Tristan, aged 10, had decided he wanted to climb a 4,000m peak but as I have largely done all the “easy” ones it was decided that we would attempt the Allalinhorn by the East Ridge which is a mixture of glacier, snowy ridges and rock climbing. To prepare, TT had been walking to school for the last few weeks (as we live on the side of a mountain this is not as pedestrian as it sounds) and he had done a fair bit of rock climbing over the summer. We begged, borrowed, rented and purchased kit and we were all set.
My Swiss 4,000m peak project involves eventually climbing some peaks without a guide and learning to be autonomous and so this trip provided a perfect opportunity to develop my mountaineering and leading skills. Bertrand Martenet, the Verbier Guide, came with us and his job was to make sure I did not kill Tristan nor myself.
We got off the Sass-Fe train at the special “mountaineers stop” and descended onto the Hohlaubgrat glacier. Bertrand was superb, forcing me to make all the decisions: about when to put on crampons (straight away); whether to wear helmets on the glacier (no – it’s not cool); the length of the rope (long); and the direction (straight up!).
The glacier was pretty uneventful, but it feels very different when you are in the front, route finding. I had practiced my crevasse rescue from the chalet balcony the day before and was slightly disappointed that Tristan did not fall into a crevasse so I could rescue him, but it was probably a good thing he didn’t.
The route then started to climb up towards the snowy ridge and it was hard work – the air was thin and I was breathing reasonably hard. Tristan was finding it tough going, but we slowed the pace and continued to make good progress. As I had not killed Tristan by this point Bertrand must have felt confident in my abilities to let me lead Tristan alone along the ridge while he was kind enough to take the photos.
Tristan had the odd wobble on the ridge – not because it was particularly scary but that it was just very hard work. The thinness of the air leaves you with a sense of panic as even thought you suck in as much air as possible, you still feel that nothing is filling your lungs. I would give him some big hugs and we would continue. He was having to dig really deep to make his way up, but he was doing it. I was incredibly proud of him – grit and determination are the two things I hope I have managed to teach him. After one stop, he said “ come on, let’s go” or “let’s get this done”, something like that and this caused the emotions to well up within me. Before he or Amelie were born I had these cliched visions of what fatherhood meant – sharing incredible experiences together – and here we were, me leading for the first time and he, trusting me to take him safely to his first 4,000m summit in the Swiss Alps under clear blue skies and perfect conditions. This will be a moment that I will carry with me forever.
We eventually reached the 60m band of rock which we had to scale. I was feeling pretty confident and climbed with ease and little protection. Had Bertrand not been with us I would have insisted on placing every bit of gear that I had but I was feeling good and went for it. Tristan climbed fearlessly – the first time in crampons and rock and there was no headspace for any other thoughts than climbing. He overcame everything in his path and all the worries and emotions of earlier evaporated as he focused on the task. If this is some form of “mindfulness” then I am all for it. With the rock band behind us it was an easy snowy ascent to the cross and the admiration of the other mountaineers who has ascended the normal (aka easier route).
The descent was fast and uneventful, reversing the normal route and Tristan celebrated with a chocolate covered waffle. Amelie has announced that she will climb her first 4,000m peak a year earlier – I can’t wait and Tristan, the true gentleman that he is growing up to be, will be the first to congratulate her. I actually don’t think he’s my son at all sometimes.
Expeditions 
Inspiring adventure
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