I really did not think this would happen and I am so glad I got the chance. Since the rockslide, I figured it would not happen. I did not know if things would be safe and if Freddy´s schedule would open up. As it turned out, the rockfall was not abnormal after the big slide and then Freddy encouraged me to go with one of his friends or the local Zermatt guides. That is exactly the encouragement I needed. Once he e-mailed me, I was really excited. I called from Vienna to book a guide and got on a train the next morning. That was Sunday and on Monday morning I had my gear and was in the guides´ office. The office said if the weather held in the afternoon, chances are we would go up. If it rained, it did not look good.

Well, as I sat eating my bratwurst and potatoes, watching the rain pour down an hour later ( at 1 pm, the afternoon ), I cursed the weather. It always seems the weather gets me in mountaineering. I kept telling myself it was to be expected and that is just the way it goes. I really had no choice but to get up to the Hornli Hutte because that is where I was supposed to meet my guide and I would never forgive myself if for some far out reason, summiting was actually possible the following day.

I took the tram up to Schwarz See and started the hour and 1/2 hike to the Hornli Hutte. Just then it started to rain a little and I patted myself on the back because I put my gore-tex jacket on my head so that the jacket covered my backback. Pretty clever I thought. About 1 minute later it did not seem so clever. It started to downpour, thunder, and lightning . . . I was soaked head to toe. My backpack was pretty dry though. I stopped in a covering which is used for a chair lift in the summer and apparantly by goats in the summer, judging from the you know what which completely covered the floor. There were about 10 other climbers taking refuge and I changed into dry clothes. The other guys continued up after a while and I figured, again, that I better give a go even though it was a lost cause.

Long story short, we did give it a go the next day and we made it to the top!!! It had snowed on the route that day and our guide said this was the toughest summit of the year. I believe it. The night before the climb, I met my guide, Susan, who actually knew Freddy. After a tough night ( I always get nervous. ), we started out at 5 am. At about 5:15, one of the guides got sick and had to turn around. Susan took on his client ( John, a nice guy from Olso. ) so the 3 of us roped up.

Right from the outset they have some fixed ropes and you start to climb. There was some good rock scrambling for about an hour and then we put on the crampons ( much sooner than normal I learned later ) still about 1 hour below the Savoy Refuge. I always wondered what it was like climbing in mixed rock and snow. It was pretty cool. The views were magnificent and often exposed on the right side. I kept telling myself, "Just like Donner Summit, just like Donner Summit." A few weeks before I left, Bela Vadasz of Alpine Skills Intnl gave me some training. It was just like Donner, just a heck of a lot longer. However, the foot and hand holds were very big, just like Bela had said. It´s just it was a lot of rock climbing, which was great . . . on the way up.

There were a few sections where we took off our gloves to get better holds. On a really cool section, where you had great exposed views off to our right, I met two American guys from Boulder, CO who had come out just to climb the Matterhorn. They could tell I was not the greatest climber and one asked if I had ever done anything like this before, "Nope, never like this.", I replied, but at that moment it struct how awesome this was. Every now and then when I was struggling with a move, they would say, "Nice move to encourage me." They were cool.

After that ridge, we made it to the fixed ropes on the steepest section. It was easy except for my fingers almost froze to the bone. However, after about 20 minutes we were back on the sunny side of the ridge and I would not have to worry about being cold again all day. Next was the roof and Susan said to step with care because it was steep and snowy. She was right, it was steep, but she was ready if we slipped. About 20 minutes later, we were walking past the Guardian statue, and at the top. A girl was phoning her boyfriend or husband from the top when we walked up! You have to walk past a pretty narrow section to get to the true summit and I walked carefully as John raced forward, whoooh, whooh, easy there. The summit was great, pretty narrow and spectacular views. We saw the Eiger to the north and Mont Blanc to the south. What a great feeling.

However, now the hard part . . . going down. It took 5 hours to summit and 6 to get down. I do not think I have ever been so exhausted. The way down was tough because you downclimb all that rock you went up. It is not hard, but I would call it very tedious. I just lost all my conditioning about half way down, but I was determined to not make any mistakes and just get down safely. We made it fine and I was so happy. I missed the last tram back to Zermatt, so I spent a relaxing night in the hut and even ran into Ed Robinson, who had climbed the Enclosure with me on the Grand Teton. He made it up the next day. Small world!

Oh, I just deleted half an hour of writing! This post may not have the energy of the last one!

