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Published: September 28th 2008
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River in LucerneAfter Dijon I spent one night in Geneva and all that I really gained was a memorable story. If you are interested you can ask and I will tell. It's an interesting one, but I don't want to bother writing about it now. From Geneva I made my way to Lucerne to meet up again with Chris, a guy I met in Finland. He had told me to come visit him, and since the Barcelona-France idea worked out, it seemed natural that Switzerland would be another piece of the puzzle. I met Chris after he finished university and we made our way to his place. I met his parents and had dinner, and then went to bed to catch up on sleep that I lost out on from my night in Geneva.
I had Thursday and Friday to explore Lucerne, and Chris provided me with a bike so it was a lot more interesting than the usual walking. It was also a bit more nerve-wracking, since in Europe bikes always ride with the traffic. So that would be me cruising down a main street in between a city bus and speeding BMW's. I managed to keep myself safe, and see
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Hike up Grassy/Boulder side most of Lucerne which is a quiet city with many interesting buildings, and a great location surrounding a lake. Thursday night I met Chris's friend Michel and we went wall climbing at a local spot. They also gave me the rundown for what the weekend would hold...And what it held was amazing...The 3 of us were going to go to the Swiss Alps and climb a mountain. No big deal really...
Friday night Chris and I packed our backpacks, mine filled with mainly mountaineering gear that Chris and Michel had let me borrow. Saturday morning we set out for the 2 hour drive to where our ascent would begin.
The first part of the climb was on grassy boulder strewn hills, and lasted about 2 hours. We then came to a spot that I wouldn't have ever thought to climb unless I was with 2 experienced mountain climbers. We scrambled our way up a very steep lip and came to a high ridge. Upon reaching the ridge, the view that unfolded was spectacular. Behind us, where we had come from, was the grassy boulder area, but in front of us, down the other steep side of the ridge
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On the Ridge: Left is Grassy Right is Glacier was a huge glacier. From the ridge all that could be seen was towering mountains in front of us, and the highest peak in the area which had the glacier on it, was the one we were going to climb they told me.
It took about another 2 hours to make it down the ridge and to the cabin where we would spend Saturday night. The walk to the cabin was fairly mild, near the edge of the glacier, but the snow was deep and careful footing was essential. We made it to the cabin and had lunch, and then went for a nap.
At about 7 Saturday night Michel and I decided to climb a nearby peak and watch the sunset. Michel is a guy my age, but his mountain climbing experience is vast. He was easy to get along with, and helpful to give me pointers to help me keep myself safe. We made it to the peak in about 45 minutes and looked out around us at the many mountains in view. We were already well above the cloud level, and watching the sunset along with the "sea" of clouds was unreal. We trekked back
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View from cabin. Glacier leading up to Oberalpstock summit down in the dark with headlamps, to get a warm meal and go to bed.
We woke up at 4:30 Sunday morning to get ready to summit Oberalpstock ( Or as I call it, "My Everest"). The elevation of the mountain is 3350 meters, not a record breaker, but still VERY high. We got all of the gear ready, most of which I have never had to use. Since there are so many crevasses, and the climbing is very steep we all wore harnesses are were constantly connected to each other in case someone took a fall. We were also wearing crampions on our boots, which had one inch spikes to increase traction on the glacier and up the mountain side. With the gear all ready, we set out at 5:30 to begin our march to the summit. I have always enjoyed the dark, and being able to look at the stars, but I have to say that walking across the glacier in pitch black with only our headlamps, dead silence and the entire sky filled with stars is something that I will NEVER forget. The feeling goes beyond what I can describe in words, so I won't try.
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Sizing up my Everest We continued in the dark for almost 2 hours and then the sun began to rise behind us, over the multitude of peaks in the distance. Michel was at the front of the rope, using his knowledge to find us a safe route. I was second in line and it was my job to make sure the rope between us was at the right tension in case he fell. Chris was third in line, and was keeping an eye on my safety and giving me helpful advice. As the sun was rising, we came to an area with many crevasses, and we had to criss cross to find solid snow around them. There were also a few times where we had to cross the crevasses on what I will call "narrow" bridges of ice. I couldn't tell you how deep some of the crevasses were, either because they were full of snow, or because I couldn't see the bottom. After making it through the crevasses, it was the beginning of our uphill journey. To say it was tiring would be a huge understatement. The crampions were awesome though, as they allowed for perfect traction going up the steep glacier.
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Sunset and the sea of clouds As we neared the top of the glacier, and what I guess was about a 60 degree angle, the climbing got more difficult. As tiring as it was climbing, it was also mentally tiring always being aware of every step, along with the tension of the rope. When we reached the top of the glacier, we had to begin rock climbing to make it to the summit. We shortened the length of rope between us from 10 meters to about 3, due to the hard climbing. There was some areas where the incline was bordering on 80 degrees and was a mix of rocks and snow. We climbed this way for about 30 minutes along a ridge towards the summit. As we were slowly working our way up I noticed about one meter to my left was a sheer drop. How far down I don't know. I couldn't help but think that this was one instance where one mistake could mean death (sorry Mom). We finally reached the summit at about 9:30 and we shared high fives. The view was mind-blowing. It was a crystal clear day and the Alps could be seen in every direction. The wind was
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Crevasse... blowing hard, which I had expected at that elevation. We sat at the summit and had a quick bite to eat and then fired off some "been there, done that" photos.
It was then time for the journey back down. For the rocky incline portion, the descent was much harder. Footing was once again of utmost importance, along with awareness for my climbing partners. Once we made it back to the glacier, it was interesting to see how the conditions had changed. The snow was now much softer due to the sun, and it took even more careful planning to cross the same crevasses. As soon as we reached the main flat part of the glacier it was clear sailing back to the cabin to collect our gear. It was a full 7 hours for the return trip, and considering only 30 minutes was spent at the summit, it goes down as one of the hardest workouts I have had. We got the rest of our gear and made the 2.5 hour hike back to where we started on Saturday. This consisted of going back up the ridge and down the other sheer side to the grassy side of
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Sunrise amidst crevasses the mountain. We made it back to the car at about 4:30 and I quickly switched to flip flops and began counting blisters.
As is becoming routine with this trip, this was something I would have never imagined I would get the chance to do. Knowing skilled people who know the area is a huge blessing. The entire journey was completely exhausting, and most likely much more extreme than I will ever do again. Michel did make the effort to tell me that he was very impressed with my climbing for a first timer, and that I could climb with him any day. I took it as a huge compliment.
I have booked a flight Wednesday morning from Geneva to Brussels in preparation for my flight to Rwanda next Saturday. First though is another day in Lucerne, and then on Tuesday I go to the city of Bern to watch the New York Rangers play a pre-season game against the Bern team. Life is good....
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kola and kookie
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The Alps - WOW
Amazing story - must have been neat to see, nice that you had local guides (and new friends). Keep living the dream.