UKC

im planning on doing my first solo 4000m in late September . I plan on doing the allalihorn from saas-fee to Mittelallalin then to the summit . does anyone have any advice for me , it would be greatly appreciated as I want to be as prepared as possible

At the risk of sounding flippant... my advice would be to find a partner as you have to cross a glacier or go to a mountain range closer to the equator so you can get that high without needing to cross one.

If you are planning to ignore that then follow right behind another party off the first lift and it'll probably be absolutely fine.

Edit. Consider the Lagginhorn instead?

You don't post a profile, so we've no idea whether this is your first Alpine peak, or whether you've climbed many others just below 4000m. Or perhaps you have climbed other 4000m peaks but never solo.

With the right level of experience, and with a good deal of caution with regard to glacier conditions, I think it is possible to climb a few Alpine 4000m peaks solo relatively safely, though I've never tried to do so myself, even back when I was fitter and more frequently out in the Alps. The consequences of falling into a crevasse when on your own are not worth thinking about. If you're asking on here, my first concern would be that you may not have the right level of experience, in which case it would be pretty foolhardy.

I'm just back from Toubkal in Morocco. 4137m but no snow in summer, and definitely no glaciers. I was with a group, but I would certainly have considered a solo ascent of that peak which is quite accessible from the UK. I think the authorities there may require you to go with a guide though.

Martin

Choose a day with weather optimum forcast. Start as early as possible. Prepare for low temperatures. Used to wearing crampons? 

Ask yourself, if scaling a 4k peak starting from 3500m does count... especially as the glacier part _below_ Mittelallalin might pose the real crux...
Lagginhorn can be done solo and in fair style, in autumn there may be a solid icefield, 40°.

The timetables of Mittelallalin and Hohsaas are shortened in autumn, so esp. a daytrip to Lagginhorn might become sportive.

I believe I have done 8 different alpine 4000s solo and I would not do the Allalinhorn solo by the route you are suggesting. It felt pretty sketchy when I did that with a friend on the end of a rope on a busy day.

Of the ones I've tried, the Lagginhorn would be my suggestion for what to try first, followed by the Weissmies (from almagellerhuette)

In reply to MG:

I had an old Italian guide literally screaming at me on the Gran Paradiso. Couldn't understand a lot of it so it didn't bother me much, especially as my decision to do it was very carefully considered.

ACK. Weissmies from north side from time to time is quite dangerous (seracs), no matter if you go solo or roped in a team. Weissmies south (from Almageller hut) is good option for soloists and a fair ascent as well. But almageller hut already may be in winter mode end of September, so not guarded.

For the crevasse risk on Allalin normal route... normally there is a very clear trace, but yes you do cross some crevasses and of course you may be the unlucky one finding a new hole first.

As said, doing this route in a fair style i.e. from the valley (and not from some station right next to the summit) would increase the crevasse risk very significantly.

No votes here for the Rimpfischorn from the Zermatt side ? 

I've failed to summit twice with a partner (long sad story) once 200m below the summit, and always figured that it would be a reasonable solo candidate. I'm not recommending it as such, and it's been twenty years since I was active in those parts of the world, just it never quite left my mind as a possibility. Last few hundred metres on a snowfield, not I think glacier. 

Y

Arrgh!! I meant south!

Deleted

Only you can decide whether you are happy with any crevasse risk. Note this year has been both dry and hot, so the risk may be higher than normal. Both Weismies (from S) and Lagginhorn are options too. You may get comments from other parties if you are solo.

Have you many 4000ers under your belt with others?

I have done it solo. The upper section isn't trivial. Steep snow/ice and a couple of sloppy rock moves. Probably not the best place to start.

My partner and I were descending from Pollux unroped on the glacier. A local guide made a point of rather angrily informing us that "The Zermatt graveyard is full of soloists". We took his point - after all, he'd probably been involved in recovering the bodies at one time or another. Nevertheless,  we didn't rope up. Each to their own level of risk. 

ETA: I remember the Lagginhorn by the W Ridge as a very straightforward solo.

I do find such comments from guides a bit odd.  There is clearly a risk of walking on any glacier but on a track where hundreds of people have gone before, it's quite low.  By contrast, tying yourself to someone you have never met before and of often questionable ability and then doing what is normally a route crowded with similar pairs seems a much higher risk to me.  

The guide had a point, to go unroped with others is just increasing the risk for no reason. 

Lower, but then maybe they'd weakened that bridge and it's that bit warmer or softer when you cross. 

Either this is a burner account for privacy, or you are a drive-by poster who looks a bit like a bot. Just saying ..

I had missed that point - I agree

I've met plenty of euro guides who just have a big chip on their shoulders about all sorts of stuff, soloists, visitors, in fact anyone not using their services seems to be a trigger for some.

Can a robot climb a mountain???

