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This time it was to do the Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt. We didn't want to hike the easy hiking trail that most people do, but instead took on the much more difficult glacier route (Class 4) which is considered "the mother" of all technical treks in the Alps. For this trip we chose to go with OnTop Mountaineering. There are only three English speaking companies that guide the Haute Route glacier route, and the OnTop folks seemed really nice, plus they had by far the best itinerary. The Haute Route connects Chamonix, France to Zermatt, Switzerland. Our route started at Western Europe's tallest mountain, Mont Blanc 15,770" (4,807 m), traveled through the Valais, past the Matterhorn and into Zermatt. The highest point of the trip is the summit of the Tete Blanche at 12,500" (3,800 m). We stayed in the famous climbers huts of the of the French and Swiss Alpine Clubs. The food was good and bunk bed-style dormitories were clean. Following the Haute Route our plan was to take advantage of our acclimatization and do a two-day traverse of Month Blanc via Mont Blanc du Tacul and Mont Maudit. Unfortunately, there was very light snowfall during the previous winter and the unseasonably hot summer led to poor snow conditions. So many people were dieing on Mont Blanc (11 while we were there) that they finally closed it down to any summit attempts. After we completed the Haute Route, Jamie and I split up. Jamie stayed in Chamonix with the others in our group to do some rock climbing. Not being much of a rock climber, I jumped a train and headed to the Grindelwald in the Bernese Alps for a stay at the Kleine Scheidegg hotel. My hope was to arrange either a guided climb of the Mönch, the Jungfrau or the Eiger (Mitellegi Ridge). I had stayed at the Kleine Scheidegg two years earlier with Jamie after we climbed the Matterhorn. It was wonderful, but we only had one night and had to leave early in the morning for Florence, so we didn't have a chance to do any climbing. This time things were different. I had two days. So after talking about with the local guide company, I settled on a one-day ascent of the Mönch.
Following the climb and took the train to the airport at Zurich. met up with Jamie and flew home. I had only been home 3 days in the last four weeks. It was time to make up for some lost time with my family.
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I jumped on the first train heading up to the Jungfraujoch.
There I met up with my guide and we headed for the south-west ridge (PD). By
this time I had been at altitude in the Andes and Alps for 4 weeks and was
extremely well acclimatized. At the same time, I was rested and adjusted to
the time zones. All this combined with good weather and a very proficient
guide lead to a spectacular climb. It was mixed climbing, much like the
Matterhorn but not as long and not nearly as steep. Still it was amazing and
the views from the summit (