After the Eiger, Freddy and I were set to do the Matterhorn, but they had a huge rockfall which closed the route. 90 climbers where airlifted off the mountain, no one was injured thankfully. We decided to wait a week or so to see how the mountain responded and I used that time to do some great trekking in Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia.

First I headed up to the Bernese Oberland which I had seen while climbing the Eiger. This is one of the prettiest places I have ever seen. You have these two valleys with little towns poised on cliffs above the valleys, and huge mountains like the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau even higher above. You can do great hikes and always have a restaurant to stop into for a break, as well as cow bells making music all over. I did one hike in the fog, but heard cow bells the whole way. I spent a few days going to Murren, Gimmewald, Wengen, Eigergletscher, and Grindelwald. I hiked above Gimmewald and Murren, from Wengen to Eigergletscher, and from there to Grindelwald below the North Face of the Eiger.

After that I headed to the Engadine Region which is in the south east corner of Switzerland. I saw Sils Maria and St. Moritz and did a great day hike above Sils Maria. Decided to go to Austria since St. Moritz was a little rich for my blood.

Head to Innsbruck, bigger than I thought. You notice all the crosses on the tops of the mountains in Austria. Spent a day in Kitzbuhel, home of the most famouns downhill ski race in the world, the Hannenkam. I hiked from the town to the top and you get a great view of the race course. Very steep and narrow. I had a great look at the Mause Falle, almost vertical. I even went to the Londoner where the winner pours beers. They told me I was 6 months too late.

Went to Slovenia after that and spent a day in the capital city of Ljibjiana. Very pretty city with a lot of Baroque architecture, not on the tourist hot spot yet. I really wanted to see the Slovenian Alps so I headed to Lake Bohinj, met some great Australians, Suzie and Matt, and we did a two day hike. Very different look than the rest of the Alps. The rock is pourous and white. The rivers are so clear because the water is clear, but the riverbed is white. Star Fuzina was the little town we stayed and extremely pretty and untouristy . . for now.

Headed back to Austria to trek around Austria´s highest mountain, the Grossglockner. Stayed at a great Pension in Heiligenblut where the owner only spoke German and I did my best to talk with her. I did ok, but sometimes I would get this look as if to say, "What just came out of your mouth!??" Actually, I got a lot of German practice while in the Alps, best language to know for the region. Spent two days hiking around the Grossglockner, which had beautiful and varied terrain.

I had a nice diversion from there, to London. My good friend from water polo days and also my pledge brother from college, Matt McAlister got married! He married a beautiful girl, Jessica, who he had met while living in London. It was a very nice ceremony followed by a wild party. I also got to see many other good friends including two other pledge bros and their sig. others, Jay & Allie Behr and Scot and soon to be Julie Blocker. We had a great time. I was sitting on a train returning my "hired suite" to downtown London on the hottest day EVER in Great Britain. I think I have been in Switzerland, England, Austria, and Slovenia on each of their hottest days EVER. Now I am in Barcelona and guess what . .. . it´s hot!

After London, I headed back to Salzburg. What a great town. It is on the backpackers hot spot so I met a lot of the young folk. Like I said earlier, I have realized now that I am officially old. Very pretty town, many domes, river runs through it, and great night culture. You see many men and women walking around in suites, tuxes, and evening gowns on their way to a symphony or opera. It is the home of Mozart, and let me tell you, they do not let you forget it. I, of course, went to his residence and birth place. He wrote over 30 Operas and 600 pieces of music, just so you know that I did pay attention. Did a few day trips outside Salzburg, one to Wolfgang See and one to a great rock festival called the Frequency Festival. Went with two of the guys from the hostel, the headliners were Heather Nova and Travis, saw many other very cool acts and tried to talk to the girls in German.

After that, headed to Vienna, ate Sacher Torte and did the cafe thing. Walked all over, did a big sightseeing day. Toured the opera and I was struck by how many times the guide referred to the fact that it was bombed in WWII and consequently is not even a quarter as nice as it was before the the war. OK, ok, I get the picture. Actually, after a few European cities, you realize that almost every city was completely rebuilt after the war to look as much like the pre-war city. No point really, just an observation, but I think the tour guide was trying to make a point.

Then I got a great e-mail. Freddy said the Matterhorn was looking good and I should get over there to climb it. I am so excited that I was actually able to do it. I did not think it would happen!