Les and Jolene Lovett
Swiss Alps- August 19 - 25th, 2007
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| After an amazing trip to the Alps in Chamonix
last summer, mountaineers Les and Jolene Lovett joined Larry
for another week in the Alps, this time based out of Zermatt,
Switzerland. |
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| The town of Zermatt sits in a spectacular
glacial valley, surrounded by the lush meadows typical
of the Swiss Alps. |
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| The weather wasn't great initially, so
we opted for a relatively short and low commitment climb
for Day 1. The South face of the Breithorn (photo taken
on a much nicer day) offers just that, with the help of
the Klein Matterhorn ski lift which takes climbers up
over 7000 vertical feet to drop them just 400 meters below
the summit of this 4000m peak. |
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| We made good time on the climb and even
had a few sunny breaks on the way up. |
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| The views from the summit however left
a little something to be desired... |
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| The following day it rained hard all
day in Zermatt and snowed in the mountains forcing a rest
day a little earlier than we would have liked. We chose
the Stockhorn for our next objective, seen here as the
prominent snowy peak in the back. |
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| Leaving Zermatt in a thick layer of low
cloud, we rode the Gornergrot railway up into the sunshine
and fresh snow. With a fresh cloak of 4-6" of new
snow the mountains looked stunning as we headed out for
the Stockhorn. |
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| After very moderate ridge running for
3 miles, we topped out on this spectacularly situated
peak. Some clouds had rolled in, but we enjoyed great
views all day. Here Les and Jolene pose for the summit
photo. |
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| The camera is turned and captures Larry
with the Cima di Jazzi just poking up in the background. |
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| The following day we trained and bussed
to the Saas valley. Here you can see the picturesque town
of Saas Fee at the head of the Valley. |
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| Our planned objective was the Jegihorn,
a lower peak that offers great rock climbing. The night
before had deposited 6-8" of new snow and the Jegihorn
was definitely not in shape for climbing on, so we turned
our attention to the Weissmies. |
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| The Weissmies is another 4000m peak made
much easier by a tram from the town of Saas Grund. On
this particular day the combination of new snow and strong
winds turned us back due to avalanche hazard. Many parties
turned back on this day and while it was disappointing,
we felt good about our decision. Some fresh avalanche
debris can be seen in the center of the photo. |
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| We spent the night at the Hohsaas hut.
This mountain restaurant offers lodging in bunk rooms
downstairs and provided a delicious meal for dinner. Here
Les pours Jolene some white wine just before dinner is
served. |
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| A view of the hut at night with the Weissmies
behind. |
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| The following day we turned our attention
to the Jegihorn. Our intended route would be the South
Arete, which closely follows the left skyline. |
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| Here is a view of the South Arete from
below. As usual from this angle, the climb is foreshortened,
though it rises for almost 1200 vertical feet. The crux
comes early, on the first tower along the ridge. |
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| The climbing stays in the mid fifth class
range, though quite exposed for much of the way. |
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| Les works his way up a section high on
the climb. |
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| The climb had a great descent ( a hiking
trail!) and we made great time getting back to the base.
We quickly got down to the tram to Saas Grund, caught
the bus, and then the train back to Zermatt. We were back
in town by 5:30, after waking up in the next valley over
and climbing a 1200' rock route - now that is Swiss efficiency! |
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| Our last day in Zermatt was bluebird.
We chose to climb the Riffelhorn, Zermatt's version of
the Jegihorn. Though slightly smaller, this peak offers
many climbs in a spectacular setting, with a 15 minute
approach. Here Les and Jolene sit at the 4th belay with
the Matterhorn in the background. |
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| On top of the Riffelhorn, we reminisced
about the wonderful week of climbing we had just had and
started talking about planning next year's trip back to
the Alps.... |
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