23 March 2015

Lammeranhutte & Roter Totz, Switzerland

Large packs prepared for all eventualities and also 4 days in the mountains... We had also arranged with the owner to be able to leave the car in the hotel car park for the duration and come back to the hotel when we had finished this section.

Then a walk up to the gondola station in bright sunshine. We just missed one, so had to wait 30 mins for the next, but this gave us a n opportunity to examine the station mechanism ... it had one dock, but two cables and a mobile centre section.
The lift filled up with the usual bunch of tourists and another party similar to us. 
At the top we all wandered out, and took in the spectacular view, including the panorama we would live in for the next few days - even the hut was visible sitting on the terrace above the valley leading down to this pass.
First we had to negotiate the various pistes .. walking, ski de fond and general touring, to get down to the river base. (behind the pylon in the picture below) 


The first section of steep up took us to the upper valley, flat as a lake (or so it seemed), and we followed the obvious track and line of poles to the head of the valley
Here the summer path cut up right, but was "prone to avalanches" and since we did not know the snow history yet, we played safe and took the standard route, zigzagging up the end of the valley and  around the rock band - including an "interesting" step.
Round the shoulder and we were then heading back to the hut .. at first hidden by the roll of the terrace, but soon popped into view.
Thankfully we pulled up outside, and dropped the packs. The other party from the lift were also here having taken the "summer" route. After a short break to dump some unnecessary gear we prepared to make the most of the day and head up to the col behind the hut.
Following the obvious trail, and around a tight gulley everything opened out and it appeared as if the terrace curved around to the col.
The views all around were new to us, but by the end of our stay we would know most of them much more intimately.
The terrace ended in a steeper slope leading up to the col
Just beyond the col was a small top with a cairn on it, which would become our high point for the day
Looking towards Schwarzhorn and Doldenhorn

Down towards Kandersteg

Over to Gemmi pass and the lift, as well as the lake and ski de fond pistes

Then it was time to descend .. first skiing of the trip, and the surface was very kind to us, spring at the top with a slightly softer feel lower down, but a good hard base.
We did not know it yet, but this was to be the best descent we would have all trip  ... the remainder would all involve flat light, cloud and variable surfaces.

Back at the hut, we checked in and were given a dormitory to ourselves - are they trying to say something?

Then we piled into a rosti each ...  far too much and too big, but we would know next time. When dinner came around I was still full from it.