My idea of climbing the Hornli ridge on the Matterhorn with Graham came up fueled by lots of enthusiasm and the great weather, perhaps due to an overdose of high altitude and thin air? Anywhow, I did my best to leave the Gouter Hut as soon as possible to get back to the car and drive to Switzerland to meet Graham few miles before Tasch. We definitely rushed to get to the train terminal, packed everything, jumped into the train to Zermatt, into the first little taxi straight to the Matterhorn Paradise and finally sneaked into the last gondola ride to Schwarzsee.

Hiking up to the Hornli Hut, Matterhorn.

We hiked so quick to get to the Hornli Hut, I think less than 1 and half hour,  that we had plenty of time to rest and I could be ready for the guides apero, so to find out who would have been the first guide out the next day. It was warm inside the hut, outside as well, my buddy was feeling a mix of disbelief and lots of excitements to be here, at the Hornli Hut, ready for a big summit day on one of the most iconic peak of this planet.

First lights over the Monte Rosa Massif.

Every time I climb the Hornli ridge I discover new tricks, so I can save some precious minutes on the way up and down, this time I also learned that it’s important to put the crampons in the backpack the night before, and not realize they are still in the guides room when you are already at 4250 meters. But this is another story, with an happy ending fortunately.

High on the Hornli Ridge, Matterhorn.

High five to my buddy Graham for takling the Hornli Ridge, months before we said it wouldn’t be possible this year due to some injuries. But then we came up with the traverse Allalinhorn – Alphubel few days before the “send” and he proved to be in great shape, so our Matterhorn journey went perfectly smooth. In the end, when we shook our hands in front of our cars, there was nothing left but to get mentally and physically prepared for the most dangerous part of these trips, the long drive back home.