Cybercasts

Hello from Zermatt, Switzerland!

Last night all our climbers arrived safely with all of their climbing gear in Zermatt. We went out for a good meal and got to know each other as we talked about our plans for the next week of climbing. We have a great group of climbers from the United States; some of them have lots of climbing experience all around the world.

Today, we are going to head up the Gornergrat train and do some climbing on the Riffelhorn (2,979m). The Riffelhorn is a great way for climbers to practice and remember some of those footwork techniques for alpine rock climbing in boots.

Here is a picture from climbers on the Riffelhorn from two weeks ago:

Conditions on the Matterhorn continue to be extremely unseasonably snowy this year. Earlier last week local Swiss guides started to reset fixed ropes and anchors on the upper part of the mountain. However another quick moving storm ending yesterday just deposited another 50cm+ of snow on the Matterhorn. Forecasts are calling for improving weather this week with a clearing trend. We are hopeful by the time we get to our Matterhorn summit opportunity, conditions will improve.

Thanks for following our cybercast and we will be in touch during the next 7 days of climbing.

Jonathon

Jonathon Spitzer
IFMGA license mountain guide
Alps Program Director
Alpine Ascents International

Hello from Val D’Ayas hut on the border of Italy and Switzerland!

Today we departed from Zermatt and rode up the Klein Matterhorn then traversed the back on the backside of the Breithorn to reach the base of Polux.

We ascended the Southwest ride to the summit, climbing up fixed ropes and steep snow and rock to the summit. Tonight is our final night in the field and we are at a beautiful private Italian hut at 3420m.

Tomorrow we plan to climb the Breithorn Traverse back towards the Klein Matterhorn lift. Will plan to be back in Zermatt tomorrow afternoon (July 17th).

Thanks for following our cybercast.

Jonathon

Jonathon Spitzer
IFMGA licensed mountain guide

Greetings from Zermatt, Switzerland!

Yesterday we departed Chamonix after spending over 10 days there and came to Zermatt. The 3 hour train ride let us enjoy the views of the countryside as we relaxed on the Swiss Railway. Last night we had a team dinner in Zermatt as we got our first views of the Matterhorn. This morning we woke up to clear skies and amazing views. Today was the nicest weather day we have had on our trip so far.

With the good weather, we got on the Gornergrat railway up to Rotenboden to climb the Riffelhorn. The Riffelhorn is a technical rock climb on the south side that overlooks the Gorner Gletscher Glacier, the Monta Rosa, and the Matterhorn. We did an 800 ft vertical rock climb to the top of the summit. Below are some pictures of our great day in Zermatt.

Tomorrow we are heading up the Klien Matterhorn lift to make summit attempts on three peaks over 4,000 meters (Polux, Castor, and Briethorn). We will be spending tomorrow night (July 16th) at the Val D’Ayes hut. We will return to Zermatt on July 17th in the afternoon.

Enjoy the pictures and thanks for following our cybercast!

Jonathon

Hello and greetings from Chamonix, France!

Today is Sunday, July 13th. Our team of three climbers and two guides made an amazing effort on Mont Blanc over the past three days. Deep snow, avalanche danger, and difficult climbing conditions caused the team to turn around approx. 350m from the summit. Typically Mont Blanc has many climbers on the mountain working their way towards the summit. This team encountered less than 10 other climbers on the upper mountain during the past three days.

Despite not reaching the summit of Mont Blanc the team feels like they achieved a major goal by helping to push the route towards the summit and sticking their heads out in the bad weather over the past three days.

Tomorrow we are going to switch paces and head to Zermatt, Switzerland. Our goal of climbing the Matterhorn has been changed due to the massive amount of snow and wet summer. We will be making summit attempts on the Briethorn, Castor, and Polux. All three peaks are over 4,000m and on the Italian/Swiss boarder.

Below are a couple pictures when the sun came out for a brief moment yesterday (July 12th).

Thanks for following our cybercast and we will have more updates from Zermatt!

Jonathon Spitzer
IFMGA license mountain guide
Alps Program Director
Alpine Ascents International