Photo 1. Sunrise from the Pigne d’Arolla.
Photo 2. Some of the gendarmes on the Couronne de Breona.
Photo 3. The Matterhorn from Mont Blanc de Cheilon.
Photo 4. A summit photo from my first of two ascents of the Matterhorn this week.
I have just had a big week in the Arolla and Zermatt areas. On Sunday I traversed the Couronne de Breona (3159m) and Clocher de la Couronne (3101m) from La Forclaz. This gives a big day of 1400m of ascent and lots of scrambling.
The weather forecast was good for Monday and Tuesday so we continued our acclimitisation by staying at the Cabanne des Vignettes and traversing the Pigne d’Arolla (3769m) and Mont Blanc de Cheilon (3869m). This superb high level traverse continues to the Dix Hut before returning to Arolla via the Pas de Chevre.
With a settled forecast for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we headed round to Zermatt. We stayed on Wednesday night at the Hornli Hut before climbing the Matterhorn (4477.5m) on Thursday. On the Matterhorn we are only legally allowed to climb in pairs. Therefore, on Friday I reclimbed the mountain with another member of the team. We returned to the cars at arond 4.30pm on Friday and the weather broke at 4.45pm providing a good excuse for a rest day!
