Lenzspitze–Nadelhorn Traverse
After two rest days we had recovered, and once it was clear that Luca's knee would hold up for another tour, our next objective was obvious: the traverse of the Lenzspitze and Nadelhorn. The weather forecast was perfect and, luckily, the Mischabelhütte still had two beds available for us.
Approach to the Mischabelhütte
We start the approach from the car park in Saas-Almagell by bike, saving ourselves a total of €50 in parking fees. The approach, with around 1,400 metres of ascent over 5 km, was tough. But the great views of the Allalinhorn and Alphubel along the way, followed by the protected sections higher up, made the vertical metres pass surprisingly quickly. After exactly three hours, we reached the hut.
After doing a quick survey on the approach and at the hut, it became clear that at least 15 rope teams were planning the traverse the next day.
From the Mischabelhütte to the East Ridge
To avoid getting stuck in traffic on the ridge, the alarm goes off at 2:00 am. Shortly before 3:00 am, under a perfectly clear, starry sky, we leave the hut as the third party of the day. It doesn't take us long to work our way into pole position.
Despite the cold wind blowing down from the Windjoch, we quickly reach the start of the ridge. Sheltered behind a rock, we stop briefly to get ready for the climbing. We let a friendly mountain guide and his client pass us so we don't have to spend too much time searching for the route in the dark.
Up the East Ridge to the Lenzspitze
We climb the lower section to the first steeper step without a rope. From there onwards, we move together on a running belay. In the dark, the first few hundred vertical metres pass quickly, and the wind slowly begins to ease as well.
At the rappelling sections, Luca lowers me down and I place a few pieces of protection for him where necessary. That way he can downclimb without too much stress, and we don't have to untie from the rope every time, which saves us quite a bit of time.
The mostly solid rock offers perfect climbing and is simply great fun. With the first rays of sunlight, we also start to realise just how exposed the ridge already is.
Soon we reach the snowfield just below the Lenzspitze. A short break, crampons on, and we continue without the rope. Here we pass the mountain guide again, and a little later, after around four hours of climbing, we reach our first summit.
Traverse to the Nadelhorn
On the Lenzspitze, we only briefly look across towards the Dom and watch the caravans making their way up the normal route from the west. From the summit, we also get a good view of the ridge leading to the Nadelhorn, which according to the route description is supposed to be even better than the first one.
Once again, we climb the first section without a rope, as the climbing is easy and the terrain not particularly exposed. Soon, however, a few gendarmes block our way and we rope up again.
And in fact, this section of ridge is even better than the first. The climbing is great fun again, helped by the fact that the sun is finally warming us up and we're still moving pretty quickly. There are iron posts on the gendarmes, which are perfect for our combination of lowering and downclimbing.
Descent
Even though the Nadelhorn looks almost close enough to touch from the Lenzspitze, it still takes us another two hours to get there. At exactly 9:00 am, we reach the summit as the first rope team of the day.
The wind is blowing hard again, and we try to get some energy back behind a rocky outcrop before beginning the 3,000-vertical-metre descent. I had read a line in another blog beforehand that basically said: enjoy the view before starting the descent – and maybe have some painkillers ready. By now, we understand why.
The first section along the snowy ridge is straightforward until we reach the Windjoch, which is completely bare ice this year because of the heat. We rope up and descend straight down the glacier to avoid the rockfall further to the right. If the ice slope were only five degrees steeper, we would probably have to rappel on the ice here.
Once we reach the glacier basin, we have to cross it completely. Extra care is needed here because the crevasses run parallel to our track. We're very glad that we're still relatively early and the snow bridges are reasonably firm.
Soon afterwards, we're back at the hut, pack up the rest of our stuff and start the long way down into the valley. Luca finds a great shortcut that saves us an extra climb, and after 11 hours we finally reach our bikes again at the valley station in Saas-Fee.
First stop with the bikes: the supermarket for Coke and ice cream. Then it's back down the valley to the car.
Conclusion
What a way to finish! Who would have thought we'd still manage such a big tour.
Definitely an extremely rewarding traverse. The section from the Lenzspitze to the Nadelhorn in particular was great fun, with solid rock and exposed climbing. Technically, the climbing was never extremely difficult, but you should definitely be comfortable with rope handling on a ridge.
The tour also shouldn't be underestimated because of the roughly 2,500 vertical metres of descent. Starting early and having both ridges practically to ourselves in perfect weather was, of course, absolutely brilliant.
Gear
- Standard alpine climbing equipment
- 40 m rope
- BD Camalots 0.4–2 (No. 2 hardly used)
- Nuts (never used)
- 4 alpine draws
