With Estelle, Stan and Antoine, I traverse the Breithorn: four 4,000-metre summits, an airy ridge and a sea of clouds between Italy and Switzerland.
The suspense lasts right to the end for this outing! Twenty-four hours before departure, the weather forecasts have me considering all sorts of alternatives, anywhere from the Calanques to the northern Alps! There’s no way we’re spending two days wandering around the glaciers of the Aosta Valley in bad weather…
Finally, the very latest forecasts improve. After a fairly poor first day, we should be able to count on sunshine: let’s go!
From Testa Grigia to the Val d’Ayas hut
We leave Testa Grigia in the early afternoon with Estelle, Stan and Antoine. I know everyone today, which is lovely! Within a few minutes, we experience every kind of weather imaginable. With no visibility and almost no tracks after fresh snowfall, I rediscover the joys of navigation across these vast, featureless spaces!
No grand objective today: we’re “just” heading to the Val d’Ayas hut. Along the way, the weather improves, the clouds break up, I put away the GPS and we enjoy the views and the relatively quiet hut.
Traversing the Breithorn
Wake-up at 3.30 am. The stars are shining. That’s a good sign! Today’s plan is the full Breithorn traverse, a major high-altitude outing that keeps us between 4,000 and 4,100 metres all day. Snow cornices and mixed sections, plenty of exposure, and everything suspended between Italy and Switzerland… A long route, but with plenty of escape options if energy or time runs short.
The day begins with an 800-metre ascent to Roccia Nera, our first 4,000-metre summit. From there, we barely drop below 4,000 metres during the six-hour traverse! The atmosphere is breathtaking: on the Swiss side, a sea of clouds sits 200 metres below us, leaving only the highest Alpine summits poking out. That cottony blanket almost makes you want to jump into it!!
Split into two rope teams, we follow the ridge through snow cornices, mixed ground, downclimbing, abseils, rock and other delights! On the climbing section, we join together as a single rope team…
The day’s blunder: a mischievous, freshly purchased carbon ice axe slips off my shoulder and bounces down the north face of the Breithorn.
The day’s miracle: that same axe comes to rest 40 metres below on an unlikely patch of snow, on a 50-degree slope, just 20 centimetres from the big plunge! And our rope is exactly 40 metres long!
Despite tired legs and thin air, everyone reaches the western Breithorn, our fourth 4,000-metre summit of the day!
Practical Info / Route Topo
J1 — Glacier crossing to the Val d’Ayas hut
- Leave Testa Grigia with Estelle, Stan and Antoine for the Val d’Ayas hut. Navigate through poor visibility after fresh snowfall, with improving weather along the approach.
J2 — Four 4,000-metre summits on the Breithorn ridge
- Wake at 3.30 am and climb 800 metres to Roccia Nera. An exposed traverse over snow, cornices, mixed terrain and rock, with downclimbing and abseils above a sea of clouds. After roughly six hours on the ridge, everyone reaches the western Breithorn, our fourth 4,000-metre summit.
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