Breithorn

We eagerly gathered at 7:45 AM at the base station of the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise (formerly Klein Matterhorn) . We were greeted by our guide, Thomas, and the four other hikers in our group -- Anna, Michael, Phil, and Jason. We made quick introductions before boarding the cable car for the 40 minute ride up the mountain. Anna and Michael were a couple, both temporarily working at the UN in Geneva. Phil was a glaciologist from England. Jason was a geologist from Wales.

Jason's back story was the most interesting. He nearly died from a heart attack about a year ago. The experience forced him to re-prioritze his life; he had read about the Breithorn and decided to set a new goal: to someday climb the mountain and see the world from the summit 4,000 meters above sea level. He completely changed his lifestyle, started working out, and lost 40 pounds in the process. His wife and kids traveled to Switzerland with him to show their support. It was a really inspiring story. I didn't have the heart (no pun intended) to tell him we had spontaneously signed up the day before after checking the weather report online.

Anyway the cable car did most of the work for us, taking us 3,870 meters up the 4,164 meter mountain. The ride up offered exceptional views of the Matterhorn and vast glacier fields below. From the top, we could see over much of Switzerland, deep into Italy and even to France (with Mont Blanc 68km away). It was spectacular.

After taking in the view for a couple of minutes, we quickly refocused on the task at hand. We fastened our climbing harnesses, tied ourselves to a rope line, and headed off on our four hour tour. We walked along a flat ridge line before beginning the slow ascent. Found out later that the ridge crossed over several covered crevasses -- thus the need for the safety line. After about an hour, we stopped to put our crampons on and then we started the 35 degree climb up the snow covered mountain. Climbing at that angle at sea level might not be a problem, but factor in the altitude and the ice and it becomes quite a workout! My chest was burning. But Pam seemed unfazed. I was stunned to see how strong she was. She just marched up the mountain with her head down, dragging me and the rest of the group along with her. In our defense, we were all wearing a back-packs (she was not). But I don't think that made much of a difference. She was in peak form.

It was a beautiful day, if it weren't for the fact that the summit was covered with clouds. But not being able to see the summit had its advantages; it might have been a bit demoralizing to see how much further we had to go. The altitude was really starting to hit me. Just then, Thomas exclaimed "we made it!" It was hard to tell because the visibility was so low. But the wind was strong, and it wasn't long before a break in the clouds provided a clear opportunity to look down on the world below. It was truly exhilarating. Indescribable. We stayed on the summit for about 20 minutes before Thomas turned us around and marched us back down the mountain.

As much trouble as I had getting up, the trek back down was worse for me. I didn't have proper mountain boots, so I was stumbling all over the place (as Pam would describe it later: I was a "hot mess"). To make matters worse, one of my crampons came loose. Pam had to literally guide me back down at one point. But we made it without incident. I was completely exhausted. Back at Klein Matterhorn, I had barely enough energy left to climb panoramic viewing platform to take pictures.

We all met up for a celebratory drink before heading our separate ways. For us, that meant back to the hotel for our bags, a quick bite to eat, and then the train station for the trip back to Bern. Overall, it turned out to be one of the best experiences we've had so far. The sense of anxiety from the night before was gone. But the memories from this day will last a lifetime. See pictures or See video.