We had been talking a lot about having a trip to the alps, we had even done some training on Skye, and Glencoe. We had researched where to go, and I had even bought a guide book (the red colomb guide to the Pennine alps central region), and being in London visited Stanfords to get a couple of maps - this being the old fashioned world where you had to go to a shop and hand over cash in exchange for the goods, and if they were not on the shelf you had to order it from a catalogue behind the counter.
All this research led to the conclusion that we should do a week of preparation and then head for the Matterhorn .. how naive we were in those days. The accepted way to do things has changed over the years, but definitely in those days, guides were for rich people, but the rest of us learned in small steps through experience. This was the next step on our learning curve I am still on to-day.
We had joined the Austrian alpine club for the reciprocal rights in the mountain huts, and read up about the mountain huts and what to expect, so we were prepared and did not carry to much gear (like sleeping bags).
I cant remember whose car we used to get there, but we drove in shifts, through France then Switzerland. The motorway network was not as comprehensive as it is to-day, and the route took a lot longer than more recently. The A26 went to Reims, and then we had to down on the N roads in zigzags to reach Briancon, where we crossed in to Switzerland. No Schengen agreement in place we had to run the gamete of the border guards, who were really interested in how much food we had (the rule was only 2 days to promote local spending). Then a mixture of motorways (I believe they were free in those days) and main roads, round lake Geneva, and up the Rhone Valley. At Sierre we turned up the Zinal valley on the local roads - frequently single track with passing places around the difficult bits. Eventually arriving at the end of the road at Zinal village, and the camp-site on the end, by the big open meadows of the valley head.
Putting up our collection of Vango Mk2 tents we spent the rest of the day getting to know the small village and soaking in the atmosphere. Little prepared us for what was to follow!
All this research led to the conclusion that we should do a week of preparation and then head for the Matterhorn .. how naive we were in those days. The accepted way to do things has changed over the years, but definitely in those days, guides were for rich people, but the rest of us learned in small steps through experience. This was the next step on our learning curve I am still on to-day.
We had joined the Austrian alpine club for the reciprocal rights in the mountain huts, and read up about the mountain huts and what to expect, so we were prepared and did not carry to much gear (like sleeping bags).
I cant remember whose car we used to get there, but we drove in shifts, through France then Switzerland. The motorway network was not as comprehensive as it is to-day, and the route took a lot longer than more recently. The A26 went to Reims, and then we had to down on the N roads in zigzags to reach Briancon, where we crossed in to Switzerland. No Schengen agreement in place we had to run the gamete of the border guards, who were really interested in how much food we had (the rule was only 2 days to promote local spending). Then a mixture of motorways (I believe they were free in those days) and main roads, round lake Geneva, and up the Rhone Valley. At Sierre we turned up the Zinal valley on the local roads - frequently single track with passing places around the difficult bits. Eventually arriving at the end of the road at Zinal village, and the camp-site on the end, by the big open meadows of the valley head.
Putting up our collection of Vango Mk2 tents we spent the rest of the day getting to know the small village and soaking in the atmosphere. Little prepared us for what was to follow!
| | | ||
| | | Arrive Zinal | |
| Montets Hut | | | |
| | | Besso | |
| Hut Day | | | |
| | | Pointe de Zinal | |
| Hut Day | | | |
| | | Retreat | |
| Zermatt | | | |
| | | Rain Day | |
| Theodulpas Hut | | | |
| | | Retreat | |
| Go Home | | |