The story
Episode 1: The start (10.06.2024)
The doubtful weather forecast for the coming days was confirmed by rain in the morning. We intended to do another training day and test our ski setup, consisting of the ski touring gear and simple flying harnesses. A cameraman wanted to catch the start of the XPEAKS project for a TV documentary. Since we concluded that most probable we would not start yet, we determined that he would not come – wrong decision.
After leaving our homes in Frutigen by foot, we took off on Trutten in the early afternoon, only 200 m above the village. The lift was weak, and it took quite a while to reach the low cloud base of 1800-1900 m. After traversing the Kandertal, we flew via Kandersteg to Gasterntal, where we managed to land at Gfelalp on 1840 m. Walking up 1000 altimeters brought us above Lötschenpass, whilst we were still indecisive whether this was a training day or the actual start of our XPEAKS project. On 2840 m we took off. In the luv of the clouds, we managed to get over the Hockenhorn and got breathtaking views to sunny mountains and huge banks of clouds, partly almost 2000 m below us. After traversing the Lötschental, we found amazingly good and gentle lifts at the Bietschhorn ridge, allowing us to climb high enough for crossing the Beichgrat. The strong north föhn, that made this exceptional flight possible in the first place, caused heavy lee turbulences and challenging conditions for the landing at the unattended Oberaletschhütte, where this brilliant first day full of uncertainties adventures and challenges came to an end.
Episode 2: Jungfrau area (11.-13.06.2024)
We left the Oberaletschhütte well before dawn. After reaching and celebrating our first 4000 m peak, the Aletschhorn, we took off roughly 100 altimeters below the summit, in a lee protecting us from the strong NW-wind. After landing on Jungfraufirn on 3200 m, a short ski ascent brought us to the manned Mönchsjoch hut. We were amazed that despite excellent snow conditions, the whole Jungfrau area was deserted.
Our Wednesday warmup was climbing the Mönch. A beautiful early morning flight from the summit brought us to Ewigschneefeld. After walking up below Fieschersattel on skis, we left our gear and climbed the Gross- and the Hinter Fiescherhorn. Back at our depot, we made a short glide flight to Gross Grünhorn. Climbing this summit was a pure pleasure, the conditions were excellent. From below the summit, we flew to the unattended Finsteraarhorn hut, where we highly appreciated the sunny afternoon for relaxing and drying our gear.
On Thursday, we climbed the Finsteraarhorn. It was harsh and the drinks froze in our rucksacks. Due to strong winds, we could not take off from the Hugisattel as planned, so we skied down to 3500 m, where we took off short before noon. The sporty flying conditions allowed us to fly in 3 h via Fiescheralp, Wiwanni and Augstbordhorn to the Rimpfischhorn, where we landed on Längfluegletscher on 3650 m. After climbing this summit quickly and with low effort, we made a short flight from Rimpfischsattel to Allalingletscher, and stood on the summit of the Strahlhorn on 18:15h. Back at the gliders, we got ourselves some fun kiting, before doing a long glide flight in beautiful evening light to the manned Monterosahütte. Due to the wind forecast for the coming days, we decided to leave our gliders at the hut for our next stage, the Monterosa.
Episode 3: Monterosa (14.-17.06.2024)
Early start on Friday at 2:35h. At dawn, the weather turned nasty with wind gusts of 100 km/h, poor sight and precipitation. We put on additional layers of cloth and kept going, whenever possible turning our heads in the lee to prevent sleet blasting of our faces. After the Nordend, we climbed the Dufourspitze and strenuously traversed through powder snow to the Zumsteinspitze and further to the Signalkuppe, where we made an extended break in the warmth of the Capanna Regina Margarita. Around noon, we skied down to Rifugio Gnifetti. Thanks to an already well-prepared track for the Monterosa Sky Marathon on Sunday, this was easy, despite poor sight.
On Saturday, we slept long and just made it for the latest breakfast. After bundling up more calories in the form of cake and waiting for a weather brightening, we climbed Punta Giordani with stormy winds but acceptable sight, and went back to the Rifugio Gnifetti for lunch, tiramisu and more rest.
The weather improved on Sunday. After a crowded breakfast in the Rifugio Gnifetti, which was fully occupied with 230 clients, we climbed the “small” 4000 m peaks Vincent Pyramid, Corno Nero, Ludwigshöhe and Parrotspitze, then traversed Lyskamm and Castor, and completed our journey with the Pollux. A nice ski descent brought us to the cosy Rifugio Guida d’Ayas.
On Monday, we traversed the Breithorn group (Rocchia Nera, Gendarm, Breithornzwilling, Breithorn Ostgipfel, Breithorn Westgipfel) and skied down the spectacular descent via Zwillingsjoch to Monterosahütte. After a rich lunch at the hut, we walked up the long way to Stockhornpass on skis. From there, moderate wind allowed us to kite up the Cima Brioschi and to fly via Strahlchnubel to Adlergletscher. After some more kiting on this glacier, we found thermal lifts that allowed us to pass the Längfluejoch and glide to the Täschhütte.
