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Part 2 of 4 : A traverse of Breithorn West (4164m) and Central (4159m) summitsFollowing our ascent of the Weissmies, and lunch in Saas-Fee, we travelled to the village of Herbriggen where we spent the night in a shared dorm room at the Hotel Bergfreund. Our itinerary had stated an overnight stay at a hotel in Zermatt, so a night in a dorm in Herbriggen was a touch disappointing.
The following morning, after a good breakfast, we travelled to Zermatt to commence our circuit of the Monte Rosa.
We each purchased a ticket to take us from Zermatt to the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise at the Klein Matterhorn: ticket price 64 Swiss Francs (circa £42).
In Zermatt, we could see nothing but cloud - no view whatsoever of the Matterhorn
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As we ascended in the lift, when we reached Schwarzee, the views were no better
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However, when we reached Trockener Steg we broke out above the cloud
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We really enjoyed seeing the surrounding mountains above inversion, so much so that we spent around fifteen minutes just taking photographs.
The Matterhorn from Trockener Steg:
I tested out the zoom capability of my camera on the Matterhorn – seeing how close a view I could get of the summit and also seeing if I could photograph the Emergency Solvay Hut a few hundred metres below the summit.
Top of Matterhorn (zoom):
Solvay hut, on Matterhorn (zoom):
The Matterhorn:
The uplift to Klein Matterhorn is very impressive. The lift goes right through the top of the Klein Matterhorn mountain.
Klein Matterhorn from Trockener Steg:
A number of landscape photos follow taken from Trockener Steg.
The Breithorn from Trockener Steg:
Weisshorn above inversion from Trockener Steg:
The Dom, Alphubel and Rimpfischhorn above inversion from Trockener Steg:
The Breithorn from Trockener Steg:
Monte Rosa mountains from Trockener Steg:
The Dom to the Stockhorn from Trockener Steg:
On arriving at the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise exit on Klein Matterhorn, we walked a short distance before putting on crampons and roping up.
I had previously ascended the Breithorn (West Summit) unguided, with a couple of friends, in 2003. I therefore knew it was just a straight-forward walk.
Breithorn from Klein Matterhorn (zoom):
View including Weisshorn and the Dom:
Klein Matterhorn to Weisshorn:
The ascent of the Breithorn (West Summit) didn’t take long but was quite arduous due to the heat – it was a cracking day!
Ascent of Breithorn:
Looking back to Klein Matterhorn and the Matterhorn:
Ascending the Breithorn:
On reaching the summit of the Breithorn (West Summit) we stopped to take several photos. There were quite a number of others at the summit.
Looking towards the Central summit from the Breithorn (West Summit):
Looking down to the Gornerglacier from Breithorn (West summit):
Looking towards the Central summit from the Breithorn (West Summit):
Our group at the summit of the Breithorn (West Summit):
Group photo at the summit of the Breithorn (West Summit):
At least on this occasion, I had more fashionable eye protection!:
Group photo at the summit of the Breithorn (West Summit) from 2003 ascent:
At the summit, there were a couple of Alpine Choughs. I managed to capture a photo of one of them.
Alpine Chough at Breithorn (West Summit):
An ascent of the Breithorn (Central Summit) was not in the original intinerary, however, on asking our guide if we could also summit the Central Summit, he agreed, “Yes". The Breithorn (Central Summit) is also one of the 82 classified 4000m Alpine peaks.
As we traversed our way from the West Summit to the Central Summit, we could see that the ridge was quite heavily corniced. On reaching the ridge to the Central Summit, I had a bit of a debate with our guide. I wanted to get my ice axe out, however, he suggested we continue with poles. I disagreed and so got my axe out anyway - an axe is no use while strapped to your sack.
Looking along the corniced ridge to the Breithorn (Central Summit):
Looking along the corniced ridge to the Breithorn (Central Summit) (zoom):
The view from the Breithorn (Central Summit) was pretty-good.
Monte Rosa peaks from the Breithorn (Central Summit):
We had now ascended one peak over and above our itinerary.
Group photo at the Breithorn (Central Summit):
From the Breithorn (Central Summit) we reversed our route back along the ridge towards the col between the West Summit and the Central Summit, before descending steeply down soft snow.
Looking back to the Breithorn (West Summit) from descent from Breithorn (Central Summit):
As we made our way down towards our accommodation for the night, the Refugio Guide della Val d’Ayas, the going become increasingly difficult. It was seriously hot and the snow was now shin deep.
Castor and Pollux from Breithorn (Central Summit) descent:
View during descent:
It was great to get some views, and take some photos of, Pollux. I ascended Pollux in 2003 but didn’t take any photos of it on that trip.
Pollux:
Castor:
Polux and Castor:
To save a bit of time, our guide decided to take a shorter route down to the Refugio Guide della Val d’Ayas. I think we all agreed afterwards, that this was not such a good idea. Great to save a wee bit of distance but the going was down knee-deep snow, in between seracs, with a number of hidden crevasses too. Well done Mark leading the way down!
Large seracs on Breithorn:
Large seracs on Breithorn:
Before we reached a serac that we would have to cross underneath, we stopped for a short break and then almost ran below the serac until we were safely past it.
Crossing below a serac:
Descent to Refugio Guide della Val d’Ayas :
It was great to reach our mountain hut. This was not a particularly long day but was really tiring due to the heat.
Helicopter landing area at the Refugio Guide della Val d’Ayas:
Looking back from Refugio Guide della Val d’Ayas at descent between seracs:
Refugio Guide della Val d’Ayas:
View from Refugio Guide della Val d’Ayas:
Inside the Refugio Guide della Val d’Ayas:
I really liked the Refugio Guide della Val d’Ayas, although we didn’t get much sleep. Our room slept around 20 on Alpine bunks. The food there was excellent and it being an Italian hut, it was cheaper than the Swiss huts.
