The hut guardian had explained that "most people" set off about 5 o'clock so as to be on the summit for sunrise. Then they come back down to the hut for breakfast. It seemed a reasonable idea, so we decided to do the same.
Despite that, there was some breakfast on the tables when we got up at 4.30. Chris and John grabbed some muesli and some bread and jam while I explained to the guardian we'd have 'proper' breakfast later. The guardian didn't seem bothered. We finished getting ready and left the hut at 5.15.
My memories of climbing the Oberaarhorn are blurred and confused, which is how I usually feel in the early mornings. The path to the summit via the normal route starts behind the hut toilets, initially up a series of slabby ledges, and is liberally marked with large arrows and paint splodges in dark orange. The quality of the rock on the first half of the climb varies, with plenty of loose shale among the more solid sections.
The upper part of the route is a simple snowfield at a moderate gradient. We alternated between zig-zagging and heading straight up, hardly remarking on the christening of John's crampons. There's little variety on the snow slope and the summit comes into view without warning. Oddly, a couple of metres of snow on the summit put us level with the top of the summit cross.
"Most people" were right, though. The panorama from the summit as the shadows fell away was worth the climb. The east face of the Finsteraarhorn loomed close on the other side of the valley, with the sun catching its upper slopes. To the south the peaks of the Mischabel and Monte Rosa stood clear above a layer of valley cloud, with the Matterhorn doing a Toblerone impression further west. We took pictures.
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| Chris & John on summit of Oberaarhorn, Finsteraarhorn behind |
Back at the hut an hour later we helped ourselves to bread, jam and cheese, and bowls of tea, and discussed plans for the rest of the day. We'd considered a traverse of the Vorder and Hinter Galmihorns, and even though we thought both might be a bit too much, we agreed to go and have a look. From the Galmigletscher the NW ridge of the Vorder Galmihorn looked off-putting - heavy snow accumulations piled over the ridge, and big complex crevasses away from the ridge edge. Instead, we headed for the Galmilicke, the col north of the Hinter Galmihorn, a glacier walk away.
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| Chris checks out the Vorder Galmihorn (photo - John) |
The chossy ridge on the Hinter Galmihorn (photo - John) |
Once at the col we started on the ridge towards the summit. This was mostly loose and crumbling rock, about 45 - 50 degrees. As we got higher I decided I was not enjoying it, and called a halt. John and Chris went on while I waited. My altimeter showed 3410 metres, 56 metres below the summit. John and Chris got as far as the fore-summit, but didn't like the look of the final summit ridge and decided enough was enough. It was down and back to the hut. Our excursion had added 546m of ascent and descent to the day, making 920 metres in total.
| time | altitude(m) | |
|---|---|---|
| Oberaarjoch hut | 0515 | 3256 |
| Oberaarhorn | 0630 | 3631 |
| Oberaarjoch hut | 0730 | 3256 |
| Total height gain/loss (m) | 375 | |
| Total time | 2h 15min | |
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Last updated 22 August 2002