Episode 4: Alphubel, Allalinhorn (18.06.2024)
The splendid morning light made up for the early start in the dark. We deposit our gliders on Alphubeljoch and walked up the Alphubel on skis in its sunny east face, in the lee of the strong SW-wind. Back at our Gliders, we climbed the Feechopf. The snow piled on the easy ridge traverse to Feejoch and made it delicate and time consuming. Therefore, at the first opportunity, we skied down the steep NE-face and made it this way via Feejoch to Allalinhorn. After a long break in the lee of the Feejoch, eating sandwiches and observing online nearby wind stations, we decided to take off. The turbulences while flying were as expected and we made it safely to Kreuzboden on the other side of the valley. From there, it was only a short hike up to the Weissmieshütte. At the hut, we used the melting water for a cold shower and got a warm welcome from the hut team, offering us excellent, rich food and drinks for free.
Episode 5: Lagginhorn, Weissmies, temporary return home (19.06.2024)
Despite poorly frozen snow, we made it up to Lagginhorn within 3 hours. After a descent and a ski traverse, we deposit our gliders on 3360 m and climbed the Weissmies. The wind on the summit was very strong and gusty. After descending to the Gliders, we took a long break, carefully observing the weather and checking nearby wind stations. Based on a systematic risk analysis, we concluded that the possible reward of a flight would not be worth the risk and decided to abstain from flying. Thanks to the exceptional amount of snow, we could ski down almost until Kreuzboden. After a rather unpleasant descent of 850 m in ski boots down to Saas Grund, our decision about not flying on this day was confirmed by a Föhn wind gust, carrying away the cap from Chrigel. We travelled back to Frutigen by bus and train, fully motivated to continue the XPEAKS project at the next opportunity.
Looking back those first 10 days were efficient: Starting from our home, with a physical effort of 20’000 vertical meters, we managed to climb 30 peaks above 4000 m, renouncing any kind transport, except moving by foot, on skis and paragliders.
If the weather allows, there will be more XPEAKS news soon. Stay tuned.
Episode 6: Mischabel (24.-27.06.24)
On Monday we travelled by public transport back to Tamatten near Saas Grund, where we had interrupted our XPEAKS project after completing first 30 summits (see episodes 1-5). After ascending 800 altimeters on foot to Hannigalp, we flew up to the Mischabel hut, where we got a warm welcome by the hut team. Accompanied by a camera team, we climbed the Nadelhorn on Tuesday morning. From there, we traversed the Nadelgrat (Stecknadelhorn, Hohberghorn, Dirruhorn) in difficult and tricky conditions with lots of fresh snow and returned to the Mischabelhütte. On Wednesday, we climbed the Lenzspitze via the north-east face. A challenging and time-consuming descent via the exposed south ridge brought us to the Hobärg glacier, where we deposited our gliders. Thanks to our well-proven Cramplifier carbon plates, we made it to the dome despite the soft snow - we were all alone in the area. An impressive high alpine flight brought us to the Weingarten glacier near the Mischabeljoch bivouac. Stormy winds early on Thursday morning shook the well-equipped bivouac to the core and persuaded us to go back to bed. After daybreak, the weather calmed down and we could climb the Täschhorn via the deeply snow-covered SE ridge. Back at the Mischabeljoch, we discussed our options and decided to try the Weisshorn the next day. A pleasant flight took us to the Weisshornhütte, where we got a delicious rösti with tomatoes and cheese.
Episode 7: Weisshorn, temporary return home (28.06.2024)
We set off from the Weisshornhütte at 3:30 am. Although the snow was not frozen, we initially only sank ankle-deep and made good progress. Above 3600 meters, the snow became softer and made progress increasingly difficult. The deeply snow-covered and overgrown east ridge was tricky and time-consuming to climb. Higher up, the snow on the summit flank had a consistency that enabled us to make a pleasant, stair-like ascent with our Cramplifier carbon plates. After 5 hours of intensive climbing we were on the Weisshorn, three hours later we were back at the hut. We were very pleased to be able to tick off this magnificent, arduous mountain. Over a large plate of tomato spaghetti, we analyzed the weather situation and made the decision to return home temporarily. In order to create the best possible starting position for the rest of the project, we made a cross-country flight to Goppenstein. The flying conditions were rough and once again our flying equipment proved its worth.
Outlook: At the next usable weather window, we intend to take the train to Goppenstein and climb 800 meters up to Faldumalp, an ideal morning launch site that usually offers good connection to the legendary Valais thermals. Until then, our daily routine will mainly consist of relaxing and eating.
