We are leaving for a ski traverse in Norway in a month, so Freddy and I needed to do some snow camping and glacier practice. Due to a month almost void of precipitation and a Saharan Dust Event, skiing conditions in the Alps are not inspiring. We settled on going up the Jungfraujoch because (1) that would maximize our time practicing glacier travel, (2) the Eiger, the Mönch, and the Jungfrau form such a stark and inspiring image for skiers and alpinists that I felt the need to see them up close and (3) it’s not every day you take a cog train through a mountain up to 3463 meters!

Saturday started early with a 4:49 train through Zurich HB, Bern, Interlaken, then to Grindelwald. We took the new tricable car up to Kleine Scheidegg, spotting a few parties starting their ascent of the Eiger Nordwand. What an iconic place. From Grindelwald, elevation of about 1000 m, you look directly up at the intimidating North Face of the Eiger. These mountains really slap you in the face with their allure and sense of danger. 

As I mentioned, the Alps have had a very dry Spring, which was evident when watching skiers slide down a white ribbon of death past green pastures. With this weird weather pattern, that’s why folks were climbing the Nordwand, which is normally an endeavor for the Fall. We got off the flashy cable car and transferred to the Jungfraubahn, which is tunneled through the Eiger, wrapping around to the Jungfraujoch, a saddle between the Mönch and the Jungfrau. We arrived at 9:41 with quite a few other skiers and alpinists. 

We quested up to the Louwihorn, a high point on the ridge past the Jungfrau. The skin track followed a tongue with icefalls on both sides. Because of the lack of snow, the crevasses could be easily spotted, but we roped up anyways. No matter where you go in the Alps, it’s rare to be alone. This day was no exception; the track up to the Louwihorn was a conga line of 50 people. It was extra difficult to pass with ropes and hazard on both sides. Not that I was in any state to pass people!

When I lived in Truckee, I really took for granted how acclimated I was. Now living at 400 meters above sea level, and taking the train up to 3400 m, the air truly felt thin. Add a 40 pound pack to this anemic air, and it was a miracle I made it to the top! A Swiss dad stopped to ask us what we had in our packs. Freddy explained we were snow camping and he looked visibly perplexed as there were 3 huts within a few hours ski. We skied down the Kranzberg Glacier, staying on the left side and avoiding crevasses and an icefall. Ski conditions were even worse than we expected. The Saharan Dust Event from a couple weeks ago had left all the glaciers looking like someone had dumped fire retardant all over them. A minimal layer of wind drifted snow had settled on top, forming a greenhouse effect in the near surface layer. It felt like you were breaking thin glass when you skied on untracked snow. In the areas that received less dust, it was still firm as a rock. The temperature stayed around -10 C for most of the day. With this in mind, you can empathize that Freddy and I could not summon the motivation to heave our packs up another lap, so we decided on a central camp spot, and practiced crevasse rescues for a couple hours. 

Crevasse rescue in theory seems really easy; I can point you to many Youtube videos that are less than 10 minutes long, making you think the endeavor is a walk in the park. Though I have not had to rescue anyone from a real crevasse, simulating the experience with Freddy yanking with all his body weight on the rope, somersaulting me backwards until I could dig my edges into the hard snow felt like good practice. Once I stopped myself, I successfully got my ice axe off my pack and dug a snow anchor. I was able to haul him out of the fake crevasse using a 2:1 with my progress capture and tibloc. I am happy I got to practice though I hope to never have to do this in a real emergency situation!

We made dinner, a hearty Three Sister’s Stew with additional couscous, and packed up shop promptly after the mountain cast a shadow on our camp site. At around 10, I woke up very cold. I was wearing everything I had plus Freddy’s puffy. After 30 minutes of shivering and moving my legs, Freddy had had enough. He recently bought a new insulated sleeping pad, which he let me sleep on. Don’t worry, no Freddys were harmed in this swap, he was balmy from bringing his Western Mountaineering 0 degree F bag, which took up a quarter of the tent’s volume.

After disregarding my 6:45 alarm, I told Freddy I would wake up when I was warm. I woke up an hour later to the sounds of ski crampons crunching in firm snow from parties leaving the closest hut. If we’re being honest here, I was moving slow this morning, so we changed our plans to climb a subpeak of Kranzberg. It was a nice 800 meter climb with only a day pack. We got to use our crampons and glacier travel techniques. The summit gave us beautiful views of the largest glacier in the Alps. In every direction, there were glaciers descending down to the valley. The scale of the area was very mind blowing. We looked down on the line we had skied the day before; the crevasses looked even more menacing from above. 

We skied down, packed up camp, and started heading back to the Jungfraujoch.  Soon Freddy would eat his words that “it would not take more than two hours” to get back to the Jungfraujoch. The station was 650 meters above us, which in normal circumstances would be a walk in the park. What we didn’t account for was (1) the distance (2) how heavy our packs were and (3) the altitude. Heat reflected from all directions as we trudged up the gut of the Aletsch glacier. I was dripping in sweat with my heavy pack while Freddy hummed the bridge to Hey Baby by No Doubt. What added insult to injury was the fact that we could see the Jungfraujoch building, making it look like we were so close, yet it never moved closer. We realized we needed to hurry. I summoned all the strength I had to make the train at 4:50. We ran to the platform, making it at 4:47. There was no train. A helpful attendant let us know that the last train down had left at 4:17; we were staying on the glacier tonight. Curse you Spring Forward! We would have made the train the day before…

I sobbed for a few minutes because I had spent every last drop of physical and emotional energy on that climb. I was completely cracked, and now I had to put my ski boots back on. While I canceled all my Monday Morning meetings, Freddy called the Mönchsjoch Hut, which was another 45 minute walk. I willed my body up to the saddle, while gazing at the South Face of the Mönch, with its stout cornice, widening bergschrund, and sheer ice fall. There were two perfect ski tracks down the middle of it. One day I hope to go back. We made it to the hut just in time for dinner: vegetable soup, alpine Hornli (aka Swiss Macaroni with meat sauce and dried onions), and ice cream with a splash of white wine. We sat with a nice German man, who had lived in Mountain View in 1999. We made some jokes about SGI 🤣 It felt almost wrong to be rewarded by warm food, a bed, and shelter after fucking up trip logistics. Without the hut, it would have been a cold night with no gas left, and only a snickers bar to share. Gosh I'm feeling grateful for Swiss Backcountry Infrastructure! We woke to an incredible sunrise with coffee and Muesli, then headed back to the Jungfraujoch station to take the train home.