I travelled with Exodus on their trip ‘The Matterhorn Circuit’ with long time mountain companion Richard Pratt and a friend from previous Jagged Globe exploits, Ian Jameson.
Altogether there were 11 walkers, led by guide Sean, an excellent team, who, happily, saw the funny side of a couple of epics along the way. Well done all!
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| The Matterhorn viewed on the final approach to Cervinia |
Summary
In the Trip Notes it states that this route is suitable only for experienced mountain walkers. Too right.
This was as strenuous a trek as I’ve done in a long time, and the knees certainly complained by the time we reached our final destination. Thank goodness for my local osteopath!
We had a couple of ‘statisticians’ with us. I’m glad I had not seen the data before we committed to the trip! Total map distance ~70 miles. Total ascent 7,654m (25,112’), total descent 11,316m (37,125’): 58 hours of walking in 7 days.
This is a hard trek. Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security from the first three days. Most of the second half of the trek is in challenging high mountain environments, requiring stamina, a little courage, and absolutely no vertigo. In bad weather this trip is not recommended at all.
Day 1
A relatively easy day, crossing the Augstbordpass at 2885m,
with the initial ascent assisted by the small bubble lift from St Niklaus to
Jungen, high above Mattertal. Good views in clear weather to the Dom and the
Weissmeiss (climbed back in 2004) to the east of Mattertal, and south to
Weisshorn and Bishorn.
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| View into Mattertal from Jungen |
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| The Dom |
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| Mountain goats |
The route takes you up through woods, then a traverse across
open fell before crossing schist and gneiss boulders, with a final steep pull
up on to the pass. The subsequent descent starts steeply, but turns into a well
graded descent all the way down to the tiny hamlet of Gruben in the peaceful
environs of Turtmanntal. Nice little hotel, the Schwarzhorn, with friendly
service.
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| View west from Augstbordpass |
Day 2
Starting from Gruben at 1818m, our objective today was to
cross the lonely Forcletta Pass at 2874m into the Val de Zinal. Starting south
along the valley, we then climbed steeply up through woods before taking a long
traversing path across high alpine pastures.
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| View to Forcletta Pass from the Augstbordpass |
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| Approaching the top of the Forcletta Pass |
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| Forcletta Pass 2874m |
Occasionally distracted by the odd
marmot, we eventually reached the pass on a steep scree path, with some
residual patches of snow present from recent bad weather. The descent to Zinal
is a long drop, over 1300m, so we were very relieved to finally reach this
attractive (but rapidly developing) small alpine resort.
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| The long descent into the Val de Zinal |
Day 3
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| Zinal |
A two pass day beckons! Once again helped by a cable car
start, from Zinal at 1675m up to 2438m, then across high alpine pastures to the
Col de Sorebois at 2835m. Fine views from here, with the high peaks of Dent d’
Hérens, Tete Blanche and Mt Brulé to the south and views down to the
brilliantly turquoise waters of Lac de Moiry, behind an enormous dam at 2249m.
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| Lac de Moiry from the Col de Sorebois 2835m |
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| View to Col du Torrent above Lac de Moiry |
It’s a steep descent to the reservoir, a long walk across
the dam itself, and then on to the unrelenting climb to the second pass of the
day, passing Lac des Autannes to the Col du Torrent at 2916m. Fine views from
here, with the Pigne d’Arolla (climbed back in 2003 whilst on the Haute Route),
Dent Blanche and Grand Combin emerging through the cloud.
The descent to Les Hauderes was steep, long and tiring, the
day finishing with a Post Bus hop up to the famous mountaineering village of
Arolla.
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| Dam wall containing the Lac de Moiry |
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| Lac des Autannes from the Col du Torrent |
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| On the Col du Torrent 2916m |
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| Another LONG descent, this time into Les Hauderes, below Arolla |
Day 4
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| Route from Arolla southwards, the Haut Glacier d'Arolla is just right of centre in the bottom half of the image |
A short lift up the road to the start of the trail into the
higher reaches of the Val d’Arolla. Today accompanied by a Swiss mountain guide
in readiness for a glacier crossing, we headed up the valley before pulling
steeply up to the hanging valley containing the Haut Glacier d’Arolla.
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| View towards the Cabane de Vignettes above the Arolla Valley |
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| Steep terrain to access the haut Glacier d'Arolla |
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| Approaching the Haut Glacier d'Arolla |
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| Looking back to Pigne d'Arolla, climbed back in 2003 |
A
beautifully clear day, we were quickly up on to the moraine and then on to the
glacier itself, no crampons required because of the easy gradient and the
stones and grit embedded in the glacier’s surface, affording good traction for
all. We had to leap a couple of larger crevasses before climbing more moraine
to reach the steeper upper section of the glacier to attain Col Collon at
3082m.
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| On the Haut Glacier d'Arolla |
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| Crevasses on the Haut Glacier d'Arolla |
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| Crevasse hopping! |
Lunch at the top, with fine high mountain views all around,
before descending into Italy and a stop at the attractively situated Rifugio
Nacamuli at 2818m. From here we took a much steeper descent into the long Comba
d’Oren, our passage assisted by sections of metal steps and chains. Eventually
we reached the beautiful Lago di Place Moulin, again with startling turquoise colouration,
with a final, painful, descent through the woods to our dormitory accommodation
at Prarayer, the busiest spot yet, full of happy but very noisy Italian walkers
and mountaineers.
