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home > the climb > update 09.02.04

On Sunday the 8th of February we arrived in Zermatt to climb the Breithorn (4164 m) and Pollux (4092 m). From there we would ski to Italy and skin back up to Rifugio Gniffeti (3647 m), to climb the Vincent Piramide (4215 m), Ludwigshohe (4341 m), Corno Nero (4321 m), Zumsteinspitze (4563 m) and Signalkuppe (4554 m). The ski descent via the grenzgelschter would lead us back to Zermatt.

The wind was so strong (~200 km/h) that we decided to wait. On monday, the wind reduced to an acceptable level so we decided to go up. From Klein Matterhorn, we skinned up towards the Breithorn under heavy wind. We bumped into a mountain guide coming back from the Schwarztor with a client, who confirmed the forecast of diminishing wind. We discussed the situation with him and decided the winds was too strong to climb the Breithorn. We changed our itinerary to the Bivouac Rossi e Volante (3850 m).

The warm summer combined with the lack of snow fall and the hard wind have caused the terrain to become either shear ice or hard windpacked snow. This obliged us to replace our skis by crampons, and mount our ski's on our Bachpacks. In contrast to previous indications, the wind started blowing harder and harder. Our ski's became windcatchers.

Suddenly, we were blown off a small ridge of snow onto a 20 degree slope of shear ice. Fortunately, we both knew the slope is not very steep and that after 50 m it became snow, and that we would come to a stop. We knew we were safe. We tried to stop during the fall but the hard ice made it tough. After 50 meters, we came to a stop without severe injuries. We looked at each other and saw we were both thinking the same: are you allright, can we still ski down Cho Oyu?

The doctor in Zermatt gave us good news: a bruised thumb for Joost and broken thumb and bruises for Greg. Despite these limited injuries, the expedition can go on. We are now resting to allow our bodies to recuperate as quickly as possible. We will head back to Holland and see Tom (our sport doctor at Physique), who will help us recover. A lesson has been learned. It is a pitty that we cannot finish the climb of the 4000 meter peaks. We will now focus on our recuperation and train on the hometrainer.

Departure from Schiphol to Kathmandu will be on the 1st of March. We have three weeks before departure and seven before arriving in base camp. We´re looking forward!