Most of you know that in every trip something goes wrong. It usually isn't very important, but sometimes it goes really bad. This is what happened last thursday:
We'd been planning to go up to the "Grande Dent de Morcle" one day. Thursday was said to be sunny and warm, the nicest day of the week. So that would be the day we'd go off.
It's a 1300m climb, (about the same as Ben Nevis but) it starts at about 1700m and finishes just under 3000. A good 4 hours to the top and the same to come down. According to the guide book (lent to us by a friend then we bought the same on wednsday) AND the map (1974 though...) there were two ways up, from one point we could either go straight up through the rocks (rambling then a path), or continue along and get to the top by the other side, an easier but much longer way. We chose the "straight up" way.
[you can skip this bit, It won't be very interesting]
The first problem was that my little brother wanted to come with us. He is by far not as fit as my mother and I, he's slow and never does high-altitude stuff. We tried to discourage him saying it will be long and difficult, but he still wanted to come. So, 7 o'clock the next morning, after a nice and filling bowl of porridge (for me) off we go. It was supposed to be nice and sunny but it was covered up. The 6:00 weather forecast was wrong. The 7:00 one corrected it : "coverded in the morning but sunney later on". Well at least it wouldn't be stormy. We got to the top and found that my brothers platypus had leaked, he didn't check the opening! And the map and guide book were in his bag. Luckely they survived (didn't even get wet), but his jumper and bag were soaked. Instead of just strapping the jumper on the outside for it to dry and leave, he just complained about having a wet bag and jumper. So my mother had to take his bag (he took my mothers). The jumper dried perfectly in the slight brise. I also forgot my hat and sunglasses but it was cloudy so not a problem. We set off.
Craig (my brother) was already having difficulty in the first part, a really easy path through the forest, then a road (not asphalt but still very easy). Bad news. After hardly more than an hour he already had a blister...the "second breakfast pause" (we're usually hungry again quite early, hence the second breakfast. The porridge was better than any muesli though, as I wasn't even hungry yet) and a plaster later, we're off again. We got to a ridge a bit later, and did a pause there. It was quite windy now and my brother had only taken an old and crappy "waterproof" shirt that wasn't even windproof. Maintaining it wasn't waterproof he didn't even put it on and was chilled and exhausted. we still had two and a half hours to go and we'd done the easiest. I'd really have liked to have a little stove and a cup (like an esbit stove and a cheap stainless steel cup) to make a cup of tea to warm him up. Later on the sun came out and warmed him up, so I suggested a bit of dried fruit and chocolate to restore a bit of energy, it helped a bit.
So now comes the "straight up through the rocks to the top" bit. Only 300m left. we discovered he's very, very slow on less-than-perfect paths...the first bit of scrambling (15-20m) wasn't much worse than me, but the path after that was very good, not steep (but zigzaging), but he was still very, very slow. I just waited a good half hour in the sun observing a few bouquetins not very far away (10m). Very enjoyable! So here he comes with my mother that had the patience to walk at his pace, mini pause, and off again. We got to the top shortly after. It took us over five hours, an hour more than planned.
[Here's were it becomes interesting again]
We weren't too keen on going down the same way, so we decided to go round the way. the first bit was fun, it wasn't a path but a "follow the dot" thing jumping from rock to rock, I'd never seen it before, there was just a dot of yellow paint on each rock you had to go on to get to the right place. And now is where the trouble begins...the path that goes to the other side of the mountain, the way we were supposed to go down, didn't exist anymore, and even if it did it would be impossible to use because of the snow. So we'll have to walk even further, to get the the next "equivalent" path a bit lower down, with my brother really exhausted. We got to the place the path was supposed to be...okay, it was supposed to be steep, but not that steep : it was just about vertical, and no path! But they were both in the map AND guide book, the map was old, but we'd just bought the guide...checked the date : 1985...ouch!
We were now in serious trouble, lost in the middle of nowhere, with no phone coverage. My mother and I still had enough strength to go far, but my brother was now completely exhausted, just about sulking and trailing his feet (very bad, big waste of energy). We could only walk out of this, because we had no means of spending the night (and it was only 3 o'clock). We had a very steep way to go down, but part of it was scree, which is easy to go down (so we thought, Craig didn't...). Luckily a bit was snow so we could slide down, and it brought Craig's mood up a bit.
