark clouds moving in quickly. Five minutes later the sky was falling.

Fresh from the tap.

Rappa dragging and rolling through the snow.

Anything to cool down ;-)

She couldn't be convinced to carry the backpack. We tried!

Freshly dug apartment.

We had our tents pitched just in time. However that didn't help much, as within minutes the meadow turned into a lake. So we fled into the close cowshed which at this altitude and this time of year was not yet in use. Anita and I actually spent the night in the hay. The others waited out the worst of the rain and moved their tent onto a small hill.

Don't slip!

After a refreshing bath in the creek.

Incoming!

Anita instructed everyone to look depressed. I'm actually quite proud that we managed to wear out the dog this time.

The next morning greeted us with clear blue skies and hot weather as if nothing ever happened. Leftover hailstones the size of my thumbnail and shredded vegetation betrayed this idyll somewhat. We later learned that they counted more than 4500 lightning strikes within half an hour in Zürich and a mother and daughter drowned in their underground parking garage.

The morning after.

Selfie...

...doggie.

Someone's got to do the dishes.

Anita separated from the rest of the group and headed back for the car. Her path down was blocked by a fresh land slide. People were already working to clean it up though and she made it down fine. We others continued over two more passes around the Mürtschenstock. An impressive fortress of rock that is rarely climbed and a tentalizing prize to me. Some day... A quick swim in lake Talalp and we meet up with Anita in Filzbach. Back in the comfort of our home with pizza and beer another thunderstorm rages outside.

Mighty Mürtschenstock face.

Perfectly timed trip in beautiful surroundings and fun company. Do visit more often! ;-)

~37km, ~+3000m, ~-3700m

Hailstones... 15 hours after the fact with quite a bit of sun...

Surrounded by cold water. Damn!