I have done several 4000m solos, I think the Breithorn was easiest and safest, followed by Pyramid Vincente, and maybe the Signalkuppe, the latter though being a higher and longer trip. 

[Signalkuppe] ...higher, longer and IMHO with quite significant crevasse risk (at least in summer season)!

Absolutely; but it will lack the semantic ability to understand what it has done😎

As others have mentioned, the Weissmiess SSE ridge is a sensible option (assuming you have relevant skills and fitness). Fab hut, if you can afford it. If you can't, a discreet bivvy on the col above will be fine. Straightforward easy scrambling to the foresummit then a nice level snow arette. The only slight difficulty lies on the the direct ascent from the col: a short downclimb at mod/diff (mind, it's a long time ago for me). The route was my first solo 4000er and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I think you'd be well advised to save the Allalinhorn for another time and go from Britania hut up the Hohlaubgrat. 

The military development ones likely can.   In China there was a half marathon robot race (yes the robots had to be bipedal etc). Things are getting there.

The T1000 is just round the corner

Thanks... interesting. Sounds like it could have been a fair choice for me back in the day. Now, hmmm.

N side of Stuc a Chroin in deep loose snow one evening in running shoes probably enough for me these days

Y

Out of interest, which were your 8? And, looking back, were any of them a bad idea or do you think you made good choices?

For the avoidance of doubt, I'm not judging here, just on the lookout for future possible adventures.

I've done various solo.  A few thoughts:

- Narrow snow ridges are probably safer alone than tied to someone as realistically if one person falls you both do.

- Rock ridges to AD, probably much the same risk as no protection but also no tangling in a rope or risk of partner falling and hurting you.

-Glaciers risk is difficult to assess. I'm reasonably happy on well-trodden tracks on trade routes but you can never really know.

- A few like-minded groups around is quite pleasant.  However, any sort of crowding isn't as there is somehow pressure to rush things slightly and compete for a place, which you really don't want when soloing. Pick routes accordingly.

- Everything happens much quicker, so you get to the top first, typically, which is nice.

Given this point of view, I'd sort some routes / glacier crossings as "acceptable risk" in good conditions like MB normal (Gouter) route, Allalin (from the Metro), Breithorn from Kleinmatterhorn, Gran Paradiso from Emanuele hut, Rimpfischhorn. 

For me, the following also well-trodden and technical easy routes would NOT be acceptable solo: MB (trois montblancs), Bishorn, Alphubel from Längflue, Gran Paradiso from Chabod; Monte Rosa (Signalkuppe etc.) no matter if from Gnifetti or from swiss side.. 

Yep, the Liquid Metal was invented in 2017 and the T900 is undergoing testing at the moment 

I fully agree with everything MG said, but here's my list if anyone's interested:

Solo, maybe with a rope for abseils, in a single push from the valley:

• Lagginhorn W ridge 
• Weissmies S
• Dirruhorn N
• Zinalrothorn S (didn't summit because of weather)
• Matterhorn NE (didn't summit because I was feeling off, subsequently did it with a buddy from the hut and didn't feel like the rope was helping much until I saw a guy fall 20m on the descent and get held by his mate on a rope before getting helicoptered off)

Solo with a rope for abseils, from hut/bivouac:

• Dent Blanche S (this one felt a little sketchy on the glacier after the hut)
• Combin du Valsorey and Grafeneire W (some crevasses for Grafeneire, Valsorey is just a scramble)

Self-belaying the crux pitches:

• Zinalrothorn Kanzelgrat
• Obergabelhorn S face

Other things I have considered and think would doable are Obergabelhorn W (I descended this), Weisshorn E, Hobarghorn via Dirruhorn, Lenzspitze E, Monch, Eiger (inb4 not 4000m)...

My main criterion is the glacier. I've put my foot through enough snow bridges with and without a rope on, and had friends fall in and be very seriously hurt, not to take any chances any more. Having a good trace tracked in helps, but sometimes this just means you can see where the crevasses are but not how big they really are. But sadly many glaciers in the Alps are now shrunken patches of firn and are getting safer from the perspective of crevasses.

Interesting list!.  I always take 30m of rope just in case.  Can confirm E Ridge Weisshorn (long, never easy) and Hobarghorn work well solo .  Also worth considering the Aig. de Bionassay from the Durier hut (approach from N) and descending via Gouter, and Dent D'Herens.

I did the Gran Paradiso via the VE hut from the valley. It's about 2200m up and down which is a big day for a lot of people but doable if you're in good shape.

Did this route with my dad in the 90's. Within twenty minutes of leaving the hut - he was armpit-deep in a crevasse and I remember him saying "It's a big one - My feet can't touch the sides!". Once we'd extricated him from the icy pit we were treated to white out conditions on the summit, an electrical storm and the unmistakable BOOM of an avalanche somewhere as we were descending another flank. Quite the introduction to alpinism for an impressionable 19 year old.