UKC

Ok - the title is a bit of a shocker and of course I don't mean it

I was in Grindelwald this autumn, just doing some trekking with the missus. We hiked up under the North Face for a look. From a distance it looks really dark and scary, but it's amazing when you stand at the base of the face looking upwards how short it looks. Nothing to add scale makes for a very deceptive view. There was also very little snow - 1st and 2nd ice fields were almost absent.

If you had never read the books about it you'd almost imagine it'd be a lovely, straight forward climb. It looks so short from the base of the face. It's hard to imagine in the sunset of a warm September with no cloud around at all, that it could be so treacherous. Amazingly deceptive... Without climbers on the route to add scale it's nearly impossible to imagine what climbers have had to go through, especially in the early days.

And don't worry, I've no plans to climb it! Unfortunately I'm only at D level in the Alps (at a stretch) so will probably never be at the high level required for the Nordwand...

So...do people ever climb the face this late in the season when there's not much ice/snow evident? Or is the risk of stonefall too great?

In reply to Tom G:

Ignore the first line (I ogirignally called the post 'Is it really THAT scary?' but changed it because of recent LONG arguments on the forum about such comments)

In reply to Tom G: I think it's mostly climbed in winter these days. I found standing at the base very intimidating and scary. By alpine standards it's a big face. 5000 feet in vertical height and 10,000 feet of climbing via the 1938 route.

Al

In reply to Tom G:

I think whilst what Tradlad says about it being more and more a winter route now, is true, a friend of mine Mark Seaton guided it over a number of days starting on Sept 11, 2007. So it seems it's just down to conditions. I've never climbed it and have no intention to. It's one of those routes that fall into the 'would like to have done' category!

In reply to Ueli_Steck:
1/10
don't you think Üli would have a 'Ü' on his keyboard to spell his name properly.

In reply to Tom G:
I reckon you could climb it, can't be much harder than the Hornli. Why not team up with Cragrat and see if you can break Ueli's record

Disclaimer, only kidding, leave Cragrat behind!

In reply to uncontrollable:

It's Rïch!

In reply to JTM:

Sad but true!!

In reply to Tom G: As the late Tom Patey said "The best route I ever walked past".

In reply to Tom G:
I once attended a lecture by Martin Moran in which he spoke of his ascent of the 'mordwand'. In response to a question, he stated that he was happy he had climbed it because now he didn't 'need' to.

In reply to deepstar: although Patey did have a crack at it-a short walk with whillans-in his biography one mans mountains.brilliant stuff in case you havent come across it!

In reply to deepstar: Didn't he say that about Ardverikie Wall too!?

In reply to Tom G: On 23 September 1991 Ed Drummond organised his "Climb for the World", an event to raise money for UN-supported third world development projects. People climbed hills in their own localities to get sponsorship while a whole bunch of us converged on the Eiger summit via different routes. (I was covering it for the Observer and did the Mittellegi.) Anyway, one or two teams did the north face (Silvia Fitzpatrick was among them, I recall). Blue Peter filmed it and had a rresenter land by chopper on the top.

It was very dry, and quite cool. As described in 2009 by the OP, the first and second icefields had almost vanished. Even the summit ridge was rock. There was minimal stonefall, and those who did the route said that pitches in places like the Exit Cracks and the Ramp that might have been very tough when mixed were straightforward. Maybe these are actually ideal conditions!

In reply to davidoldfart:

How long would it normally take to climb this?

In reply to davidoldfart:

That's interesting, the Observer an' all - do you know my mate Roger Alton?

In reply to Rourke: 2hrs 47mins 33secs or thereabouts:

http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web07-08w/newswire-steck-eiger-record-again

In reply to Garbh Coire:

Blimey, 24 metres a minute is incredible

What about the time for a "normal" person?

In reply to Rourke: Yup, amazing. Haven't done it but from what i read, i would think 2-3 days for a normal team?

