Wet Run w/ Sami

Firebreak w/ Jackson

Smith Rocks w/ Jackson

Mt. Bachelor w/ Jackson!

Birthday Girl Turkey Trot w/ Renee

Oh boy oh boy-o boy. We are all so psyched right now. It couldn't have gone better. Some highlights:

 * I wore shorts the entire time
 * All 4 of us summitted (Armin stayed at the hut and went from there) 
 * Up in around 6 hours (6:13)
 * We beat Kilian's segment time on Hornli Ridge descent.
 * Mountain was in GREAT condition, and the route was 90% cash-money solid scrambling, with only 8% loose schiesse and 2% summit snow/rock mix-y conditions.

That's all you need to know. But for those interested in my more verbose descriptions......

-------------------------------------
We started at 3:10 from the Airbnb. It took us about 20 minutes just to get to the end of town and leave it for some trails, which offered some good warmup.

The plan was to go light and fast. All three of us had running packs, 2.5L of water, some clothes, a light ax, and strap-on crampons for our TX Guides (the team's uniform footwear).

We got up to Hörnlihütte in about 3:15 from the condo -- not bad for 5200 feet into the day. I was feeling jazzed up and my legs were ready to rage. Colin did a good job reeling our excitement back on this early section, because he knew we had a long day in front of us. We dipped into the hut and ate some food and warmed up a bit -- all of our upper arms were very cold, but I was doing good otherwise. We left, now in sunlight, and hit the lower ridge.

The route went insanely well. It was right up our alley and we cruised. We found all the most solid rock and only encountered small sections of heads-up choss-ville. I felt really good all day, and the elevation didn't bother me much at all.

We got up to the Solvay hut in about 90 minutes, where a ton of people were! So, a great passing spot, though I'm not sure how many of those parties continued or just went down. 

Lots of fixed lines, as expected. This made things very... very quick and we  got up to the Shoulder in good time. Here, we cramponed up for the last 100m of vert. This wasn't strictly necessary, but there was enough snow to be a hazard in scrambling shoes. 

We popped out on top and hooted and hollered. Met some cool Norwegians and got some photos. This was the only place my legs got cold, still in shorts. But we moved on quickly enough that I never had to put my pants on. A pantsless ascent!! Colin said he'd never been more proud. :)

We again cruised the descent with liberal use of the fixed lines. Once under the snow we cramp-offed, and kept moving. We flew by Armin - who we had seen and congratulated near the top - as he was rappelling with a German dude he linked up with. 

Back at the hut, we got some beers and a coke, and hung out until Armin came by, and then hung out some more. We left after a good rest and faced our biggest challenge yet just a couple of thousand feet lower...

The Schwarzsee gondola station. It tempted us like the Sirens of Ancient Greece, or the "chocolate thunder from down under" dessert at Outback Steakhouse... yeah, that much. But we stared Decadence right in the face and didn't back down. We walked right past the station and on to the next and final 3000 feet of descent to town.

After not too much of a death march, we crossed a glacial stream at a nice place for swimming and soaking the feet. Another leisurely break here had us rejuvenated. We dropped off the rented strap-on crampons on the way home and got some pretzels to sustain us for the final stretch back home.

Just such a perfect day, and it was exceedingly reasonable. We all feel tired but not destroyed. Vert here is just easier somehow, and same with altitude, I think...

This definitely cemented our shared belief that any beta or conditions reports you get from local guides or mountain shops is totally useless. We received so many warnings about dangerous conditions, and it turned out that the mountain was in about the most perfect conditions it could reasonably be in. It was solid, delightful scrambling for a long long time on a beautiful alpine ridge. So, when climbing in Europe, just go and see for yourself...

Shoutout to great partners, great vibes, and just safe, secure competence. It is so nice to go with people that are just as fast and safe as me on both ascending and descending low 5th-class terrain. It is truly a treat. Prost!

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Derek Wright

Matterhorn!! via Hörnli Ridge w/ Jake and Colin

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Wet Run w/ Sami

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Birthday Girl Turkey Trot w/ Renee

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