Prologue - Weissmeiss (almost)

Looking back, soloing my first ever Alpine 4000m as an acclimatisation exercise was perhaps just a little ambitious.

I left Saas Almagell (1680m) and walked up to the Almageller Hut (2894m - 3hrs). Setting off at 4.40 next morning to climb Weissmiess (4023m) by the SSE ridge (PD), I followed several other groups up to the Zwischenbergerpass (3268m) on a cairned track, reaching the pass in just under 1 hr.

The snow field on the E side of the ridge was in good condition. It was a clear morning, with great views S to the Portjenhorn and Portjengrat in the sunrise. I zig-zagged up the snow, then followed others onto the rocky part of the ridge. Here doubts begin to set in. Everyone else was roped up, and the rock was still icy in places. Some people opted to climb the ridge in crampons, others took theirs off. I chose to take mine off, and made reasonable progress up the first part of the ridge. But there were a few places where scrambling turned to climbing, and I began to feel uncomfortably exposed. It would have been good to have had a (human) friend and a rope with me.

After the third difficult section I started to think about getting down safely, and realised I felt completely exhausted. The ridge continued steeply above with no sign of the top. I decided to sit down for 10 mins, munch a fruit bar, and see how I felt after a rest. The last of the other parties surged on. It was getting a bit late, I was dropping behind guide book time, and morale was low.

After the rest, discretion won and, making sure no-one was around to see, I retreated. I made up for the disappointment by doing some long bum-slides (a technical term for controlled glissades) down the snow field. Taking my time I walked down to the hut, had a break, and finally trekked down to Saas Almagell.

Studying the map afterwards I reckon I made it to about 3800m, so I only missed by just over 200m. Still, as someone said later, "The mountain will still be there next time, and this way so will you." (I went back next year. This time I had an altimeter. My turning-back point was at 3835m. Oh well!)

Click "Next page" for a full report of the following week when the Glacial Erratics make it from Zermatt to Monte Rosa and back, picking up our first four 4000m-ers.