Forums Trip Reports [VIDEO] Dufourspitze 4634m / 15203ft (Switzerland) Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)Author Posts May 18, 2011 at 9:37 pm #574888 FloImSchnee 291 PostsHi guys,time for a trip report from Europe…Two friends an me were hiking the Dufourspitze or the Silbersattel 4515m respectively, Switzerland’s highest mountain, Europe’s third-highest. Unfortunately we perceived the remaining 119 vertical meters through a northern iced couloir to be too dangerous due to fresh snow.Nevertheless, a great trip in an amazing surrounding![vimeo:9zh3vpxf]http://www.vimeo.com/23118589[/vimeo:9zh3vpxf] Choose HD and FullScreen!Filmed by Andi / http://www.amotion.atItinerary: Rotenboden – Monte Rosa Hut 2884m – Silbersattel 4515mEquipment: Venture Zephyr 169/27 with Spark BlazeAs a start, an acclimatization tour in Austria with my girlfriend: Stubacher Sonnblick 3088m: Then an 9 hour drive to Switzerland, and another acclimatization tour (what is the right term for this actually?): Allalinhorn, 4027m:Huge crevasses… Of course I had to ride from the summit cross… 😉 — no pictures, unfortunately. One of Europe’s most famous mountains: Matterhorn The day after: second acclimatization tour, Breithorn 4153m: On Thursday we approached the Monte Rosa Hut from the Gornergrat Railway, Rotenboden.Andi’s huge backpack — large videocam inside, tripod outside… Pretty unusual architecture for a mountain hut, nevertheless, I like it. Pure high-tech inside. And then, Friday. Summit day. The alarm goes off at 3:45 AM… …some hours of hiking later, the sun rises: This is the northern ice-couloir, we decided not to climb due to too much fresh snow, unfortunately. All other teams except one or two came to the same decision. Alternative approach: Nordend 4609m. However we had to cancel this too, due to too high avalange danger. 60cm of fresh pow… 🙂 The day back home from the hut…Some rapelling… And the Matterhorn once again… A short glance back — Dufourspitze on the left, Lyskamm on the right: Well, we enjoyed it. 😉 May 19, 2011 at 12:31 am #640320 UTAH 830 PostsSick video Flolm. I wish you Euro’s didn’t feel you have to put a building on top of every mtn. The trend’s starting to catch on with the ultra elite here in the states and it sucks for the rest of us. Keep em coming May 19, 2011 at 5:27 am #640321 bcrider 4150 PostsI gotta see the Matterhorn someday in person. Thanks for sharing! May 19, 2011 at 11:56 pm #640322 nedrapier 235 PostsBeautiful photo’s! That’s an awesome looking “hut”!Did you have the Marinelli in mind at all? I guess it’s been pretty dry and thin in there this year? May 20, 2011 at 4:58 am #640323 schwalbster 321 PostsSuper Trip Report! Da kommen Erinnerungen auf! Einer der gigantischen und schoensten Regionen in den Alpen!Nice Trip Report! Some of the most amazing mountains and glaciers in the Alps! I love it there! God job Flo, on the wise decisions too! That Hut looks crazy, I stayed at the old one! Is the old one still open too?And Utah, that thing is actually just a new version (or addition) of a hut that has been there since 1895 and they are fairly cheap, so that mountaineering folks can afford that stuff!After much research, experimentation and consideration, I have decided adulthood is not for me. Thank you for the opportunity. May 20, 2011 at 6:38 am #640324 FloImSchnee 291 PostsGlad you like it! @nedrapier wrote:Did you have the Marinelli in mind at all? I guess it’s been pretty dry and thin in there this year?No, we didn’t consider it yet. The M. Couloir might be something to approach in some years — pretty tight stuff, afaik. (“longest ice wall in the alps” or something like that is in my mind…) And you’re correct — snow levels are very low in that region this year. Our landlord told us, there was virtually no snowfall since December, good weather all the time. And then the wheater report forecasted bad weather (fog, snowfall) for our two summit days — we were pretty annoyed. In the end it turned out to be fine — visibility was enough, and there were amazing 60cm of fresh snow. Usually, when riding this mountain in spring, you’ll rather have crust… @schwalbster wrote:That Hut looks crazy, I stayed at the old one! Is the old one still open too?Oh, so you had such “nice” experiences as walking to a toilet outside the building in the middle of the night at -20°C / -4°F? 😉 The old hut is closed now and will be disintegrated and disposed of next year. @schwalbster wrote:And Utah, that thing is actually just a new version (or addition) of a hut that has been there since 1895 and they are fairly cheap, so that mountaineering folks can afford that stuff!Right, those huts usually have been in the mountains for 60-200 years. In most areas it is prohibited to build new huts. “Fairly cheap”: well, from an Austrian (or German, or Italian, or French) point of view, Swiss huts are pretty expensive. In Austria you would pay approx. half the price for accomodation and food. Nevertheless, it’s worth visiting the Swiss mountains absolutely. May 23, 2011 at 5:04 am #640325 schwalbster 321 Posts @FloImSchnee wrote: @schwalbster wrote:That Hut looks crazy, I stayed at the old one! Is the old one still open too?Oh, so you had such “nice” experiences as walking to a toilet outside the building in the middle of the night at -20°C / -4°F? 😉 The old hut is closed now and will be disintegrated and disposed of next year.Oh yes I had, haha! That kinda of sucks though, kind of a legendary place, should be under Denkmalschutz ;! @schwalbster wrote:And Utah, that thing is actually just a new version (or addition) of a hut that has been there since 1895 and they are fairly cheap, so that mountaineering folks can afford that stuff!Right, those huts usually have been in the mountains for 60-200 years. In most areas it is prohibited to build new huts. “Fairly cheap”: well, from an Austrian (or German, or Italian, or French) point of view, Swiss huts are pretty expensive. In Austria you would pay approx. half the price for accomodation and food. Nevertheless, it’s worth visiting the Swiss mountains absolutely.I agree, Swiss huts are quite expensive compared to DAV huts! Most of all the 5 franken Waterbottles or whatever it is now?! Still though, it’s far away from ultra elite wouldn’t you agree! And I personally love the hutsystem in the Alps!After much research, experimentation and consideration, I have decided adulthood is not for me. Thank you for the opportunity. May 23, 2011 at 6:19 am #640326 FloImSchnee 291 Posts @schwalbster wrote:Most of all the 5 franken Waterbottles or whatever it is now?!9 CHF for 1 litre in Diavolezza Berghaus. Next time I’ll bring my own bottles… 😉 @schwalbster wrote:And I personally love the hutsystem in the Alps!I do so too, absolutely! Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
