I have previously described a mountaineering partnership as being like a marriage – over the last two days we tested whether a marriage works well as a mountaineering partnership.
Catie hates climbing and yet somehow, she agreed to come and climb Punta Giordani (F – easy) with me and Parrotspitze (PD – a little difficult) which are on the Italian / Swiss border. I am not entirely sure why she agreed but I was really happy that she had – I get so much enjoyment, inspiration and a general sense of wellbeing from being in the mountains that I wanted to share the experience with her.
Catie hates early mornings so when the alarm went off at 4:00am I was impressed we left as planned for the 2.5 hour drive to Gressoney. We took the first cable car to the start of our “warm up” and acclimatisation climb, Punta Giordani – allegedly one of the easiest 4,000m peaks in the Alps. I thought Catie knew we were targeting a 4,000m peak but apparently this was not the case.
Conditions were surprisingly tough, very icy and there was no visibility despite a forecast for clear skies. This probably explains why there was only one other couple on the mountain. We were 100m from the summit when we caught up with the other couple after making good progress on easy terrain.
Ahead lay a steeper, short section of harder ice. The woman, leading her recent, new male friend (a Tinder date we wondered), said she was scared and did not know what to do. Her fear was infectious. After attempting and failing to scale the rocks to the rights of the ice, I decided to just go straight up the ice – it was easy.
I was a few metres up and said “its fine” but Catie said she was scared and would not continue. I expected that once this short section was overcome, the rest would be straightforward. I decided to untie the rope, knowing Catie was in a safe place, and to continue to check out what was beyond the ice. As I expected, the remaining section to the summit was the easiest climbing we had faced. I tried to call Catie to say I was coming back to get her, but no answer; later I discovered she had left her phone on silent. With the summit only a few minutes of effort away, summit fever took over and I sprinted up, summited and came back to find Catie in tears and looking up the number of a divorce lawyer.
In her mind I had abandoned her to selfishly claim my summit. I thought I was going to check out what the conditions were like. There were many tears, a great deal of fear and anger and a loss of trust and confidence and I could only apologies (repeatedly). Catie was determined to head down and I tried to persuade her to continue as I desperately wanted her to claim her first 4,000m peak but she was not having any of it.
We gingerly began the descent but with each step, Catie grew in confidence and skill and as we successfully made our way down, the anger and adrenaline beginning to subside. On reaching the plateau we now needed to make our way to the Gnifetti Hut.
There were two routes – a direct route, i.e. harder and a longer but less steep alternative. When we arrived at the fork there was a sign for Gnifetti hut directing us up to the harder route and so I thought it best to just follow the sign!
This turned out to be a mistake. Whilst the terrain was safe and there were fixed ropes in place on the slightly more challenging sections for someone who does not like climbing – this was hell on earth. There were more tears, fear and anger. We eventually reached the final approach to the hut and navigated comfortably a short section of glacier. Receding glaciers mean that huts that were once just above the ice, now require ladders and climbing to complete the final approach. The tears, fear and anger returned but we finally arrived at the hut.
Fortunately, the hut lived up to expectations. The Gnifetti Hut has a reputation for amazing food and we ate and drank well. Despite the day from hell, Catie was prepared to try again tomorrow – I was impressed by her attitude. To compensate for the previous communication breakdown, I went through the full plan for Parrotspitze; we looked at maps, routes and photos and even took a look at the metal steps she would have to climb down in the morning as well as how to prepare her kit for the 4:30am start.
We began the walk across the glacier – we were one of the earlier rope parties and we looked back at the procession of white lights following us. We moved surprisingly fast and stayed ahead of the other groups. Catie even said she way enjoying herself. The warm early morning orange rays of sun picked out the tips of the surrounding peaks and I hope Catie got a sense of the magic I find in these moments.
We arrived at the foot of the Parrotspitze and there was a short, steep, nasty icy section. I did not allow any opportunity for discussion but simply explained how we were going to approach it and told Catie what to do. We navigated the ice easily and found ourselves on the relatively gentle and wide snowy ridge. The challenge was the 65 km/hr wind which was cutting through all our clothing and making the whole experience fairly unpleasant. We continued slowly, Catie moving very carefully but effectively. The summit of the Parrotspitze is not particularly well defined and when we felt we had “summitted” we turned around and carefully reversed the route. Catie finally claimed her first 4,000m peak.
Catie wanted to head straight back and I was not going to argue with her. We made fast progress across the glacier and then stopped for coffee and cake at the Mantova Hut before descending by the easier route.
Catie has declared she will never go mountaineering again and as some of her tears now form part of the glacial ice, I will not ask her again.
Expeditions 