This is the story of my climbing course in Switzerland 2004. I have placed several pics which I have made during this week. There's many more where they came from. The resolution of the pics is rather low because I made them smaller. The pics I have on my computer are way more detailed and bigger though... sorry people. I hope you'll enjoy them anyway though.
Day 1 – How to get there
We left Holland by bus, moving to Sion, Switzerland. The bus left in the afternoon, meaning we also had to travel at night to arrive the day after early in the morning.
Day 2 – How to go further
We took the bus from Sion to a Hotel not far from the town of Arolla. One of our group members spoke French perfectly so we used him to communicate with the Hotel owner. We could stay for the night, but we had to pay cash. None of us (me, my brother and two new friends) had enough money so we were advised to walk back to the last village (one we had driven through when we were in the bus from Sion to the Hotel.) So we set off. We walked for a while to quickly discover the Hotel owner must have meant there is an ATM two villages back. We walked further and reached the bank with ATM 4 hours after departure (approximately 20 kilometers away from the Hotel.) We withdrew money and decided to take the bus back to the Hotel.
Day 3 – The beginning of the course
We met our guides. They were both from Austria. Both were extremely experienced mountaineers. We were taught how to put on our mountaineer harness and were given the snow axe, helmet and crampons. Our rucksacks (mine was 60 liters) were checked on containing the right equipment used in the mountains and some of us were advised to not take along several things to limit the weight of the rucksack to the necessary things only. We set off to a rockwall about a kilometer downroad. There we were taught several knots. We then used a few of them when climbing in the Rock garden. It was a good day and we were given some useful tips when climbing rocks.
(This is me. My brother was on a rock himself and then zoomed in on me with the camera, making me look lower than I actually am. The rock I am on is steeper than it looks. Trust me.)
Day 4 – Glacier and snow exercises
Me and a new friend of mine had to lead our group to a particular glacier. After the trip of a few hours we entered the glacier to do exercises on it with our crampons. (Including walking sideways over vertical ice walls.)
(This is the glacier we were on. Exercises were done on a smoother part of the glacier.)
After the glacier we did snow exercises… We moved to a steep slope nearby covered with snow. We were taught to stop when you fall down a mountain slope. We one by one fell down at a height of approximately 60 meters high to fall and roll down at increasing speed. To make the test harder we couldn’t brake before having covered at least 15 meters. We were all using our rainsuits, so we glided extra fast. We simulated several falls, including one where your shoes are tied to one another or one where you fall down on your back, head first. The latter one feels very odd because you can’t see where you are going, and you are getting there VERY fast. Two men were halfway down the slope to stop those who couldn’t stop themselves. This too was a great day.
Day 5 – The journey to mountain hut 1
We had to stuff our backpacks with everything we would need for the remainder of the week. This means, clothes, food, water (for one day; meaning 3 liters for me) and climbing equipment (snow axe, helmet, harness, crampons.) Because I eat and drink a whole lot each day my backpack became seriously heavy. The journey took several hours and we reached the hut in the afternoon. Later that day we did more rock exercises in the neighbourhood of the hut.
Day 6 – The journey to mountain hut 2
This hut was a mere 200 meters higher but was located many kilometers away. I had to carry the same as the day before + a 50 meter rope which weighed somewhere around 8 kg. We had to cross a mountain comb, meaning we had to go up 500 meters to descend the same after. Part of this 500 meter descend was a 100 meter high slope covered with loose small stones. We had to go straight down at a relatively fast pace as if you were walking down the stairs skipping one step after every step you do step on. It felt very unnatural to go down such a slope with such a fast pace, but it turned out to be safer than it looked. After a looooong walk (fortunately I didn’t have to carry the heavy rope all the way) we reached hut 2. Later that afternoon we practised a glacier crevice rescue on a rock wall close to the hut. (When you walk over a glacier you are attached to a rope. When a team member falls down a crevice you could pull him out if there’s plenty of team members, but when you walk over one with 2 or 3 people, the one who falls down has to get out himself using special rope and knot tactics. You can’t climb out holding the rope, because it’s not safe and you can’t grab the upper part of the rope which will bury itself in the edge of the crevice under your weight.) It was fairly complicated, but I mastered it in the end.
