When I called the Verbier Guide Office to complete the last of the 48 Swiss 4,000m peaks I should have requested an old, gauloises smoking guide who had seen better and faster days. Having completed the Ultra Trail de Mont Blanc only two days previously, I was looking for a slow and steady ascent of the Lauteraarhorn. I met Alan Tissieres at the station and was dismayed to discover he was a former member of the Swiss ski mountaineering team, a 6.5 hour Patrouille de Glacier finisher and a running friend of Kilian Jornet! I knew this final climb was going to hurt!
From Grindelwald we took the cable car to the start of hike to the hut and Alan was happy for me to set the pace and it was an untaxing three hours and twenty minutes to the hut. I was relieved he was happy to take account of my tired legs.
There were only four of us in the hut as the weather had been very unpredictable and we still not sure whether conditions would allow us to summit. After dinner, we set our alarms for 2:00am as cloud engulfed the hut.
I peered out of the window at 2:00am and could see stars and the Swiss flag hanging limply and it looked like the weather was being kind. We set off at 2:45am and headed down to the glacier, a downhill start allowed my legs a chance to warm-up. We then continued on the glacier that gently fell away which also did not tax my legs. A climbing helmet screwed to a stake indicated the start of the ascent.
Alan casually walked up the steep and winding slope at a pace which required me to be working at close to threshold – I knew it was going to be a long and hard day. I kept pace for an hour but with no respite in sight I had to plead for a slightly less frenetic pace. Sebastian and I have often wondered why we are relatively slow and it is because we just do not work that hard on the approach.
From the rocky and windy track, we moved briefly onto the glacier which we climbed without crampons and then it was on to the ridge. There was no moon to speak of and the only light came from our torches so it was difficult to make out how much exposure I was facing. For most of the ridge Alan was short roping (a technique where the guide keeps the client on a very short rope designed to quickly catch a slip before it becomes a serious fall). This went on for a long time.
We then had to traverse a face and we were relieved that there was no snow which could have made the traverse “delicate” which I believe is a euphemism for seriously scary. It was then back on to the ridge line which continued up towards the summit. There were a few climbing moves required here and there but it was generally straightforward albeit a little cold.
Suddenly we were at the summit – the last of my Swiss peaks. I was not particularly emotional, probably because I was not with a familiar face. We shot some photos and then began the descent. With the sun now high in the sky I was able to appreciate just how ridiculously long and exposed the ridge was. We descended quickly and I was moving more confidently than usual on the knife edge ridges. It went on and on and on.
Finally, we arrived back on the approach track and shed the rope but even this track went on for ever as did the glacier and the climb back up to the hut. We arrived back at the hut in under twelve hours which, whilst not record breaking, was two to three hours faster than the guidebook time. I was pretty happy that my legs had not completely seized up.
We were still under the clock however as we had until 6:00pm to make the final cable car. After a swift transition to shorts and approach shoes we began the walk back to the lift. I say walk but it was effectively a run for me to keep up with Alan. We made it back in two hours and twenty minutes which gave us a chance for a celebratory panache (shandy) before dropping down to Grindelwald.
It was all pretty business like and I do not think I have fully processed both the UTMB and my final Swiss peak. For now I am simply going to focus on arranging the celebratory lunch!
Expeditions 