A combination of COVID and a guide with a broken collar bone meant that I found myself with Scottish mountain guide Kenny Grant at the top of the Jungfrau glacier staring into misty, white mass of nothing. We set off tentatively, hugging the left-hand side of the glacier, using the rocks to our left as a “handrail” to help us find our way to the Konkordia Hut which would be our home for the next three nights. The weather forecast for the week was changeable and there was a chance we might never be able to venture out from the hut – we hoped for a weather window.
Having read up on the equipment my mountaineering photography heroes carry with them on trips I had my Canon 5D Mk IV and a 28 to 70mm lens strapped to my left hip and a 70 to 200m on my right. The combined weight added more than 3kg to my normal kit. In addition, as the hut was fully booked for the end of the week I was also carrying winter bivvy gear in case we needed an extra night and I had to sleep on the glacier – this is a long way of saying that my kit weighed a ton! This made climbing the 300m of staircases that stretched up from the glacier to the hut an endless series of painful leg presses. It was depressing to see a number of additional ladders set to one side, ready for when the glacier has receded even further.
The weather for Tuesday looked reasonable but very questionable for the middle of the week. We decided to try and complete the Gross Grunhorn and the two Fiescherhorns in the same day to buy ourselves some time. We set off at just after 4:00am.
It was surprisingly warm despite the forecasts for sub 20-degree temperatures. I was only wearing a base layer and the Stellar hybrid jacket which was perfect for the demands of ski touring and needed nothing more. It was easy enough initially but with only one 4,000m peak behind me this season so far as soon as I hit 3,500m it became really tough. Both Kenny and I were suffering and we would pause for breath at every kick turn.
We eventually reached the ski depot and stashed our skis and as much additional kit as possible to lighten our packs for the final ascent on rock. The combination of snow and rock presented no difficulties and I would have happily lead the climb. We paused for the obligatory summit photo before descending to the skis and then enjoyed a surprisingly good ski on transforming Spring snow.
Most people would turn left and head back to the hut after summiting but we turned right and pressed on for the Fiescherhorns. This meant another long and painful ascent to the bergschrund (the point where the glacial ice breaks away from the mountain) where we dropped our skis and began the boot pack to the Col that separates the two peaks – the Gross and Hinter. A well-trodden and only modestly steep route, firm snow and a lighter pack made the ascent relatively easy.
We turned left to complete the more interesting Gross first which began with snow and then turned to rock and was again easy – with a grade of Peu Dificile (a little difficult) I would have gladly lead this to. The Hinter is a simple snow walk and not particularly interesting but as it is on the list of Swiss summits we went up and down this one as fast as we could.
The clock was now ticking to get back to the hut in time for dinner. We had over 3,600m of vertical ascent in our legs and had been on the move for over 17 hours and so the final climb back up the endless staircases was torture. We dropped our packs and went straight to dinner after 18 hours on the hill. The huge effort meant we had bought some time and flexibility as we now only had the Finsteraarhorn to climb.
The weather on Wednesday had improved slightly with the bad weather coming in later in the day so at dinner we decided to get up early for a 3:45am start. To tackle the Finsteraarhorn the eponymously names hut at the base of the ascent is the obvious starting place. However, as the hut was fully booked, we had to begin with an additional 500m of ascent over the Col separating us from the Fiescher Glacier in order to just be able to start the climb.
I had recovered well overnight and felt strong – we made good progress up the two main faces to reach the start of the final rock ascent. This was a more demanding climb but still very easy – I must be improving as a mountaineer as anything at the PD or PD+ grade feels like nothing more than a glorified scramble. The weather had closed in by this stage and so there was very little to see and so turned around quickly.
We had to tour back up to the Col which added yet more vertical to an already long day. The ski back to the hut on the other side was horrendous – I hate breakable crust with a passion. It was all we could do to make long, traverses from side-to-side across the glacier before bracing ourselves for a jump turn at each side. We finally made it to the first rung of the staircase after a much more civilised 12 hours and even had a chance to enjoy the setting sun before dinner.
The following morning we only had to make it back to the Jungfrau train station so we went for the late breakfast option of 5:00am. The route back to the station is gently and undemanding and so I had a chance to let my mind wander. The Bernese Oberland is a staggeringly beautiful mountain region and it occurred to me that you could just ski tour from hut-to-hut without the need to climb any nearby 4,000m peaks. This moment of clarity made me realise that Catie and I could spend a wonderful few days just touring on gentle slopes without putting our marriage at risk by heading up some nearby peak.
I have now climbed 42 of the 48 Swiss 4,000m peaks in Switzerland and with luck I will complete the entire Swiss peak mission by the end of the summer. Overall, I have climbed 55 of the 82 4,000m peaks in the Alps but with France closed for mountaineering it may well be challenging to make more progress on the French peaks this year – I hope France opens up soon!
Expeditions 