Another good day is forecast and we had been looking in the book again ... the Pointe de Zinal - described as "one of the best and most popular training peaks".The start to the day was better as we had learned from the days before. We were out on the glacier early and following the curving line to the head of the glacier.
From here we looked up at the steep ice section above the bergschrund. I was climbing with Ken, and we led off doing the 100m in 3 pitches, without too much difficulty. from here we followed the saddle then the ridge.The summit ridge to the Pointe was exceedingly loose and it was obvious that this was not very frequented. We found our way to the summit, and paused there looking for the other two .. they had decided to remain on the ice face repeating it.
We started off back down to the saddle, as we got towards the end, Ken grabbed a huge boulder, to swing around, and was shocked to see it start to roll down hill. Ken was OK, but he got caught in the avalanche of rubble behind it. He fell on to his camera which we found out later had broken a couple of ribs. He was OK and could walk, but climbing down the ice face was going to be a problem.
After getting him sorted out and moving again, we made it down to the saddle, and I managed to call out to the others. They came back up to the top, and we started to rig a mechanism to lower Ken down. doubling the ropes up we got a good abseil system working, and to save the anchors, I down climbed .. At the bottom, Graham set off with Ken to get him back before shock got to him, and Jim and I started clearing up the ropes.
Graham and Ken, headed straight back across the glacier .. no ropes and too close together. Jim and I cleared down the face and packed the ropes away ... MISTAKE .. then set off after the other two.
We chatted about he near miss as we followed their tracks across the glacier. despite several warnings where we both dropped a leg through holes in the ice .. it felt like post holing in soft snow and we were too tired, and preoccupied to realise what it meant ... then we both fell through the ice with both feet, now whether my hole was smaller or Jim's reactions were slower, but he ended up falling through and I was left hanging on my ice axe.
Pulling myself out, I quickly got the rope out and shouted down to Jim ... he was OK, and had landed 15m down. He got clipped into the rope, and I secured it to a couple of ice screws, and shouted to the other two who had just reached the moraine below the hut ... Ken went on and Graham started back to help us.
I then dropped the other end of the rope down so we could get Jim's rucksack out. he was struggling to get prussik's onto the rope and was getting colder and colder.
Graham arrived to help us out, and then a group of 8-10, as we found out later, guides and aspirants. they had been sunning themselves on the hut terrace after returning from the Obergabelhorn N face, seeing this farce playing out on the glacier they got ready and were out to us within 30 mins. they got to us, checked the rope and just launched Jim through the top of the hole. We packed up and all went "properly" roped back to the moraine and the hut.
Embarrassed, and very chased, we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening buying drinks for the saviours ... I think we got through 5 or 6 bottles of wine.
I learned so much with this, and now have an obsession with ropes on glaciers, and have been know to have shouting matches with partners who do not behave "properly".
I also determined that I needed to learn to speak French and German better, as our conversations with the guides over the night grew wider and more intreaging as we spoke in a mixture of English and French.
A day to be remembered for a long time
