Hornlihutte

The climbing route on the Hornli ridge starts at the Hornlihutte

It was one of those days when to use the term “running” would really have been stretching the realms of credibility. The slope was covered in a fine scree like stuff making it a real slog to climb and despite being able to see the ant like procession of people moving across the ridge in front and above me, perpendicular to the slope I was climbing, there was no one actually climbing the same slope as me although I did pass a couple of folk on their way down. Clearly my route wasn’t a popular one. No wonder really as it was an unstable heap of fine scree and sand leading down to the boulder strewn glacial moraine below. Eventually I reached the shoulder of the ridge and turned to face that most iconic of mountain peaks, the Matterhorn, and its knife like Hornli ridge disappearing into the darkening cloud.

The Matterhorn with its summit in the cloud

The Hornlihutte is perched on the ridge to the left hand side of the photo

I started to climb towards my target, the Hornlihutte, which is probably the last point on the Matterhorn that can be reached without it becoming “mountaineering” and requiring ropes and crampons etc (unless of course you are Killian Jornet in which case you can just run up it in a couple of hours)

Looking towards Trockner Steg

Dark clouds gathering

Slightly concerningly I wasn’t passing many people at all who were going in the same direction as me up the mountain but there were certainly a lot of people on their way down the mountainside. Maybe I had foolishly started out on my adventure too late in the day? If that was the case then all of these other people must have started out REALLY early in the morning. Oh well, nothing else for it but to continue climbing upwards. Even more concerning were the black clouds gathering ominously overhead. I did pass an American couple who seemed to be making very heavy weather of the climb and were moving very slowly and a lot of the people coming down the trail were obviously serious mountaineers who had been climbing the Matterhorn. It may be my imagination but I did feel that I, as a mere runner, was regarded somewhat with some scorn by these real mountaineers – or maybe its because I was running uphill wearing shorts and t-shirt when everyone else was in full mountaineering kit. Who knows. It was probably my imagination. Despite the rapidly decreasing air temperature I was still in shorts at this point and moving fast enough to stay comfortably warm and I was also carrying a full pack of clothes so I gave little thought to what the American couple were wearing (not a lot) and were carrying with them (nothing). Rain and possible thunderstorms had been forecast for late afternoon so I took the risk and went for it that day hoping that I would be lower down the mountain and on my way back to Zermatt when the rain started. The weather report had neglected to say anything about hailstones and freezing temperatures though.

There it is!

Made it!

 The ridge reminded me of the spine of a dinosaur. It was steep in places and while not exactly “exposed” there was a long, rocky drop to the side. The path along this ridge is obviously very well used and has been fixed with steel ladders and ropes to help people over the most exposed sections of this rocky spine so there is nothing too tricky at all on this trail although a glance downwards confirmed that you probably wouldn’t want to take an unplanned step off the path. Eventually I hauled myself up on to the terrace of the Hornlihutte at 3200m altitude and not a minute too soon as the weather broke and a storm of hail stones descended. That totally stuffed up my plan for a nice coffee and maybe a piece of apple strudel while sat out on the terrace admiring the view. I sheltered in the Hornlihutte for a wee while wondering what to do. If I was weather bound then a wee unplanned night there might be fun if a tad expensive. And you wouldn’t get much sleep as these mountaineering types get up before dawn for their assault on the mountain. Eventually in the face of possibly worsening weather I made the decision to head back down the mountain as quickly as I could. Wearing everything I had brought with me I stepped out on to the timber deck now slippery with ice and gingerly started the descent then promptly speeding up and charging down the path in an effort to keep warm. 

Not many people were taking advantage of the terrace...

That way to the summit

As I descended I met the American couple again, still making their way up and now moving even more slowly than before if that was possible and clad only in shorts and T shirts, soaked through to the skin. They asked me how far it was to the hut and I was very hesitant in replying. Distance wise it wasn’t far at all but at the speed they were moving….. I muttered something about being “nearly there” figuring that their best chances would be to get to the hut as at least there would be people there equipped to look after them. I had noticed a sign board at the hut saying “last cable car 16:30” and it suddenly dawned on me that the majority of folk get the cable car a substantial distance up the mountain before only walking the last section to the hut, there were not too many muppets like me who walked of jogged all the way up from Zermatt. I glanced at my watch and quickly calculated that the American couple were really going to have to get a move on to make the last cable car. Reaching the shoulder of the ridge I decided to descend via the cable car station at Schwarzsee rather than via the path that I had climbed up via Stafelalp. The path to the cable car station was fixed with metal walkways over the exposed bits so it wasn’t too tricky. 

The path downwards

The are fixed ropes on the trickiest sections

An umbrella! Now why didnt i think of that?!

I was quickly overtaking people on the way down and happily the hailstones gave way to heavy rain and eventually the ground levelled out and I reached the cable car station at Schwarzsee. The restaurant there seemed like too good an opportunity to miss so I dived in and ordered a hot chocolate in an attempt to get the feeling back into my fingers as the windows of the restaurant steamed up as a result of the number of very wet people coming in. As I sat there nursing the cup in both hands and American family staggered in, absolutely soaked through and wearing, yes you’ve guessed it, shorts and T shirts. People from the restaurants and other climbers were giving them blankets and spare gear. To their credit though they had actually walked up to Schwarzsee from Zermatt. The rain was hammering down so it was fortunate that they had only a 100m walk to the cable car station from the restaurant. I pulled on a waterproof and started the descent to Zermatt. The good thing about the weather however was that I didn’t see a soul on the trail as I descended trough the larch forest above Furi, a site of special scientific interest and a nature reserve.

The cable car station and restaurant at Schwarzsee

Looking back at the ridge

Larch forest

Back at the tent I attempted to work out how to get a mountain of wet kit dry in a tent. While it was still raining heavily. Oh joy. So how did I solve this particular conundrum? I went to the pub.

Trying to dry out