Page 15 - 2005 AMA Winter

next day. Luck was on their side as they had a clear window to the summit. Some approached the Dorn 4545m via the PD route, which is the glacier ascent from the Festijock. The more adven­ turous approached via the Festigrat PD+ with snow and ice up to 50°°. As we made it back to the campsite, the forecast for the following day was unstable and the frustra­ tion in all of us was obvious.
After another short day of
bad weather it was looking promising for the next three
to four days. The following day John, Mark, Rob and Alasdair Steele with a small contingent of climbers
headed off to the Saas Grund area were they completed a number of big 16 pitch routes on the Jagihorn. At the same time I was on the Via Ferrata route with a small group and we all met at the summit for photos. The remainder attempted the Egginer 3366m from the Felskinn cable car and returned home late, exhausted but exhilarated from their day’s adventure.
Kev's Development Team embarked on the long route to the Dorn Hutte 2940m, and some cosy sleeping arrange­ ments, with two members from the Navy group. Sadly no cable cars were available to assist our ascent! An early
start for all; John and his group were the first to set off, closely followed by groups headed up by, Kev, myself, Mark and Cath On reaching the Festijoch, care was needed with rock fall as Mark’s group was nearly taken out by a Swiss group above them. Continuing on the North West Ridge for a short distance John had to turn back with two members of his group due to altitude
problems. As we continued, the weather was slowly closing in. At this point Mark with his group made a decision to head back. Not long after, Cath and her group followed suit. As the
rest of us continued towards the summit, the weather had closed in. Visibility was very poor and the winds were whipping up the freshly fallen snow. Despite this, we were determined to summit and with goggles on and heads down, we succeeded. On return to the hut, we had a short admin break and headed off back to the valley and the campsite for some food and rest [we needed it!] and to reflect on a thoroughly enjoyable fortnight.
The weather forecast for the next few days was not good; however we felt we had accomplished what we had set out to do. It was a shame
that only a handful of the Development Team made it to the summit of the Dorn, the climax of the week.
The meet was an excellent opportunity for all at different levels to improve and develop new skills. For the EWR 06 Development Team it was a
fun two weeks and most people left having made friends with other lunatics who are mad for the mountains! Many thanks go to the instructors and RAF for their organisation of the JSAM without whom the meet would not have been possible.
( flBMV MOUNTfllNEtH 13