We had too solutions : walk right down to Fully, 2000m below, take the bus back home and fetch the car another day, or walk up to one of the huts around there. Both would have been fesable, but Craig was really having difficulty. We at last got down to the lake, and decided to go up to one of the huts : Demècre, "just" a 200m climb. We asked Craig if he'd manage, telling him it was as easy as [an easy walk we'd done before]. That cheerd him up, and was now walking much better...it was very psychological. We got around the lake with no problem, then got to the path that would bring us up to Demècre. I took his bag from there on, it lightened him up and he was now cheerfull, and walking just about like us. That made the differance before, I was positive and got on fine, he was sulking ; I got on fine, he had to be dragged along. It's all in the attitude!
We got phone coverage and were able to phone home and explain we'd be spending the night up there. The path was beautifull, it was one of the places we were planing to come to another time, but presented like that it was even better :-D. The hut was a nice place, were we could have a wash (not a shower...but a wipe in cold water is better than nothing, and my feet liked it alot!). We didn't have enough money but they could do us a bill type thing. There was an up-to-date map on the wall, and the paths we wanted to take weren't there anymore. We spent a nice warm night sheltered from the storm (I forgot to mention him, another reason to not spend the night out!), and had propper breakfast. They even lent us suncream! (we didn't take any spare stuff...). I still had a litre of water left, but wouldn't of minded changing it for fresh stuff, but I had no means of purifying it, and the bottled water was very expensive, so I just kept that.
The walk back to the car should've been an easy walk, flat most of the way, two and a half hours for normal people but we planed three with my little brother. The place was beautifull, with the rocky moutains above, grass and rock around, and cliffs below (but we could see them since the path slaloms along the mountains. Now full of blisters and with very sore legs, my brother was really miserable (he hadn't even treated his blisters or given his feet and legs a rince and massage)...and walked very, very, very slowly. We were hoping he'd be happy to get to the car soon and would be wanting to get past the "hot part" before the sun got too bad...but no, he decided to go slower than anything. Well, time isn't the worst thing, we can wait, but there was a storm ahead when we got to half the walk, but he still didn't accelerate. So we got caught in the fog then storm near the end of the walk. It was pouring with rain and lightning was approaching...it was in the distance first, then time between the lightning and thunder got shorter and shorter, till they were synchronised...being caught in a thunderstorm in the mountains with lightning cracking all around me isn't really my idea of fun! I was actually terrified (fortunatly the forest wasn't far...a mass of trees is always better than a little group of walkers in the open!). Fortunatly the fog stopped us from seeing how close the thunderbolts were, which probably saved me from a heart attack ;-) (with a little exageration). Oh, magic, my brother was walking as fast as us now, no more pain, so he needed a storm for motivation?
We reached the car shortly after, completely soaked. Well only my trousers were wet, I had my trusty Helly Hansen jacket to protect me, unlike my brother with his "waterproof" jacket and my mother who had water coming in the collar of here windstopper fleece (it's the only place it came in mind you)
Thanks for reading this far!
So what I learned:
- never be kind to somebody that potentially couldn't make it and take him with you, leave him home...
- treat blisters...and check others also have done!
-Always have a map, it saved our life. Which leads to the next point...
-UPDATE YOUR MAPS the mountains don't change, but the paths do! It's the map that got us into trouble in the first place. As for the guide, the "easier" path was a horizontal climbing route, they just didn't say so...
-have some means of spending the night, like a blizzard bag, it could have been a potential lifesaver. But luckily in Switzerland there's a hole network of alpine huts that are always in reach and are guarded, so there's always warm supper, beds, slippers (to change out of your wet shoes), toilets and sometimes even soap and means of cleaning yourself.
-take foot powder, my feet would have wanted it (cold soapy water did help though)
-a little towl is very usefull too, my mother always has her little packtowl with her, it was very usefull (and the smallest size was enough)
-a toothbrush wouldn't be stupid either
-suncream too, even if yours lasts the day, you might be happy to have it the next day after an inexpected night out.
-spare food. We had plenty of dried fruit but we still bought a packet of biscuits and some chocolate.
-water purifier, like a few tabs of micropur or something, takes up no space, weighs nothing, but could have been usefull to fill up with water (I did have some left but just a little bit)
-A little stove and cup, no more than an esbit and stainless steal cup. Esbits are slower than gas but gas is heavy and expensive for just a back-up, and Stainless steel mugs are three times the weight of titanium ones, but then it's only 100g more, and quite a bit cheaper (5 for a surplus mug, or 40 for a titanium one).
-the portable phone was also usefull to say that we were alright, getting a rescue team coming for us would have been embarassing...
-and the obligatory waterproof jacket that you should never leave for the mountains without, even on a short walk. I also had a down vest with me for warmth.
