Page 9 - 2013 AMA Spring

Agroup twelve aspiring mountaineers from 1st the Queens Dragoon Guards (The Welsh cavalry) set off early doors from Sennelager, Germany on the 30th July to make their way down to Chamonix in the heart of the French Alps. Many of the expedition members were complete novices and having no idea what to expect were taken away when we were traveling past the amazing scenery and the enormous scale of the high peaks in the Swiss and French Alps.
We arrived in Chamonix a few days before the start of the expedi- tion which gave us much needed time to do some pre expedition training, get equipment prepared and enjoy what Chamonix has to offer. This gave us a much quicker start to the expedition as basic skills had already been taught. The short time in Chamonix with all the high mountains in view fuelled the excitement within the mem- bers to start the expedition.
Heading from Chamonix to Switzerland we started training a few days later and headed up the mountain from the Arolla Valley in Southern Switzerland. From there we went straight for Point de Vouasson standing at 3489m and bagged some of the lads first high peak which was a good achievement for the height gain and distance on the first day. Over the next three days we carried out all the training required to safely travel as a group around the moun- tains and to the 4000m peaks.
This included training on Crevasse rescue, mixed ice and rock climbing, rope work and many other key requirements to stay safe in such a dangerous and demanding environment.
We completed the training stage with a long and arduous sum- mit in high winds and low visability of Pigne d’ Arolla standing at 3790m, This was the highest peak climbed in the training stage and by now we had gained valuable acclimatisation and experi- ences ready to move onto the high peak stage of the expedition.
After a well-deserved day off to prepare equipment and rest for the next stage, we travelled to Saas Fee in Switzerland. Starting early in the morning we got the lift from the valley high up the mountain where we started the long and steep climb on the North West ridge of the Allalinhorn. The weather was not on our side and made our ascent extremely difficult as we were battling against high winds, freezing temperatures and low visibility. After an arduous climb and feeling the effects of high altitude we reached the summit at 4027m. We immediately headed down to prevent the freezing tem- peratures setting in and before the snow went to soft as the day went on. After trekking back down the same route we got the lift back down and after an exhausting day of our first 4000m peak we all got back and got straight on with recuperating ready for the next day and the next high mountain.
After having completed one 4000m peak, we started the next day enthusiastic to see what the next one could offer. From the lift sta- tion high up the mountain, we started our ascent on the North West flank of the Weissmies. Before we got to the towering steep sides of the mountain, we had to negotiate a cross a glacier with numer- ous often rather deep crevasses some crossed by precarious snow bridges. After successfully getting through crevasse field, we came to the steep sides of the Weissmies where we are continu- ously threatened by avalanches and glacier falls, there had been a massive avalanche through the night and debris were deposited all around the base so we didn’t hang around and kept moving at an exhausting but slow pace as the altitude felt like it was sucking the energy out of us. After an exhausting and steep climb we got to the Weissmies ridge which is a very exposed area as it drops off both sides for hundreds of metres so we stayed focused and reached the summit at 4017m on a clear, sunny but bitterly cold and windy peak. We came down the same route exhausted again.
The next day came with dangerously strong winds up on the high peaks so we were unable to go into the high mountains. Instead, we got the lift up the mountain and completed a 400m nine pitch rock climb of the Jegi Horn and summited at 3206m, This was a
ARMY MOUNTAINEER 7