Monte Rosa

By Alan Kimber on 17/09/2011

Now the weather has improved (6th September) we left for Zermatt. I normally use a taxi into the village. The advantage being slightly cheaper and a place to leave your vehicle. Plenty of options on the left as Tasch is entered. Our plan was to try and climb Monte Rosa from the new Monte Rosa Hut which has recently been rebuilt uphill of the old hut. Just a shame it could not have been built a little higher, as the height gain on summit day is around 1800m! The new hut is however a wonder of modern design and boasts a 90% self-sufficient energy design, using solar power to good effect. The Swiss Alpine Club have removed the old hut with explosives I believe!!

Approaching the hut from Rotenboden on the Gornagrat railway has become increasing difficult since I first stayed on the site in 1975. Even in the last year, retreating glaciers have forced the authorities to place metal ladders in various places to help alpinistes and ‘hut trippers’ reach the hut with some degree of safety. Crampons will often be essential once the ladders have been negotiated to gain the Grenz glacier. The exit from the glacier on to the rocks below the hut is guarded by a very big and fearsome glacial tunnel that carries a huge amount of melt water.

Unfortunately our attempt on Monte Rosa was thwarted by bad weather and white-out only 150m below the summit. The normal route on the west ridge was cloaked in too much fresh snow and a large group in front had blazed a good trail to the col between Dofourspitze and Nordend. We followed this trail but it was filling in quite quickly and not easy going. The glacier below the col is not straight forward, especially in descent and in a white out. It’s certainly a good place to carry a GPS and plug in various waymarks in ascent, which can be followed in retreat if the trail becomes unclear.

The route from the col follows easy but steep fixed ropes at around Scottish grade II and is also used in descent. Thanks to the Verbier Guides for blazing a trail, both up and down the mountain. They deserved their success. Of interest here is the reason for the Verbier Guides being on the mountain. They were leading a group of young men on a drug rehabilitation programme over two weeks from the lowest point to the highest point in Switzerland and were …”as fit as butchers  dogs”…well done.