Day 7 – The climb of La Luette (3548 meters / 11641 ft.)
We only brought along in our rucksacks what we would use that day, meaning some food, some water, rainsuits, gloves, cap, snow axe, crampons, harness. The first part of the journey was walking towards a particular glacier. After a while we reached it. We then had to walk to the top of this glacier, using our crampons and snow axe. We were all secured to the 50 meter rope so if someone were to fall down a crevice, we would be capable of pulling him out. (Note that many people break their neck as soon as they fall in a crevice because large pieces of snow and ice fall down after to land on the heads of the unlucky, breaking their necks immediately.) It was a great though exhausting walk up.
(The walk over the glacier. The mountain LaLuette is not on the picture.)
After a while we reached the top of the glacier though. There we left behind our crampons and snow axe to cover the last part of the mountain, which was rather rocky. We were all still attached to the 50 meter rope to make sure no-one would plunge into the deep below. We reached the summit after a while and enjoyed a beautiful view over the Swiss Alps.
(Here's me on top of LaLuette.)
(Here's another pic of me up there.)
(Here's a picture taken from LaLuette of other mountains. We took it through my sunglasses to get a somewhat darker picture.)
After about an hour we went down again and stopped halfway the glacier. It was now time to practise our glacier crevice rescue tactics in a real glacier. One by one we were lowered in the glacier crevice. Only one knot prevented us from falling down (just as would be the case as when you would fall down.) There was about 15 meters (50 ft.) below me till the bottom of the crevice and about 15 meters above me till the edge. Those who were waiting above were talking, but down there you didn’t hear one word of what they said. Only a small flow of glacier water somewhere at the bottom could be heard. Not even the hard and bitterly cold wind above was heard down there. We didn’t wear our crampons to make the exercise harder. Using our own carabiners and ropes we had to apply the skills learned the day before to get up. I took off my gloves and put them in my jacket. I grabbed the ropes from my belt kit and started with the first special knot. My fingers cooled off fast and I couldn’t drop anything for it would be lost forever. Every now and then some snow fell down on me, coming from the edge many meters above me. I managed to work my way up savely thanks to the knot tactics and had to switch to other tactics just below the edge. This is all planned. You can’t use the same tactics till the end because your rope is burried into the snow and the crevice edge due to your weight. I had to make a special knot using two of my carabiners which should hold my weight… that’s if the knot was correct. (I couldn’t fall to the bottom of the crevice because the original knot that was used to lower me down was still there.) Still it’s odd to shift to a knot that SHOULD get you up. Failing would mean the knot would work the other way and I would fall down again. To make the knot I had to untie one I had used before. My fingers were cold and I managed to get one big unorganized knot in the rope that consisted of many small ones. I had to take a good look at it to untie the knots. I managed to untie it properly and make the knot that should get me up. Mind you… should get me up. Make one minor mistake and you WILL GO DOWN. The knot turned out correct after testing it by pulling my weight up on the main rope and yanking the knot with one hand. It enabled me to move only up, and not down. I got out in less than 15 minutes and became about second fastest with that time. Two of our group had to be pulled out because they failed to get out in less than 20 minutes.
(The approximately 30 meter (100 ft.) deep glacier crevice we did the rescue exercise in. I took this picture from above, being secured to a rope, making sure I wouldn't tumble in.)
It felt soooo great to be capable of rescuing yourself out of a glacier (needed if your party isn’t large enough to pull you out.) I must say that experience down there is extremely special to me. The feeling I had in there cannot be described with words. It’s the overpowering beauty of the glacier crevice combined with its deadly power. Only the right knowledge can get you out of there. Awesome.
Day 8 – The climb of Pigne D’Arola. (3796 meters / 12454 ft.)
This would be the best day of my week. Climbing the 3800 meter Pigne D’Arola.
(Here's two pics of Pigne d'Arola, the mountain we climbed. The upper one is taken from the valley. The lower one is taken on the descend to the valley on the last day somewhere between hut 2 and the valley.)
