UKC

I climbed this mountain, in central Switzerland, back in 1972.  It scared the sh*t out of me.  We climbed it with very rudimentary equipment, but the current grade I see is much harder and the number of pitches was several times more than I experienced. 

Is this true?

I guess that all depends where you started and where you finished (and which route you took).

The most popular climbing route is the south ridge, which I did a few years ago. Its down as "D". Whatever that means, I wouldnt send a Peak district Diff trad climber up it. 

There are a few bolts on it currently, however some pitches were run out - 2 or 3 pieces of gear over a rope length (60m). Nuts and slings were ample pro, though cams are handy for speed I dont feel they were any major advantage. 

I'm betting that there has been an amount of rock fall over the years, the route will have evolved, ice receded etc. 

I also bet each ascent gets its own unique experience. 

Its a long route in fine positions with a memorable finale of a "summit". 

K

You haven't said which route you did.

Alpine grade D for Difficile, not the same as UK Diff as you point out!

We climbed the complete S Ridge.

What grade did you think it was?

Currently, trad wise I'd rate it HVS/E1, with a slightly unusual style, but generally well protected with only one boldish pitch ... it is however rather long (600m).. and a good day out (6-8 hours excluding approach and descent) ..

JC

Like you I climbed the super-classic 16 pitch 550M South Ridge with my buddies in 2015 on a great day of weather. The Sudgrat is graded Alpine Difficile, maybe HVS/E1 in UK trad, with one bold pitch and justifiably described as one of the best and most beautiful climbs of its type and grade in the whole of the Alps. As a shameless plug you can see a wee vid I made of our ascent which may evoke some memories for you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85JYmIeEAoc&t=8s

Cheers

Dave

Alpine adjectival grades when applied to pure rock climbing routes are a bit of a nonsense - you only have to look at some of the Aiguilles Rouges routes to see this - straightforward non committing rock climbs being given ED... Personally I think D for the Salbit S Ridge is definitely an overgrading when you compare it with death-on-a-stick mixed alpine routes also given D. It's probably a lot safer now than when you did it, with bolts on most pitches and huge glued in rings at every belay.

Thanks for putting it more diplomatically than I could, jon.

I did the s ridge in 75, the day after a , completely out of our depth, wander on the lautaurbrunnen north faces. Up at 1 am , wander, get lost , walk down, drive round , walk up to hut.

A bit bleary eyed, I was disappointed to notice  there was a path parallel to the route within a rope length for most of the way, it seemed less committing than climbing on tower ridge or cloggy.

At the hut , we found out that the local guide ran morning and afternoon sessions on it, though that might have been on the easier version of the south ridge.

About alpine grades, its always been a nonsense like you suggest, is there any proposals to sort it out amongst the alpine countries producing guidebooks?

It wouldn't surprise me if there was some sort of path (or even animal track, maybe) in that big broken gully between the S and W ridges. On the right side of the S ridge there are a number of excellent routes, particularly on the Zwillingsturm, so there are paths leading to those - however, they are from 8 to 13 pitches so a bit more than a rope length ! 

No idea, Rick. I generally ignore the adjectival grade and go on the technical grades for rock routes. It just seems to me to be superfluous in nearly all cases.

The path was on the left, i think its easier version of the south ridge, III,  think the crux is the final headwall common with the classic s ridge with which most british climbers are familiar .

There are other routes.

Makes me wonder what route we did many years ago, in the mist and pouring rain, I've   thrown out the guide book so cannot check.

Started in a grotty gully and only knew where we were when we hit a slab with several bolts. Bailed out when we reached the final pinnacle, we could just about make out the descent path through the mist and rain, and the final pinnacle looked a bit too much in those conditions.

Only team on the mountain that day, which wasn't surprising, but had to make use of our limited holiday time.

John Gresty

Your stories are fab, Rick. Keep em coming..

John C