Page 12 - 2019 AMA Winter

GUESTWRITER
PROJECT ALPINE SPIRIT:
A YEAR OF CLIMBING THE
ALPINE 4000M PEAKS
By Rebecca Coles
It was April this year when a late season dump of snow blanketed the Alps. Excitement for powder skiing was offset
with worry about the increased avalanche risk to negotiated. We’d skied the Strahlhorn the previous day, huffing and puffing our way up this low angled 4000m peak in the Pennine Alps near Saas Fee. This summit kicked off our bid to try and climb all the 4000m peaks in the Alps. The next day we decided to head towards the Rimpfishhorn. It was slow going breaking trail through foot-deep powder. An exposed short section of glacial ice barred our way. Donning crampons Lou led up awkward ground with skis on her back, placing an ice screw as she went. She stopped abruptly, attaching herself to an ice screw and reaching down to her boot. Her left crampon had sheared at the toe bail. There was nothing for it but to turn around and head back down. It was just our second peak, of 82, and we had already been unsuccessful.
Before setting out to climb on this project to climb the alpine 4000ers I felt that pit- of-stomach sickness. It was the feeling of fear but not fear borne from the climbing which lay ahead, the danger of rockfall, avalanches or falling in a crevasse, but the fear of shame from not succeeding.
The higher and more technical a peak, the greater the uncertainty of reaching the summit. These are the odds an alpinist accepts. However, to reach the summit of 82 peaks, with so many different variables which need to fall in our favour, the chances of succeeding are very small. In fact, there is a very high chance of failure.
If I could have left for the Alps having not said a word to anyone about my intentions, then I would have. However, I needed a team, and the team needed funding, so this wasn’t an option. As I planned and researched routes more unanswerable questions kept popping up. Would the weather and conditions make this challenge possible? Would we have the skill, fitness and nerve for such an endeavour?
Over several weeks we skied peaks in the Pennine Alps, the Bishorn and the wide,
Team summit selfie. The author, Lou Beetlestone and Mo Barclay
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