ᐅ Summit nº21: Monte Rosa (Switzerland)

SUMMITS

SUMMIT Nº 21: Dufourspitze – Monte Rosa (SWITZERLAND)

SWITZERLAND

Dufourspitze – Monte Rosa

05/07/2024

ALTITUDE

4.634 m

Jordi Girona, Jordi Guasch, Manel Vidal and Andreu López

DIFFICULTY LEVEL

HIGH

CHRONICLE

It is a very intense week with a very concentrated programme. It is Wednesday 3rd July and at around 6pm we settle into a modest hotel in the centre of Chamonix. Mont Blanc is still fresh in our minds and in fact this morning we woke up at 3,815 metres from the Gouter refuge to “cross” the “bowling alley”, pass in front of the Tete Rousse refuge (3,167 metres) and arrive at the Nid de Aigle Station train station (2,372 metres) and take the train back to “earth” after a few days in “heaven”.

We have the afternoon on Wednesday free to visit the mountaineering capital Chamonix, although in my case I won’t be able to do too many visits . That’s what it’s like to be the captain of your own business and while my colleagues visit Chamonix and have dinner in the city centre, I stay at the hotel to answer emails and organise various aspects of work.
The trip is frenetic and there aren’t too many moments of lack of activity… the afternoon in Chamonix, despite having to work, does me good because despite having to work my head, my legs and back can rest and recover energy for the future challenges that await us. The night’s rest, although not spectacular, is better than that of the last few days, with very few hours of rest given that we left very early during the night.

It is 7:30 in the morning on Thursday, July 4th, and we arrive punctually at Óscar and Ivan’s accommodation. It is clear that they are old cats and that they know the territory perfectly, since the hostel where they are staying is located in the middle of the forest and with privileged views of the summit of Mont Blanc. We do not linger too long since we have a 2 hour 30 minute journey to the next destination. We change destination, although we do not leave the Alps, to go to Zermatt, the Swiss Chamonix. Zermatt is the base of operations for mountaineers who want to climb one of the most iconic mountains in the world, such as the Cervino / Matterhorn, or others, with a less complex ascent, such as Monte Rosa, which is the option chosen by us.

Zermatt, once a farming and cattle-raising town, has changed its face and has been reoriented towards tourism thanks to the mountains that surround it. Zermatt has become an elitist town where a fridge magnet and a Swiss flag can cost you 31 euros. The shop assistant is still laughing at the face I made when she told me the price. After an “express” tour of Zermatt, we take the train that will take us to Rottenboden Station (2,815 metres) and the starting point of our route. The train ride is beautiful, our necks are stressed from looking at the postcard landscape in both directions, although there is one postcard that all mobile phones want to “capture” and it is none other than the Cervino / Matterhorn.

We start walking from Rottenboden Station at about 12:30 in the blazing sun. We soon realise that the temperatures are higher than those of Mont Blanc and a little “caloret” is appreciated. Today’s goal is to reach the Monte Rosa refuge at 2,883 metres above sea level. The first few kilometres are smooth, with no slope, along a well-marked path. However, soon, the route, against all odds, begins to “liven up” and we find some metal stairs that we must go down and have a vertical drop of about 20 metres. In the previous Mont Blanc chronicle, the word “price” was taboo and in this chronicle we will add the word “fall”. A world without high prices and falls is much better

I go down the metal stairs first and I see Òscar Cadiach in front of me, sitting in front of a rock and contemplating and enjoying the landscape. I don’t know what he is thinking and feeling at that moment, although he is in total communion with nature and the landscape. We are very lucky to have him among us, as well as to have Ivan, both great professionals and magnificent people.

After the metal stairs there are some points equipped with ropes to climb down a rock that is very slippery and at the same time it is necessary to be extremely cautious. It seemed that we would have a quiet day, although this one turns out to be very fun, as after the section with ropes, we will have to put on crampons and “save” the glacier that appears before us. The heat intensifies and I try not to forget the details that are important and key in every expedition, putting on sunscreen as well as putting on Compeed on a point of my foot that bothers me. Once past the glacier, we only have a section left to advance without crampons along a slope that leads to the Monte Rosa refuge… sorry for the refuge, since it would be more appropriate to call it the 5-star superior range hotel of Monte Rosa. Views to one side of the Matterhorn hut and to the other side of tomorrow’s objective Monte Rosa / Dufourspitze. The Monte Rosa hut features energy-sufficient facilities with spectacular design and detail, with hot showers and pictures on the walls, sustainability awards among many other notable aspects. Without a doubt, the most elegant, organized and well-kept hut I have ever stayed in.

We arrived early and I have time for everything. To have a beer with my companions, to rest my legs in the room for a while, to watch Spain vs. Germany in the Euro Cup on the mobile phone of an anti-German Swiss who was doing voodoo on them and to talk about tomorrow. After evaluating the weather and other various variables by Oscar and Ivan, tomorrow we will get up at 1:30 in the morning to leave at 3:00. It seems like a joke but it is true… luckily we are good students and we absorb what our guides put in front of us.

