Hi,
I'm going to be skiing in Cervinia in mid-February with the family and thought it would be rude not to use the facilities a bit and get some climbing in also.
The Breithorn is regarded as the easiest 4000m peak and it appears you can get very close to it via ski lifts, so I wondered whether it would be feasible to head up there on my own?
I have done a lot of ski mountaineering (including the Patrouille des Glaciers three times), and some Alpine mountaineering - I climbed Gran Paradiso in October last year and spent two weeks in Chamonix on an Alpine Mountaineering Course with the Army. We're heading out to Nepal later this year to do a 6,000m peak and then back for Everest hopefully in 2025. I also scooted up from Les Houches to the Tete Rousse refuge last year (in summer, via the Chemin des Rognes, so I had the whole hillside to myself until the very last bit, which was ace) on my tod so I'm comfortable travelling solo.
I haven't done the Breithorn though and obviously travelling solo on glaciated terrain with the risk of crevasses is generally a really bad idea, hence asking whether it is at all feasible. I'm happy to hire a guide and that's probably the prudent course of action, but just wanted to check in case the house view is that it really is straightforward enough (even in winter) to do solo. I would take crampons, ice axe etc. obviously.
If anyone has any other recommendations for nearby peaks from Cervinia that are achievable in a day (it'll go down like a fish milkshake with the wife if I bugger off to a refuge overnight and leave her with the children), or guide recommendations, please do shout.
Thanks in advance.