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The lowest crossing from the German speaking Mattertal into French speaking Zinal is the 3440m Col Durand between 3713 Mont Durand to the East and the 3789m Pointe de Zinal to the west.
The Pointe de Zinal is so named because looking up the Zinal valley - even from quite low down - it appears at the head of the valleyFrom The Theodule pass or from Hornli it nestIes - often unnoticed - in front of the much bigger Dent Blanche, but in this slightly zoomed photo its "spiky" top can be seen against the mistOur plan was to climb the Pointe de Zinal from the Schonbiel hut, descend via the Col Durand to the Grand Mountet hut in upper Zinal and return the next day by way of the 3743m Trifthorn
The Schonbiel hut - modern photomap of routeI walked up to the hut - about 3 hours from Zermatt - in fine weather, and Klaus joined me later
The Matterhorn from outside the hut - Hornli ridge on the L, Italian on the R and Zmutt straight aheadFurther R the Dent d'Herens and the two branches of the rapidly vanishing Tiefenmatten glacierPointe de ZinalThe route follows an easy path up a valley above the hut (Kumme) to a 3210m col beyond which you traverse horizontally on a vague path across this chossy slope to the glacier, follow that for a few hundred metres and then climb L to the ridge.But as the weather was misty I have had to rely on library photos. As you can see from this one the glacier has shrunk to such an extent that you probably don't need to use it. The Col Durand is on the RIt was an easy climb to the ridge, but on the summit section which involves several ups and downs (grade II-IIa) it was misty, and with a biting wind. I did it all in gloves but took no photos.
We descended easily to the col, but the Northern slope was of steep grey ice, and very lean. Klaus lowered me a full rope length where I cut a stance and waited while he descended. He then repeated the process and I reached the ground below the bergschrund which he told me had been the scene of at least one fatality
I imagine it's all just a rubble slope today
Once down we headed North to avoid a steep icefall and then descended the glacier Durand without difficulty to the 2886 Grand Mountet hut
Looking back to the Pointe de ZInal: The Col Durand is on the far LThe East face of the Dent Blanche from the glacier: the gendarmes on the normal ascent route - the S ridge - are particularly prominentLooking down the glacier: Zinal Rothorn (in cloud) Trifthorn and Ober GabelhornThe Grand Mountet hut - a modern library pictureThe hut was full of walkers including a large party of schoolchildren. After dinner they settled down to some game of cards, and remained oblivious of what was happening Outside:
Trifthorn, Wellenkuppe (in cloud) and Ober Gabelhorn Zinal Rothorn and TrifthornDent Blanche and Grand CornierDent Blanche zoomedIf my French had been better I would have shouted at them
The next day we climbed a classic grade IIa rock ridge Mammouth on the route to the Blanc du Moming and returned to the hut. There are several more difficult routes on Mammouth but that would have involved bringing rock boots, twin ropes etc
The TrifthornThe Trifthorn from the hutThe route heads East from the hut then turns South and climbs easy snow slopes towards the summit. It's graded F but the last section is an ice pitch - no more than Scottish grade 2 - but with a very big drop below it
: I'm not sure if I'd have wanted to solo it
We set off at first light
Photos on the ascentPointe de Zinal, Dent Blanche and Grand Cornier in the dawn lightSnow slopes leading up to the Trifthorn - Ober Gabelhorn on the REarly morning Sun lights up the mountains: Mont Durand far L Trifthorn and Ober Gabelhorn again - nearer this timeNorth face of the Obergabelhorn in sunshineAbove the ice pitch looking W againOn the summit - not looking my best Looking north down Zinal to the hutDent Blanche and Grand Cornier againFrom here we headed SW down the Triftgrat a pleasant (IIa) rock ridge to the 3526m Triftjoch
The Ober Gabelhorn from the start of the descentLooking back up the TriftgratIn early season the descent from here to the Trift glacier would have been on steep snow, but this time it was one of the steepest, loosest and most unpleasant piles of rubbish I have ever been on. I seem to remember there were occasional abseil points, but I was relieved when we arrived on the ice unscathed.
Looking back up the glacier towards the TriftjochFurther down - the Welllenkuppe on the LWe descended the easy glacier to the Rothorn hut and after refreshment carried on down to Zermatt