Going to sleep during the day at 8:00 in the afternoon is not my thing and while my companions are in the room, I give myself a few moments to explore the territory. I am going to “snoop” around the different floors of the refuge while I contemplate, hypnotized, the landscapes around the refuge. I contemplate the mountain that we will climb tomorrow and of course, everyone’s favorite, the Matterhorn. Who knows if one day I will be technically fit enough to climb it… for now, I’m content to just watch it.

I must have slept what you’d call sleep, a couple of hours, but we’re on autopilot these days and we take on whatever is put in front of us. We start walking at the scheduled time of 3 in the morning and our headlamps are the beacon that guides us in the first steps that we take from the refuge, with crampons and ropes. Today we change the “ropes” and our guide will be Iván. We have one absence in the rope team led by Òscar Cadiach, Jordi Guasch, who had a broken collarbone that prevented him from being able to prepare in due time and advance for the 2 ascents this week. A pity, although the ascent of Mont Blanc will not be taken away from him.

The first hours of the day do not present too much technical complexity or physical demand, although we gain height as we progress along the glacier. Today we leave more distance between the members of the rope because it seems that there are cracks in the glacier and it is better to be cautious and foresighted. Today I also feel very good physically, without suffering pain from altitude, without feeling cold (the wind and the weather have been very kind this week), without any inconvenience with the equipment and the clothing… However, peace lasts until we reach the 4,200 – 4,300 meter mark where the mountain ridge becomes very steep while we have to overcome very exposed and aerial sections. I am a person of my word and we will not use the word that we have agreed upon as taboo, but the truth is that looking into the void is very impressive. A helicopter flying just 50 – 100 meters above our heads makes the moment even more epic. The section of ridges that runs along the ridge presents a certain technical complexity and forces guide Iván to work hard and with a very high level of concentration. He is doing great despite the difficulty of what we are doing, I feel very safe at all times. Having Jordi Girona as a partner in front of me also helps me. I have little experience in rope teams and he gives me some advice while teaching me some progression techniques. Over time we are making a powerful communion with Jordi that is undoubtedly reinforced by these intense moments of rope teamwork. The rope team of Òscar Cadiach and Manel Vidal is a few meters ahead. Óscar, having to “work” for a single person, has fewer maneuvers to carry out.

The summit looks very close but at the same time far away. There are a couple of steps to take that are quite complicated and take us a good while to maneuver. I try to follow Jordi Girona’s steps while leaving him 1.5-2 metres so he can progress… we pass the 2 complex sections and finally we reach the ringed 4,634 metres. We have Monte Rosa at our feet.

There is almost no room at the top because all 5 of us can fit in. Time to take a couple of photos and go down but…how? Ivan Moshnikov is wary of retracing the route taken along the ridge by taking 2 people on the rope and says that he would feel safer doing a rappel that he cannot remember in which section/part of the mountain it can be done.
Òscar Cadiach is in favour of retracing the route taken. After a “debate” between guides, Ivan’s option of taking 2 people on the rope takes priority. We have gone down about 10 metres from the top so as not to be so exposed and Ivan goes to look for the area equipped for setting up rappels. After 30 minutes of waiting at altitude, without moving and a bit cold, Ivan appears and has not found the rappel. The fact that it will be more difficult to go down the mountain than to go up it begins to prevail…and life sometimes presents paradoxes. We decided to go straight ahead for about 40/50 metres, but not before overcoming a passage with some technical complexity. Ivan goes back down to see if he can find the points where he can equip the rappel and he doesn’t find them, although Jordi Girona and I see a metal cross about 20-30 metres to his left. We celebrate it as if we had reached a summit.

To get out of the area where we are, Ivan and Oscar will have to set up 4 rappels of about 30-40 metres each… especially Manel and I, with less knowledge and technical experience in the mountains, we are doing a master’s degree in forced marches and learning many moments like this. The rappel section really goes very slowly and takes us almost 3 hours, as well as some moments of greater tension with the fall of ice and rock coming from the mountain. Without a doubt we had all underestimated Monte Rosa and we thought that the complicated mountain was Mont Blanc, although in the end it was the other way around.

Our adventures do not end with the abseiling and the heat of the day has had time to modify the condition of the snow and what seemed like a triumphant walk to the refuge becomes a small physical and psychological torture. The snow loses the solidity of the first hours of the day and our legs sink a meter with each step. We try to “engineer” techniques to avoid sinking that do not exist… it is time to expend extra energy. The dizzying descents of Manel, Jordi and myself through the snow and using our own bodies as sleds will remain for the aftermath.

We arrive last at the refuge after 18:30 when everyone is already having dinner and after more than 15 hours of expedition since we left. For me and my colleagues a hard day at the office due to other “cuts” in a thousand battles and of higher rank… a walk in the mountains. We are so lucky to have two great mountain guides like Oscar Cadiach and Ivan Moshnikov who have provided us with the tools we needed to achieve our goals. We are returning from the Alps with our backpacks full of experiences and, of course, with new adventures on the horizon.