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The Matterhorn: when “exciting” is not enough

Text Alice Russolo & Marco Eydallin

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Alice: I’ve lived many adventures with Marco, but if someone asked me which one was the most exciting one, the answer would be easy and immediate: the climb of the Matterhorn. The truth is that the Matterhorn was not in our plans or a dream I had, or at least, not immediately. I’ve always believed it was not my thing and therefore the thought was always: “sooner or later we will do it”.

Until a very quiet mid-September evening, I was having a nice beer in the company of some guys who would have follow my photography course the next day, when I got a message from Marco: “Next week, Monviso and Matterhorn. I’m excited”. My only answer was: “Great!”.

 

Marco: I’m sure that the Matterhorn has a special energy. I reached the cross at its summit three times and each of them I got excited. And it’s certainly not the only mountain I’ve climbed! I would like to climb it with Alice next time. It’s a nice hike, but it’s worth it.

This weekend I was supposed to climb the eastern crest of Monviso with two different groups. Both of them had health issues and therefore everything has been postponed. It’s the 13th of September and there is not much time left to face these climbs without meeting some snow. I look at the weather forecast for the following week, it should be nice. I think about it for a moment. Then text Alice: “Next week Monviso and Matterhorn. I’m excited “. She immediately replies: “Great!”

 

A: My prediction of “sooner or later we will do it” came true sooner than expected.

We decide to do the Monviso first, in preparation for the long climb up the Matterhorn.

During the days preceding each of our adventures, I usually search the web to try to understand what we will see, what kind of climb and difficulty will await us, thinking that this can prepare me better, at least mentally. It’s always a double-edged sword: you don’t know if the ones who write climbing reviews are strong athletes, and the photos, I should know it better than anyone else, can easily distort your perception of steepness, difficulty and more or less wild environment. I didn’t do any of that this time, no research. I don’t know what triggered the Matterhorn in me, but wanting to climb it and reaching the top was the only thing I wanted, and that was enough for me.

M: Going to the mountains in mid-September has pros and cons. The pros are that there is no one around, and the cons are a direct consequence of the pros: closed facilities and jeep-shuttle service not available. I told Alice that the Matterhorn, faced on the Italian side, the Lion Crest, is a not extreme climb but it requires a good training. What contributes to increase the difficult of the climb is its length. 800m to the Oriondé refuge, easy to reach with a jeep, 1000m up to the bivouac where you spend the night, the Carrel hut, at 3835m. The following day there are 600m more to reach the summit at an altitude of 4478m, then you have to add 600m of descent, as delicate as the ascent if not more, to be faced along the same route, and other 1800m to the parking lot, in Cervina. Let’s say that we would have loved to avoid those last 800m of altitude thanks to a jeep.

 

A: I’m excited Thrilled. We start on foot from Cervinia, just to make it even shorter. But we both like to complicate things, we are smiling, and are also fully loaded because at Carrel, in addition to a mattress and (fortunately) some blankets, there is nothing. You need to bring everything you need. Water, food, clothes, extra layer and, if in doubt, 10 painkillers  in case of high altitude sickness. The weather has changed and we decided to take advantage of these days with the best conditions to climb the Matterhorn. We will think about Monviso later. Going up towards Carrel we meet various groups, one of these with two Venetian guys. They stop, we exchange some words, they are excited about their climb. One of them greets us saying “How great is to climb the Matterhorn with your girlfriend”. I look at Marco and smile both with my lips and eyes. I know I have to thank him for making me live these adventures, especially together. He says to me: “See, this is the effect of the Matterhorn, you are so happy when climbing that you want to share it with other people”.

Before Carrel we hit the famous “canaponi”. Certainly it is not an easy walk, we are now facing a slightly more difficult route and the altitude makes us feel all the heaviness of our backpacks. At the bivouac there’s some wind and the clouds run fast. They hide and then suddenly discover what turns out to be an amazing sight. The Monte Rosa massif to the east with its snowy sharp ridges. Cervinia in front of us suffers the coming and going of the clouds that create plays of light and shadows on the ski slopes, still grassy. Some of them have summer colors, others, higher up, are already feeling the arrival of autumn, with their saturated reds of the sunset light.