In reply to Garbh Coire: In very icy August conditions (no stonefall) many years ago (pre GW of course) we started from the foot of the face at about 3pm and bivied at the Swallows Nest; again on the Traverse of the Gods at about 3pm as the Spider was avalanching all kinds of nasty stuff. Finished early the next morning (Crampons from the foot of the face to the top (the ramp chimney was horrific!!) and most of the way down the WF) and descended to Klein Scheidegg for bananen splitten mit schlagobers and an expensive ride down in the little train. Sigh those were the days ... before more than a few of you bairns were even born!!!

In reply to JTM: Not only do I know Roger Alton, I climbed the Mittellegi with him as described. In fact we have climbed together many times since the early 1980s. Now I realise you must be Jon de Mountjoye, and I met you with him for a drink in Argentiere when you led a party that included Rog on what sounded like a fairly arduous trek in the summer of 2003. I had been rafting, scrambling and otherwise hanging out in the Alps with my daughters and was staying at the Belvedere.

In reply to davidoldfart:

Well, a small world indeed. I can think of many words to describe that Haute route, but arduous doesn't do it justice... if you think back to the 'team' and exactly when it was - I'd rather not continue that bit in public, please...! On one section of the trek, I put Rog directly behind me as he was struggling a bit with the heat and his overloaded ruc sac and we talked for about four hours straight to keep his mind off what he was doing! He'd say '...ten best routes you've done in Wales...', then '...ten best routes you would like to have done in Wales...' and so on and he did talk about doing the Mittellegi on that occasion. I've got a copy of the brilliant spoof Observer printed to celebrate him ceasing to be the Editor of it - priceless... that's Mont..., not Mount... by the way, but it doesn't matter!

In reply to JTM: I must say I was a little surprised when he told me he was going to do the Haute Route in summer. Much as I have always enjoyed his company on the hill, it had struck me over the years that though he is generally very fit, on mountain crag approaches with a bit of a gradient he is not exactly Speedy Gonzales. He had also told me more than once that he hated walking.

You may remember that what with the sensitive timing of that trip to which you refer, one of the party walked out of the bar as soon as he realised I was a journalist, but of the reporting, rather than editing, kind. Silly of him, really. Maybe one day the whole adventure could form the basis of a TV black comedy drama, suitably spiced up and exaggerated.

Rog and I have had many good times on many great routes. But the highlight of the Mittelegi was not the climb but the descent - aboard Blue Peter's tiny helicopter, which kindly gave us a truly gobsmacking lift, taking us from the top to Kleine Scheidegg in a few minutes via all the landmarks of the 1938 Heckmair route. S'pose that means we'll never be able to claim the onsight.

In reply to davidoldfart:

... he, however, never mentioned a helicopter...!

In reply to davidoldfart:

The Haute Route for Rog was a trial, but he did manage it. Particularly amusing was the second day walking down from the Trient hut. We took our crampons off and started walking down to Champex. As well as Roger's overloaded sac, he had a bum-bag which he insisted on wearing, er, over his bum. The sac sat high on top of that and his crampons, spikes uppermost strapped to the top. Every stumble - and there were many - drove one or more spikes into his bald head, blood flowing generously. Accompanying every stab-wound was an extremely loud stream of abuse, directed mainly at the crampons, but also anyone on the Orny Glacier... "... f*cking, tw*tting, f*cking, c*nt, bastard...." Eventually I suggested a number of obvious solutions... the response was immediate and loud... "... why don't you just f*ck right off..." Ah, the joys of guiding. I should have put that in the appropriate thread a few months ago - sorry for the hi-jack.

In reply to Tom G: Bless him. Many times I have heard him uttering similar curses, coupled with what can only described as prayers, on reaching a hard move. "Oh my God, please, please, have mercy, Jesus f*** you c*** what the f******* hell is going here, you f****** c*** mercy, mercy whooooooah! Done it! That was f****** brilliant!"

In reply to davidoldfart:


Two of my friends were involved in that: Phil and Brian. Maybe you remember them?


She did it with Jim Bridwell. Conditions may have been pretty good, but she did still take a stone in the face on The Ramp pitch I think.

In reply to davidoldfart:

That's my boy!