Breithorn (4164m)

It was supposed to be a rest day and I was supposed to be having fried egg sandwiches for breakfast. Instead I was lying face down in the back of Newall's pick up eating chocolate biscuits (now my breakfast) whilst Trev treated my feet with the precision of surgeon in operating theatre. We (Mark, Steve, and myself) were preparing for the Breithorn.

Our plan for last few days in the Alps had consisted of a hut walk in the following morning with the intention of doing another peak the very next day. A pessimistic weather forecast indicated that it was literally going to 'rain on our parade'. We assessed the situation - today might be the very last chance to bag a 4,000m peak, it was now or never. After checking out the guide books and a consultation with Trev, the summit of the Breithorn was selected as our destination. A cable car from Zermatt would leave us an ascent of about 1.5 hours on foot. The route was 'facile' so although we would be tackling this during the hottest part of the day the risks were minimal. With the last cable at 4 PM we had a big enough 'window' to achieve our objective.

With military efficiency gear was packed and in what seemed no time we were headed for Zermatt. The cable car gave us a chance for the final preparations, lots of sun cream and liquid refreshment - this was going to be one hot walk in! Once out of the cable car we geared up, and began the expedition to the summit. Despite the heat we made good progress and worked well as a team, our only real stop to put crampons on and take sustenance before starting on the somewhat steeper slope. A bergshrund to cross and a few crevasses on route to the summit were the only real obstacles. We paused briefly on the summit to take photos and eat, we could not risk missing the last cable car unprepared as we were to spend a night out on the slopes. We made a speedy ascent back to the cable car we observing the heavy clouds that hung menacingly in the sky - it seemed that the weather forecast was regrettably going to be accurate. Phillipa