We left somewhere around 05:40 A.M. The sun wasn’t fully present yet so we had to use artificial light. No problems since we first had to walk all the way to the beginning of the glacier. By the time we would have reached the glacier we wouldn’t need the flashlights any longer by far. I had to carry the darn 8 kg. rope again. Once we reached the glacier we put on our crampons and harness and attached ourselves to the rope. It would prove to be a rather long way to the top. After many hours walking up over the gargantuan glacier, many more steep parts covered in snow and ice followed. It was often extremely steep, and I wouldn’t wanna fall there, not even when attached to the rope. I tried to concentrate on just going up and not paying attention to the steepness or my sore knees (climbing every day takes its toll… claiming sore knees, muscle aches and blisters by the many.) I had my cap on, just as my gloves and several layers of clothes, but you could still feel it getting colder and colder the higher we came.
(Pigne d'Arola a few hundred meters from the top.)
After a long way we reached the top. Many steep slopes had been covered. Summitconditions were pretty bad. Way worse than what we had experienced till then. The actual temperature had dropped way below the freezing point and the strong wind made it worse. The wind was around 80 km/h (50 mph). Strong enough to cause serious trouble alone, let alone combined with the freezing temperature. We couldn’t get off the main rope because the wind would simply take the 8 kg. rope and blow it away. The sound of the ferocious wind was impressive and scary. It was so loud and persevering… so sharp… so overwhelming and it seemed as if it wanted to blow us away more and more each second. You’d almost swear it wanted to take us over the edge into the depth kilometers down. The wind combined with the temperature created a windchill factor of WAY below the freezing point. The water in the tubes (that lead water from a water sac in the rucksack to one’s mouth) was frozen solid. The water inside the bottles and watersacs were well on their way to become ice as well. It already was just as cold and some of it already was ice. There were no clouds around us and the view was incredible, although we couldn’t enjoy it much due to the distraction caused by the extreme weather conditions. I wanted to take a picture and had to take my glove off. My hand already was cold, but now it was getting worse and worse rapidly. There was not much time. The cold was extremely unwelcome, and I quickly made a picture. Others did so too, and one picture was taken with me on it (without one glove on.)
(Here's that pic of me on top of Pigne d'Arola. The cap on my head can be bought in a small supermarket in the town of Arolla ;-) Note how my clothes and especially my pants and the straps of my rucksack are affected by the wind.)
We were on the summit, 3800 meters high for just a few minutes. We couldn't stay for too long due to the extreme weather. We left to descend rapidly to a place on the other side of a mountain wall, maybe 150 meters lower. It was out of the wind. And I really mean OUT of the wind. The temperature was still low, but pretty doable due to the lack of wind. We were offered a great view of the Swiss Alps. Matterhorn, Dent Blanch, WeiBhorn, Dufourspitze… they were all in sight. There were still practically no clouds and I made many pics.
(Here's 3 of the many pics I have taken about 150 meters below the top.)
After a decent break we had to go down. We descended pretty fast. I wasn’t sure why, but I think our guide had suddenly spotted bad weather clouds at the horizon, meaning you have to get the hell outta there. We reached the hut safely later that day. He then told me about dark strips of clouds at the horizon that could reach you in less than half an hour and kill you in less than 20 minutes.
In the evening we were told if we were good enough for the C2 course (You have 3 climbing courses, C1, C2 and C3. C3 being the toughest one, and you can’t do one unless you have successfully completed the previous one(s). We got marks for several skills. I scored the maximum mark for both rock climbing and endurance. Because all other marks were good as well I am now ready for the C2 Course. Woohoo! I succeeded :P
Day 9 – Back to the valley
We had to pack all our stuff and we went down to the Hotel where we had spent our first few nights. There we gave back the climbing equipment that wasn’t ours (snow axe, crampons, helmet and harness) and later on took a bus back to Sion where we discovered the bus back home had a 6 hour delay. After waiting a looong while it finally did arive and as you can see now, I’m back home safe and sound, ready to climb more and higher mountains in the future.
Below there's two more pics. The upper one is Mnt. Collon. The lower one is Mnt. Blanc de Cheilon.
The end.