 

M: Every time I think about how lucky we are to experience such things, to see these places so closely. The sunset from here looks more beautiful. The wind is very strong but this doesn’t stop me from taking some pictures and doing a time lapse.

We are 8 rope teams. I exchange opinions with the other guides about the time to leave to  not overlap each others. The route is mandatory.

It’s 5am. No breakfast, we immediately start with “the wake up rope”. The name says a lot. The whole first part is done completely in the dark, the only light is that of our headlamps and of an almost full moon. We proceed quickly up to the big rope where, at the top, the trail continues turning onto the west slope. It’s very cold here because of the strong wind. I see Alice wearing her last layer and putting the gloves on. I reach here and feel her breathing fast, despite this she does not slow her pace. I know that as soon as we reach the Pic Tyndall the wind will return to being more than bearable thanks to the fact that the route returns on the southern slope.

A: It’s 5am. I didn’t sleep much due to the altitude and I had breakfast with two painkillers. I can’t see anything. Perfect, I say to myself, so I don’t even have to think about the void at my feet. And then I have to concentrate on climbing the famous “wake up rope”. If I ever thought about sleepwalking a bit, like on those alpine trails where you begin to walk in the dark along the glacier, slowly, until you realize that it’s time to really wake up, well I was wrong. Marco told me that until the Pic Tyndal time flies, then, from there you see the top that looks beautiful, but it is still a few hours away. He was right, the 2 and a half hours spent up to there have flown, but the cold was insane. The wind started to blow in an overbearing way. A bit like my headache. Will it also stop once arrived at the Pic Tyndall?

 

M: As I see Alice approaching the sun rises. I would say that I have seen such a beautiful sunrise just a few times, even though I realize that I say that every time. Maybe it’s the charm of the mountain, maybe it’s the environment, or maybe it’s just about knowing how to appreciate experiences, not things. I urge Alice to take her camera out, I know it will be a pain to take off her gloves with icy hands but then again, as she always repeats to me whenever she wants me to stop to let her take pictures, “every left is lost “. And we won’t be back here any time soon. The shadow of the Matterhorn is huge. Down there you can also see the Mont Blanc, with its rose-colored top. We have arrived at the point where the route returns to the southern slope, we rest a few minutes before calmly going on for the last part of the climb. The top is visible, it seems there, but in fact, it is still far away.

 

A: Dawns warm your heart, and even your hands. I hope my little camera will be able to reproduce with justice the dawn we have just been spectators of. Incredible how to focus on one thing makes another lose importance. Photo vs. wind and cold. Photos won.

 

M: We proceed fairly quickly despite the fact that I continue filming. There are optimal conditions, the rock is clean and there is no trace of ice and snow. Behind us, a painting. Alice smiles. I’m happy. We’re almost on the Giordan scale.

 

A: We’re almost there. We meet the first three teams arrived at the summit while they are already going down. Two guides from Cervinia and another guide, friend of Marco. The latter greets us and going past me, says “Good job, you’re almost there”. The top is really close. I’m starting to get excited. I see the famous Giordan scale. Meanwhile the sky is slightly veiled but to me everything looks beautiful. I begin to think that up until now I have enjoyed myself so much that I have already forgotten the cold felt in my hands (what cold?) and that a dream that I did not know I wanted to come true is about to come true. I think I’m lucky and I don’t want to take anything for granted. I look at Marco getting out of the rocks and standing out in the sky. It is 9.30am and we are on the short final ridge, we are breathless again but this time because I’m about to cry.

A mix of emotion, satisfaction, gratitude, happiness and above all sharing are translated into tears. Even these shared. We are on the top of the Matterhorn.

 

M: Selfie on top. Russolo-Eydallin rope team (+ tears) on the top of the Matterhorn.

Our adventure then definitively finished at the Cervinia parking lot 13 hours after leaving the Carrel that morning. Ah, and we have never arrived to the Monviso.

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