Day 1 and 2 - Toblerone conquered. The toughest climb yet?

August 25, 2024

Toblerone mountain, better known as the Matterhorn or Monte Cervino, is one of the most iconic mountains in the world and that has nothing to do with the chocolate (and I know, Toblerone Inc. are not supposed to use the iconic logo – but they still do anyway!!). A pinnacle of mountaineering, climbing the pyramid 90 degree rock is considered a must for any respected climber in Europe, on par with Mont Blanc and the Eiger. It was first climbed in the 19th century and since then, each summer hundreds of climber attempt it.

Unfortunately, the Matterhorn is also considered one of the deadliest mountains in the world.

I know this from personal experience because Gozalo, my Chilean guide on Aconcagua, died there a few years ago. And also because as soon as I mentioned I wanted to climb it, everyone I told showed me some deadly stats to remind me that it was dangerous.

So why do it? The old reason: “because it’s there”. And it looks stunning!!!

Therefore it is not without trepidation that last week I started this new expedition.

DAY 1 and 2

The week started in the same way as any other climbs. I met with Kenton, my guide (and guarantee to safety), in Geneva, on a Sunday, with a five day plan:  two days to acclimatize on another smaller (and normally easier) peak; one day to reach Zermatt and the Hörnli hut at the bottom of Matterhorn (from which we would strike for our goal); one day to go for the climb, and an extra day in case of bad weather.

Kenton selected the Saas Valley in the Valais as our initial base. This valley is surrounded by the highest number of 4000m peaks completely inside Switzerland (and not shared by another country).

Our hotel was in Saas-Grund, not as famous as Saas-Fee, the ski resort, but perfect to launch for our first mountain, the Wiessmies, 4017m.

Famous facts about the Saas valley: Pirmin Zurbriggen, one of the most famous Swiss skiers of all time, is from Saas-Almagell, a bit further up the valley from Saas-Grund (I remember him competing as it was yesterday and I was embarrassed to discover that he is now 60 years old. It shows how old I am!!!); the Saas sheep with particular long ears are from here and adorn the valley’s landscape; and so do 1000+orthodox Jews who choose the Saas valley as their summer retreat. By the way, everyone is called Zurbriggen in the Saasvalley!!!

It is from in front of Pirmin Zurbriggen’s hotel that we took our chairlift up the mountain on the way to the AlmagellerHut, our first mountain base. On the path we could see with our eyes the damage of the June floods which hit Switzerland so badly; but we also encountered quite a number of very friendly marmots who did not seem to be too bothered by our invasion of their territory.

Being in Switzerland it was not surprising that the Allmageller Hut was very clean and tidy and very friendly. And with decent food too.

It was from there that after a night sleep (kind of – someone was snoring in our bunk room) we took off at 5am for the Weissmies peak. The Weissmies, as I learned later, was a good preparation for the Matterhorn as the path up the mountain transforms very quickly into a series of ridges and very steep boulders all the way to the top.

1200m up, we reached the peak in three and half hours; and it was nice to see that after all of the rocks and boulders and some hard rock climbing, the top was covered in snow, easier to walk and to descend from. It was by following the snow covered north ridge glacier that we descended towards Saas-Grund on the opposite side of the mountain where we came from. I have to say the glacier was amazing. We crossed one storey-size seracs and very deep crevasses and quite a number of them. And it was a clear demonstration of global warming how carved the mountain was.

Another two hours and we were in a bar on top of Saas-Grund’s ski resort and next to the cable car for our rest in the sun. A strudel and a bratwurst rosti later (in that order) we took the cable car down to Saas-Grund, which luckily arrived just in front of our hotel.

An afternoon nap, some grocery shopping and an early dinner to recover and be ready for the day after which we would travel to Zermatt for the big one…