Page 26 - 2020 AMA Winter

MISCARTICLE
Moving fast on the Breithorn
Swiss Army debris on the Gross Diamantstock
Razor Pitch Chapelle de la Gliere
Having learnt our lesson, we ignored the hut and went for an early start from the valley, where we had camped overnight alongside a French-Swiss-British-Italian- Spanish couple who had given us much welcome beer, chat and a route topo...! The hut was sleeping as we went past, but we found a couple of ropes in front of us just starting the ridge. True to form, we soon bypassed them [our route finding had become really slick!] and cracked on up the ridge, keeping on the big boots, revelling in the glorious weather and stunning views. The summit came all too quickly, and we went off down the West Ridge to try and find the abseil descent. Well, we found an abseil descent, but it obviously wasn’t the right one. Especially when we were on just a single 50m rope.... Anyway, we got down in the end, galumphed off down the glacier and back down the hill for ice creams at the Furka Pass.
From there it was a scramble back to the UK, driving through France without stopping for more than fuel, munching the remains of our bivvi food in the car, an early train in the chunnel, and being dropped off in the rain somewhere near Oxford before I finally got a train home to Scotland. Chris had his Covid test and it was negative, which was A Good Thing. So he went off, and I went up to Dundonnell via a broken-down car and the Alps faded into a memory.
But it was a blooming good fortnight!
Summit of the Salbitschjen
six or eight being dragged up their first and only 4000er by various Zermatt guides. It must be a money-spinner for them, but tedious and soul-destroying.
By now we were fit and acclimatised enough for the Integrale, but time was running out. Switzerland had come on to the Scottish quarantine list, so I had changed my return flight from Edinburgh to Manchester [showing how daft it is to have different lists for the home nations], but now Switzerland was likely to come onto the English list as well, and neither of us could afford that. We had a day or so left before forgetting the flights and driving back in Chris’s van. So we zoomed off down the valley and headed for the less- er-known Gross Diamantstock. This has a South Ridge which, in terms of immaculate granite and sustained interest, almost matches the renowned Salbitschjen.
26 / ARMY MOUNTAINEER