The tour description in the guidebook (SAC guidebook "Skitouren Oberwallis") sounds exciting and the weather is perfect, even fresh snow has fallen again. Early in the morning, we set off for the mountaineering and skiing paradise of Zermatt.
The starting point for our summit ski tour is the Monte Rosa hut at an altitude of almost 2800 metres, a wild and lonely outpost, enclosed and surrounded by the ice masses of the Monte Rosa glacier.
We take it easy. Why spend hours climbing over a flat glacier when there are lifts everywhere? So we take the cable car up to the Stockhorn in comfort. Zermatt's ski resort is legendary, and not just because of its extreme altitude and the huge summer ski resort up to an altitude of almost 3800 metres. The area (especially the Stockhorn side) is gigantic for freeriding - but serious and alpine. Unfortunately, the few "serious snowfalls" this winter have avoided Zermatt, so the snow conditions are anything but great. This means thin, fragile snow bridges on the glaciers or stones where there is no ice underneath. Both of which are stupid - and we are correspondingly cautious as we cruise through the ski resort. But it's still fun.
In the afternoon, head from the Stockhorn towards the Monte Rosa hut
(Via tour no. 125, with a long traverse, therefore less suitable for snowboarders). The long glacier route isn't particularly exciting, but the scenery is always top class. Just as we were getting bored of walking, we came to a steep rocky ridge, which we climbed down on a fixed rope. We quickly get back on our skis and continue, as we have dinner at 6 pm. On the way to the Monte Rosa hut, we find a few unexpected powder fields and reach the hut highly satisfied.
That's where the shock hits us first. We hadn't expected to be the only guests at Easter, but sooo busy? Well, that makes sense. We're allocated to the second round of food ordering. Well, at 7.30pm then, in a tight squeeze.
Zumsteinspitze: crevasse fracture and ice avalanche
In the early morning we undertake an acclimatisation tour in the direction of the Zumstein peak, which is 4563 m high. It's a fairly easy tour, the difficulty of which lies in the fact that the crumbling border glacier hides lots of crevasses covered in thin snow. We quickly realise that we have to rope up and when we see several "tracks with holes", we are glad to be on the rope. Today we are constantly confronted with the risks of the high mountains: Sudden giant holes in the ascent track and then it suddenly rumbles heavily above us. We weren't expecting avalanches, as there is "only" a moderate risk of avalanches and the terrain is fairly flat. A few hundred metres above us, a section of the steep hanging glacier on the Liskamm ridge has broken off. It looks very small at first, but quickly becomes bigger as it falls through the extreme terrain - and turns into a dust avalanche. And it comes straight towards us and is impressively large. If we hadn't been standing on a larger hill, we would probably have had serious problems and these lines would be the lines of an accident report. Olav has already taken cover behind a serac (glacier ice tower), Totti is looking wide-eyed at the thundering white roller and Baschi is snapping away wildly. Just before the avalanche threatens to swallow us up, it is deflected by the deep valley and rushes past us in the direction of the Gorner Glacier. Only the fine snow dust trickles down on us. It's getting cold, we shiver - but keep climbing.
Without reaching the summit, we take a break on an ice ridge at an altitude of 4,100 metres. The subsequent descent leads through moderately steep terrain, but in magnificent scenery.
Hut life is always something special, especially at an outpost like the Monte Rosa Hut, which can only be supplied by helicopter. On the other hand, the prices are more than reasonable (in Switzerland, which has a reputation for being expensive). It's just a shame that the hut staff are overwhelmed by the onslaught of tourers and that the landlord doesn't exactly stand out for his friendliness. 150 guests populate the relatively small hut. Accordingly, many ski mountaineers who spend the night here are annoyed. It's understandable, but we are surprised that some of them are so rowdy. Even at a punk concert, you don't get bumped into much more often. But that doesn't detract from the magnificent panorama in the mild Kaiser weather.
Three forty. The alarm clock rings...
Get up! Shit, I feel totally exhausted and destroyed. Quickly join the other 100 early risers (the second breakfast for the "late risers" is at 7am).
Five o'clock, click, click - the bindings click into place. We set off in the light of the headlamps. As always, I feel sluggish and lame at this time of day. After a few hundred metres in altitude, the "engine" finally gets going and it becomes less tiring. The altitude acclimatisation has worked surprisingly well and I make good progress. When we arrive at a steep, hardened ascent to the glacier, we hear a scratching noise from above, which quickly gets closer and is marked by a faint glow of light. Luckily, the slope soon flattens out and the touring skier rushing past us slows down and is able to stop. Okay, then we'd better put the crampons under the bindings. The sun finally rises - the bio-reactors are now running at full speed. After a good four hours, we reach the last steep ascent and cross the bergschrund (the area where the wall glaciation merges into the moving part of the glacier). After a further half hour we are at the ski depot. We are at an altitude of 4359 metres and after a short break we leave our skis behind and continue with our crampons on.
From the Monte Rosa hut (2795 m) to the ski depot, the ascent was free of technical difficulties and we made good progress despite our wide freeride skis.
The Dufourspitze keeps the joker hidden until the end:
The descent, over 20 km long and 3000 metres in altitude, is extremely impressive and is considered one of the most beautiful in the Alps. The panorama with the omnipresent Matterhorn, the 60 square kilometre Monta Rosa glacier with its spectacular drop-offs, the north face of the Liskamm, the Gorner valley and the final descent through the Chanel-scented ski resort of Zermatt make this run unforgettable. It's just a shame that the tourism industry will stop at nothing and that the better-heeled "top performers" in our society fly by helicopter to just before the summit of the Dufourspitze due to a lack of fitness. We reluctantly accept the fact that we have to share the hard-won descent, which in some places has already mutated into a mogul slope, with the helicopter servants. It's just as well that we scouted out variations during the ascent that give us a few untouched descents.
On the descent, the short night and the many metres of altitude make themselves noticeable in our legs. We're pretty dehydrated and the first wheat beer fantasies are running through our heads. But it's no use waiting, there are still more than 15 km of descent and almost 1500 metres of altitude to go. And they drag on. The scenic descent to Zermatt leads through the glacier break of the Grenzgletscher and then over the flat Gorner Glacier. Perfect firn cruising is the order of the day, which turns into slushy snow the deeper we get. Then it gets tricky again: in a narrow part of the valley lies a huge block of dead ice (a piece of the glacier, with no connection to the rest of the glacier), thawing away, but still almost 50 metres high and 100 metres long. Luckily, there are ropes stretched around it and we can slide around it with our skis on.
We continue through deep slushy snow and over countless stones, but it doesn't matter. We are completely exhausted, the heat is taking its toll. We can already see the valley descent to Zermatt. Another 100 metres of ascent. The backpacks are getting heavier and heavier, at least that's how they feel. The ski resort is still very busy and the narrow, slippery valley run is teeming with winter sports enthusiasts. By now, we don't care - we rush towards Zermatt through countless knee-deep puddles and mountains of brown slush. Thirst and hunger could almost drive us into the neo-baroque alpine Zermatt MCDonnalds. Almost. But luckily it's not quite that bad yet...
