Sir Ran Fiennes has not climbed since we were together on the N Face of the Eiger almost 1 year ago. In the build up to Everest, yep you heard right, the man is off to Everest (with me of course to save guard him); he has decided to climb the N face of the Matterhorn. Now as he hasn’t climbed we have started with a mellow week in Zermatt to get the man used to the whole climbing thing again.
Today’s mission was the Breithorn (4,164m) above Zermatt. This is a super cool peak that’s really close to the cable car, but it allows Ran to try his body at altitude, and as ever the boy did good with no signs of him suffering. The route we took was the SW flank and it probably provides one of the easiest ways up a 4000m peak. However its winter and therefore lots of snow and there was a bitter N wind blowing all day that made life hard.
We left the cable car with Ran’s (and mine) friend Mike Kobold and hiked across the basin to the foot of the climb. Here an initial hard icy section lead onto easier snow and a gentle climb to the ridge and then the summit. The views were great and we snapped a few pics for Marie Curie with Ran looking rather chilly in the wind.
Going down was pretty exciting as Mike wasn’t happy with the exposure. This turned out well, as it’s normally Ran who suffers from vertigo, and this gave him some confidence. But it didn’t take too long to get back to the flat and hence the cable car. There isn’t much winter alpine stuff done in Zermatt and we had just two others on the mountain, a far cry from the crowds in Chamonix.
As I sit writing this there is a light drizzle in Zermatt so we’re not too sure what to do tomorrow but I’m sure that it’ll be fun and I’m looking fwd to it already.
Ciao for now
Kenton
Sir Ran Fiennes has not climbed since we were together on the N Face of the Eiger almost 1 year ago. In the build up to Everest, yep you heard right, the man is off to Everest (with me of course to save guard him); he has decided to climb the N face of the Matterhorn. Now as he hasn’t climbed we have started with a mellow week in Zermatt to get the man used to the whole climbing thing again.
Today’s mission was the Breithorn (4,164m) above Zermatt. This is a super cool peak that’s really close to the cable car, but it allows Ran to try his body at altitude, and as ever the boy did good with no signs of him suffering. The route we took was the SW flank and it probably provides one of the easiest ways up a 4000m peak. However its winter and therefore lots of snow and there was a bitter N wind blowing all day that made life hard.
We left the cable car with Ran’s (and mine) friend Mike Kobold and hiked across the basin to the foot of the climb. Here an initial hard icy section lead onto easier snow and a gentle climb to the ridge and then the summit. The views were great and we snapped a few pics for Marie Curie with Ran looking rather chilly in the wind.
Going down was pretty exciting as Mike wasn’t happy with the exposure. This turned out well, as it’s normally Ran who suffers from vertigo, and this gave him some confidence. But it didn’t take too long to get back to the flat and hence the cable car. There isn’t much winter alpine stuff done in Zermatt and we had just two others on the mountain, a far cry from the crowds in Chamonix.
As I sit writing this there is a light drizzle in Zermatt so we’re not too sure what to do tomorrow but I’m sure that it’ll be fun and I’m looking fwd to it already.
Ciao for now
Kenton
