Two classic 4000m peaks into the Aletsch Arena
The Aletsch Glacier is the longest glacier in the Alps, and its immense tongue of ice is surrounded by countless peaks rising above 4,000 metres. Along its northern side stand three of Switzerland’s most iconic mountains: the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. While the first is a considerably more serious undertaking, the other two are classic ski mountaineering objectives and can even be climbed in a single day, provided your wallet can handle it, thanks to the train from Grindelwald that takes you all the way up to the Jungfraujoch at almost 3,500 metres.
And so, together with Vittoria, Damiano and Claudia, we decided to take advantage of the excellent weather forecast for this early April weekend and try to link up a couple of 4,000 metre peaks.
Trying not to think too much about the price, we boarded the train to the Jungfraujoch. From there, we headed towards the southeast ridge of the Mönch. The summit is guarded by a few rocky sections and, higher up, a spectacular and exposed final snow ridge. Everything went smoothly, and before long we were standing on the summit.
After retracing our steps and returning to our skis, or snowboard in my case, we started the long descent towards the Konkordiahütte.
Reaching the hut means skiing along a huge section of the Aletsch Glacier, starting almost from its uppermost reaches. The scenery is simply magnificent: an immense frozen landscape surrounded by seracs, glaciers and shining snow covered peaks.
At the hut, we met another group of friends who had travelled from Milan that same day. We shared dinner with them and, as luck would have it, also the same room for the night.
The following morning we had two objectives. The first was to reach the summit of the Hinter Fiescherhorn. The second, arguably just as important, was to make it back to the Jungfraujoch in time for the last train down to Grindelwald.
The ascent of the Hinter Fiescherhorn starts off quite gently, following the glacier northwards until reaching the base of a steep couloir, around 50 degrees, leading to the saddle between the Gross Fiescherhorn and the Hinter Fiescherhorn.
Here we leave our skis behind and carefully start climbing the steep and tiring couloir, which towards the top also offers a few short rocky sections. As soon as we reach the col, we are greeted by an incredibly strong wind blowing from the south. We put on our shells, grit our teeth and, before long, reach the summit, which has been completely stripped of snow by the wind.
The descent turns out to be anything but relaxing. Unfortunately, that day an exceptionally warm wind blowing up from Africa had created an incredibly unpleasant crust on the snow, making it extremely difficult to ski. After eventually figuring out the right technique to survive the descent, we finally reach the Aletsch Glacier.
Unfortunately, it is not over yet. Already tired from the ascent and descent of the Hinter Fiescherhorn, we still have a long climb back up to the Jungfraujoch ahead of us. And taking it easy is definitely not an option, thanks to the unforgiving timer imposed on us by the Swiss railways and the last train back to Grindelwald.