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| Slightly steeper ground on the final approach to Col Collon |
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| Col Collon 3082m |
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| Stumpy at Col Collon |
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| Descent from Col Collon towards Rifugio Nacamuli |
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| 'Room with a view', Rifugio Nacamuli |
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| Looking back up the descent route from Col Collon, view from Rif. Nacamuli |
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| View back up the Comba d'Oren |
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| Final section of a long day! Above the Lago di Place Moulin |
Day 5
The descent from here was also a challenge, using fixed
ropes to climb down below the headwall and further assisted by our guide’s rope
down alongside a steep slope of hard nevé. A good challenge, but glad to get
down it without mishap, and then steep unstable scree before better defined
paths to another finely situated hut, the
Rifugio Perucca-Vuillermoz at 2909m. From here, a superb path zigzagged down
very steeply, passing a large waterfall, before reaching a long traversing path
to the gentler slopes around Lago de Tsignanax at 2157m.
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| Where's Hayden? Colin & Richard missing their usual climbing buddy on the way to Cervinia |
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| Final pass before turning north into Cervinia |
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| Our descent before the final pass...up and down, up and down... |
The final descent of the day took us northwards on a
splendid high level traverse, with the ‘big reveal’ to the south face of the
Matterhorn, with the ski town of Cervinia nestling underneath, after about 20
minutes. A great view, and one which helped us take our mind off the rest of
the very long descent on very tired legs. We finally pulled into Cervinia ten
and half hours after our early start. A full-on day!
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| The Matterhorn towering above Cervinia |
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| Final approach to Cervinia |
Day 6
A claggy day, with clouds shrouding the Matterhorn and
surrounding mountains. We took the lift system up through Plan Maison (2548m)
and on to Testa Grigia at 3479m, overlooking the Theodulpass 3301m, which is
usually crossed on foot in better weather.
The paths at the top hut were icy, and this proved to be an
omen for what was to unfold in the next couple of hours. The next stage of our
journey was to descend the ‘easy’ glacier slopes down to Trockener Steg on the
Swiss side at 2939m. The slopes are pisted for skiing, but there are crevasses
present, so some care is required. Accordingly, we were to be accompanied by an
Italian mountain guide, Nikolai from Cervinia, who duly roped us up using a
simple waist loop without harness before we set off down a slope which never
really exceeded 5-8 degrees.
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| Glaciers above Cervinia, en route to Testa Grigia |
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| Starting off on our ill-fated trek down the glacier from Testa Grigia |
However, it quickly became apparent that our esteemed guide
had misread the glacier conditions. Overnight rain had frozen on the surface
and the usual melt of the top layer had not occurred, so we were quickly in
dire straits, slipping down sheet ice, often pulling each other over, and we
were soon bruised and soaking wet. The situation was compounded by increasingly
strong gusts of wind, which literally blew us over, and we soon had all the
makings of a minor crisis on our hands. Coincidentally, this slope would have
been a piece of cake with crampons, but our Italian guide had got this
completely wrong.
Eventually, we were assisted by another guide, who fixed
rope to the edge of the glacier, enabling our group to shuffle over to the side
of a rock buttress. This enabled us to warm members of our team who were
getting cold, before establishing our plan to continue descending (as going
back up the icy slope wasn't really an option), but this time on a slightly
less icy route. The next hour or so was unpleasant, with many further slips and
the overwhelming feeling of instability…I hate the feeling when you’ve lost
control in the mountains…
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| Our glacier journey, centre picture |
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| Injuries sustained on the glacier descent...should never have happened! |
Let me say, however, that the Exodus leader, Sean, was
excellent. Unfortunately, with the appointment of a high mountain guide for
this section, he had to defer to the authority of the Italian guide, and was
powerless to influence the events that ensued once we were on the glacier.
We finally reached Trockener Steg after 2.5 hours (covering
just 2.2km), enabling us to change out of sodden clothes, get a warming drink,
before setting off down to Zermatt on the lifts via the Fürgg and Fùri
stations.
A long, boozy lunch was then enjoyed by all (me especially
;))!
Day 7
Although drizzly to start, we soon climbed out of the cloud
which had settled over Zermatt overnight, and climbing steeply up through
pretty alpine pastures we soon reached the chalet at Tufteren, with great views
back to Matterhorn, Breithorn and, as we got a little higher up, Castor and
Pollux, part of the fine set of mountains rising up to Dufourspitze.
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| Matterhorn in early morning cloud, on the approach to the Europaweg |
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| Matterhorn from Tufteren |
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| Zermatt from the Europaweg |
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| On the Europaweg, view north to Randa |
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| Retaining walls on the Europaweg, to prevent further rock slides |
The path eventually led us on to the Europaweg, a path from
Grächen, at the northern end of Mattertal, to Zermatt, affording great views
across to the Obergabelhorn, Zinalrothorn and the Weisshorn, and maintaining an
average elevation of around 2200m, albeit with many ups and downs along the
way. The path is often narrow, exposed in places (though frequently protected
by fixed ropes) and takes you into wild side valleys with some exciting
crossings of vast boulder fields and precipitous river channels. Great walking,
but concentration needed in places! Before our final 600m descent through the
woods back to Randa, we also had the fun experience of crossing a newly
constructed 250m long suspension bridge, crossing a gigantic couloir, Wildikin,
which is subject to continuous rockfall.
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| Views along the Europaweg |
A great day’s walking, but somewhat
harder than most of us had been expecting for the final day.
