Alps 2012 Part 3

Monday's weather forecast was bad, but rather than waste the day Pat and I decided to get into position for our first summit attempt. We took the Hosaas lift up and once again hiked past the Weismiess hut to a base camp at the foot of the Lagginhorn (4010m). It rained heavily. Our kit got pretty soaked and we had to dash outside the tent and spread it all out to make the most of the brief dry spells.

However, we knew the rain and cloud was due to stop sometime around midnight, which would be ideal for an early start on Tuesday morning. We slept fitfully, and woke at 12:30. I unzipped the flap and saw a clear night sky and the dark bulk of the mountain looming over us. Perfect. We left an hour later.

The start of the West South West ridge followed a vague trail up a moraine crest. We hiked up this to the Southern flank of the Lagginhorn glacier. Here we put on crampons and traversed the glacier North West, and entered a shallow couloir which led to the crest of the ridge. Clouds drifted up from the valley but disappeared before they reached us. We passed a pinnacle tower at circa 3500m, via some straightforward scrambling, and began the final stretch up to the summit. We moved together on a short rope the whole time.

It was all going well for a while, until first Pat, then I, began showing signs of altitude sickness at c3700m. Clearly we'd been wrong to assume it would be alright having been to 3200m on Sunday. Despite headaches and nausea, we continued upwards, climbing a steeper slab that was probably the crux of the route (easy 'Moderate', perhaps). Here a broken snow slope appeared, running parallel to scree and loose blocks. We should've put crampons back on and climbed the snow, but we couldn't be bothered. Instead we followed lines of weakness in the blocks and slid all over the place on the scree, protecting each other with marginal running belays.

With the summit in sight but still a way away, we considered turning back. Instead we carried on. I had to dig deep just to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Finally we reached the top at 6:30, just as the sun came up. The wind was bitterly cold. After taking a few photos of each other standing beside the iron cross fixed onto the peak, we sheltered in an alcove and put on our crampons. The descent was much easier following the snow, and we both felt better with every meter of height lost. Roughly 10 hours after leaving, we returned to the tent, exhausted but happy.