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Swiss 4000nders 18 The Schreckhorn part 1

Swiss 4000nders 18 The Schreckhorn part 1


Postby past my sell by date » Mon Jan 20, 2020 6:07 pm

Date walked: 05/08/2009

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On account of google photo problems I have had to separate this two part report from the Lauteraarhorn (17)

The 4078m Schreckhorn (correctly the Gross Schreckhorn) is one of the most impressive of the Swiss 4000nders, but it hides away and is seldom seen to its best. If you drive South down the motorway from Berne to Interlaken on a clear day it appears as a sharp spike at the far L . This aspect from the North is well captured in this winter picture
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Schreckhorn from the North
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it is also seen - with the Lauteraarhorn to its R - from the Eismeer window on the Jungfraujoch railway
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- the standard route on this mountain used to climb the obvious snow couloir to the Schrecksattel - and then the ridge above it but modern snow conditions have made this much less popular and the normal way now is to climb the shallow partly snow-filled depression on the L to the "shoulder" - and then finish up slabby rocks from there
It requires good conditions to climb it, but the corollary of this is that when conditions are good it gets very crowded :(
The conditions did not occur in 2008, but in early August 2009 things looked good.
It is a very long route from the Schreckhorn hut and Klaus decided that to give us the best chance of success we would camp just below the Strahlegg pass where there is a even platform accessible by helicopter. I was gettng a bit past-my-sell-by-date by now - so who was I to argue :lol: all I had to do was pay for the helicopter - which turned out to be much less than I had feared :) Klaus also had a small camera so I'm afraid you'll have to put up with more pictures of me.

Day 1
Klaus packed everything into two plastic barrels which we left at the Heliport at Lauterbrunnen before taking the lift from Grindelwald and walking up to the Schreckhorn hut - same POW camp regime as before:(
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Getting everything into the barrels
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At the Heliport
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On the way up to the hut - looking across to the Ischmeer glacier leading up to the foot of the Fiescherwand - the Eiger is in cloud on the R
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Grindelwald glacier icefall - the path to the hut keeps on the L all the way. There are wires to help on the rocky sections
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Zoomed view
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Schreckhorn hut
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Ibex at the hut

Views from the hut

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This path leads out on to the flat glacier which you follow for a bit before heading up scree slopes towards the pass
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Up towards the Ochs (or Kleines Fiescherhorn)
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Mönch and Eiger
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Eiger close up - somewhere up there is the Eismeer window on the railway, but I've never been able to spot it :lol:
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Evening view of the Finsteraarhorn
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Evening sun on the Schreckhorn
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Zoomed view

Day 2
We made a leisurely climb towards the Strahlegg pass and found our barrels in the expected place: Klaus organised the tent and we sat and lazed around in the sunshine - watching the scenery.
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Schreckhorn from the way up to the pass
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Detailed map - the camp site is close to Gaagg

The campsite
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Relaxing at the camp
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The fridge
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A guide's duties include cooking
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Route to the Schreckhorn
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Looking down the glacier on the L into the valley
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Close-up of the glacier
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Nice to have a down jacket when it's this cold :)
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Evening sun on tent and Schreckhorn
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Evening sun again - start of tomorrows route - bottom L - Lauteraarhorn and Strahlegg pass - upper R
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Finsteraarhorn and Finsteraarjoch again
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Nice warm ski hat - £2.95 in C&A sale - ca. 1980 :lol:

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Last of the sun
past my sell by date
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