Next stop was the crampons hire, essential for crossing the glacier at the base of the Monte Rosa followed by the Alpine Centre to get further comfort that the weather would not close in on us whilst traversing the treacherous glacier. 5 years ago Stevie and I got there only to be greeted by thunder and lightning and a massive storm coming up the valley and essentially did not want a repeat (we ended up crossing by following a German couple but that is another story).
Thankfully weather indications were still good for Saturday and mixed for tomorrow so we went for it starting this time from the valley floor in Zermatt and not cheating by taking the array of cable car options to get up quickly.
That first 3 hours of climbing out of the forest were tough going. All three of us had heavy packs, donning our full mountain attire including boots, ice axes etc. The packs included a change of clothes, gortex jackets, food and water which meant we were adding another 30%+ to our body weight. I opted also to take the big camera as did not want to pass up the photo opportunities.
There was a natural trade off as we crept higher, the heat of the lower slopes (high 20s) slowly residing vs. the lack of oxygen steadily increasing. There were a couple of nervous looks as we kept glancing at the watch as we knew once we got to the top it was still a 4 hour slog along the next valley, across the glacier and then the final scramble up to the hut. We actually passed one of the train stops and momentarily considered cheating and quickening the ascent to buy us some more time but after a quick team talk we persevered hooking up with a French/English couple along the way as we finally passed the tree line.
An hour or so later and near the top we were delighted to read a sign which said only 3 hours 20 minutes to the hut which would get us there for approximately 6.30. We were cutting it fine as any later we ran the risk of losing our bed booking for the night and more importantly dinner (served at 6.30).
At the top near the Gornergrat station we walked into the next valley so that we were in sight of the glacier and stopped for a quick lunch but kept it swift. We were drenched with sweat and it had already been 3 hours and 30 minutes of intensive work. My HR was telling as my 120 average compared to a 1.27 average for the 38k long run in 4.20s the previous weekend. This time though we still had another 3 hours to go and having to navigate the technical glacier which without fail gets the butterflies going.
For the next hour we followed the valley with the glacier on our right hand side and eventually spied the hut, an outcrop on the cliff face below the Monte Rosa (Dufourspitze), the second heighest mountain in Western Europe behind the Mont Blanc. It was noticeable to me at least how large the seracs were on the peaks either side.
On the one hand seeing the hut gave me heart but I was not looking forward to the glacier. It starts with two long ladders to get to the valley floor. Stevie led and we had pre-agreed that we'd only cross if the weather was still fine which it was - we'd also agreed not to rope up.
Then it's the usual faff with the crampons. I never seem to put them on properly. And low and behold on the first steep section to get to the top of the glacier (about 25 meters higher than the valley floor) the left one came off right at the wrong moment. I was crapping myself as the right foot was basically holding me up from falling in the deep cravasse below. I yelled at Stevie who told me to calm down and use my ice axe as a lever. Christ I was so relieved to get to the top albeit with a bleeding right hand from the jagged ice surface. JJ then followed and did an altogether better job.
From there you move a little further down the valley (still on top of the glacier) before taking the left turn to traverse. It was probably another 60 minutes until we finally got off the bloody thing. Absolutely knackered we were all faced with the 1 hour scramble up to the hut. Interestingly the marked route across had changed since 2012 no doubt as a result of its continual movement. As far as glaciers go it's relatively benign but there are large cravasses which you definitely don't want to fall in.
On the other side it was every man for himself as Stevie (who was super strong all day) set the pace up with me following and JJ another 5 minutes behind. After 7 hours of walking having navigated the glacier and 1,600 meters of vertical climbing we finally arrived bang on 630 for dinner.
It was a great relief that the weather held and JJ did an amazing effort to get through that as he did on Mont Blanc 10 years earlier. He has tremendous resilience and showed enormous character.
I reckon that is one of my toughest sessions for a long long time despite all the marathon training. The heavy rucksack is a game changer particularly when you need to balance for every step on all the uneven ground. Any slip could be disastrous. I though love the mountains. It's so bloody different to anything else and every day life. It also takes a lot of courage and gets you out of your comfort zone.
Dinner was friggin amazing as we demolished all the courses washed down with the hefeweizen Erdinger beers. After a quick chat on the terasse admiring the view we turned in. Usually at all alpine huts lights out is 10pm and this was no different as those pushing to summit Monte Rosa would need to be up and out by 3am at the latetst. We had pre-agreed on a 5am wake up call and we were one of the last risers.
Lastly, the Monte Rosa is one of the nicer refuges as Alpine huts go. Some are shit holes but this one is state of the art.
The route: https://www.strava.com/activities/1073723547
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