Hardwear Sessions

At 8 am we reach the platform. A 6 times 60 meters long very diversified climbing is waiting for us. I start to climb the first 4 pitches. Simon is damned to carry the backpack behind him. The climb is very demanding and each pitch is definitively not a stroll. On the contrary: each pitch requires everything from me. I carry a small equipment set with me, which consists in 14 normal pitons, 3 camelots, 6 nuts, 8 quickdraws and innumerable runners. Each of these 60-meter-long pitches is an adventure. I find difficult rock and mixed passages, which I have to belay with this minimum of equipment. Simon's effort, compared to mine, is much bigger. He must belay and wait in the cold for at least 45 minutes. Afterwards he may jumar the 25 kg heavy backpack up. And this as quick as possible, to gain the lost time, which the leader wasted beforehand. After 220 meters in the rock ascent we change. It's 5 pm when Simon set up for the last pitch. Now it's me who is sentenced to belay.

From my belay station, the pitch looks pretty easy. But the sight is being obstructed by an overhang. Suddenly nothing goes on. From time to time I can give up a bit of the rope. I am belaying now a full hour. I am getting cold and a quick glance at my watch tells me, that it will get dark soon. Simon is a very strong climber. That it doesn't move on, doesn't really bother me. The passage up there must be quite difficult. There are not many climbing partners where I can accept such a situation. But I can with Simon, and this to a 100 percent. Only the fact that it will be dark soon bothers me. My actual position is not very comfortable for a bivouac. Then the rope comes to its end. Simon must have reached the end of the platform. Shortly afterwards I reach the area with the heavy equipment. The place seems to be a bit flatter. We climb up another 60 meters, where we find a good place where to bivouac. We are able to build a 70 cm large and 4 meters long place, before hitting the rock. That's a perfect place to spend the night. Not only 2 hours before, I imagined that we might spend the night in a vertical position. And now--a small dream came true.

The only bad news: the place is very exposed. The wind is howling and we have to take enormous pains to start our cooking gear. After a while we solve the problem and can make some hot water out of the snow. A Katadyn meal usually takes about 8 minutes to be ready to eat. After 5 minutes I can no longer wait. I eat my pasta before being al dente and before being cold again. Our comfortable Phantom sleeping bags beware us from the cold night. The wind is still howling.

Friday, April 11: 5 am. Time to get up. Like robots we make hot water. We eat our poor breakfast. Then it's time to pack our gear in the big backpack. Yesterday Simon climbed the last pitch. Now it's my turn to start. Good for me. I don't have to carry the heavy backpack. I just have to make sure that we move up higher and higher.

Demanding climbing is waiting for me. The steepness and difficulty wakes me definitively up.

The wind is getting stronger and we have heavy snowfall. Spindrifts become avalanches. We are really too exposed and totally delivered at the mercy of the natural elements. Suddenly the decision is very simple: we have to abseil (rappel). It's 3 pm and we find ourselves in the middle of a snowstorm totally exposed. Avalanches pass over us. Sometimes we have to wait until the wind calms down. We know we have to get down as soon as possible.

The bad weather reached us half a day earlier than forecasted. As from our experience, it will only get worse.

The abseiling is adventurous. Pitch by pitch we have to install belays. Sometimes it's getting hard to the limits, the cold overcomes us. When the wind calms down for a moment, we can move on. A 8 pm we reach the bottom of the wall. About 100 meters below on the moraine we see two headlamps. Our cook Kaji and the "kitchen boy" have been waiting for us with juice. Simon and I are back. Tonight we will sleep well at our base camp.

See you soon, Ueli