Wildstrubel, Switzerland

6:30 breakfast, and we were in the rush with everyone else ... they were all either going ot  Schwarzhorn or Wildstrubel (our destination).

Believing it to be a descent to the glacier, we left the skins off for the initial section. However despite the frost there were too many undulations to make it enjoyable, and we spent too long stepping up hill, before we got to the glacier.

Skins on and we set off up the valley bottom, following a windy route to start with, before the bowl opened out and we could see an indication of where we were going.

This was another flat valley bottom similar to yesterday (a little more slope as we would appreciate on the return).
The head of the valley rose up around a rock band

below the Wildstrubel glaciers - the route takes the centre line and curves left.

The entrance to the upper section was guarded by a big rock tooth on the right and a glacial cave (like a mythical dragon's eye) on the left

The route now angled across this snout and rose, curving back above the cave.

As we approached the top of this hump ...  in reality a curving back  ..  we could make out a cross on the skyline, we took to be the summit. More detailed research would have shown that there are several summits, all around the same height. This was just the middle one, and we were almost upon it before we realised the error.

A change of direction and we headed further West and around a bump. There she was ... the true summit.

However getting to it would be harder ...  the wind had picked up and was now quite fierce. To add to this the snow had been blown into a hard-pack, that made progress slow and ponderous.
Time to enjoy the view and add some calories, oblivious to the clouds building.

Looking south

It caught us almost unawares ..  the clouds filled in and descended, the summit was covered, and it was difficult to see far, never mind the way down.

Something in my subconscious stopped me descending down to the west, and we made the turn back onto the plateau at just the right time.

Out of the cloud now all we had to contend with was the flat light, and a very real need to keep as much height as possible as we crossed over to the middle summit.

Once we were on the right part of the glacier we could relax and enjoy the descent a little more

Very tired legs now and the snow became crustier .. just when we needed bounce there was little left in the tank.

Thankfully the flat plane had enough slope to allow a pleasant schuss to the tighter section.

A pause to rest tired legs and enjoy a brief period of sunshine, before we covered the final section and the ascent back to the hut ...  done on automatic.

After yesterday's rosti, I was wary, so Chris had a half and Bryon had some soup, but I stuck to the tea - I needed liquids more than food..