Means of lighting a fire would have been absolutely no use: 1000m higher than the tree line there's nothing but rocks, snow and a bit of grass (sometimes). A stove would be much better.
In between time my mother bought herself a bigger bag to fit all of that stuff in (Karrimor eclipse goodness, what a great bag), she's been using till now a little 10l bag because it's light, but with small bags you tend to cut down on what you take with you, and end up with too little. I'm also considering a blizzard bag if I can find a not too expensive one (they're 100.- here, that's over £40 [and they're sold through Salewa, not marked as blizzard]).
One last thing, my mother used to be at university in Edinburgh, and was part of the mountaineering club, and told me : "it's silly, we always had emergency gear and rations when we left for the hills, we never went out without them". I guess that good habit faded off...
You never expect problems to happen, but they do. Be prepared.
We'd been planning to go up to the "Grande Dent de Morcle" one day. Thursday was said to be sunny and warm, the nicest day of the week. So that would be the day we'd go off.
It's a 1300m climb, (about the same as Ben Nevis but) it starts at about 1700m and finishes just under 3000. A good 4 hours to the top and the same to come down. According to the guide book (lent to us by a friend then we bought the same on wednsday) AND the map (1974 though...) there were two ways up, from one point we could either go straight up through the rocks (rambling then a path), or continue along and get to the top by the other side, an easier but much longer way. We chose the "straight up" way.
[you can skip this bit, It won't be very interesting]
The first problem was that my little brother wanted to come with us. He is by far not as fit as my mother and I, he's slow and never does high-altitude stuff. We tried to discourage him saying it will be long and difficult, but he still wanted to come. So, 7 o'clock the next morning, after a nice and filling bowl of porridge (for me) off we go. It was supposed to be nice and sunny but it was covered up. The 6:00 weather forecast was wrong. The 7:00 one corrected it : "coverded in the morning but sunney later on". Well at least it wouldn't be stormy. We got to the top and found that my brothers platypus had leaked, he didn't check the opening! And the map and guide book were in his bag. Luckely they survived (didn't even get wet), but his jumper and bag were soaked. Instead of just strapping the jumper on the outside for it to dry and leave, he just complained about having a wet bag and jumper. So my mother had to take his bag (he took my mothers). The jumper dried perfectly in the slight brise. I also forgot my hat and sunglasses but it was cloudy so not a problem. We set off.
Craig (my brother) was already having difficulty in the first part, a really easy path through the forest, then a road (not asphalt but still very easy). Bad news. After hardly more than an hour he already had a blister...the "second breakfast pause" (we're usually hungry again quite early, hence the second breakfast. The porridge was better than any muesli though, as I wasn't even hungry yet) and a plaster later, we're off again. We got to a ridge a bit later, and did a pause there. It was quite windy now and my brother had only taken an old and crappy "waterproof" shirt that wasn't even windproof. Maintaining it wasn't waterproof he didn't even put it on and was chilled and exhausted. we still had two and a half hours to go and we'd done the easiest. I'd really have liked to have a little stove and a cup (like an esbit stove and a cheap stainless steel cup) to make a cup of tea to warm him up. Later on the sun came out and warmed him up, so I suggested a bit of dried fruit and chocolate to restore a bit of energy, it helped a bit.
So now comes the "straight up through the rocks to the top" bit. Only 300m left. we discovered he's very, very slow on less-than-perfect paths...the first bit of scrambling (15-20m) wasn't much worse than me, but the path after that was very good, not steep (but zigzaging), but he was still very, very slow. I just waited a good half hour in the sun observing a few bouquetins not very far away (10m). Very enjoyable! So here he comes with my mother that had the patience to walk at his pace, mini pause, and off again. We got to the top shortly after. It took us over five hours, an hour more than planned.
[Here's were it becomes interesting again]
We weren't too keen on going down the same way, so we decided to go round the way. the first bit was fun, it wasn't a path but a "follow the dot" thing jumping from rock to rock, I'd never seen it before, there was just a dot of yellow paint on each rock you had to go on to get to the right place. And now is where the trouble begins...the path that goes to the other side of the mountain, the way we were supposed to go down, didn't exist anymore, and even if it did it would be impossible to use because of the snow. So we'll have to walk even further, to get the the next "equivalent" path a bit lower down, with my brother really exhausted. We got to the place the path was supposed to be...okay, it was supposed to be steep, but not that steep : it was just about vertical, and no path! But they were both in the map AND guide book, the map was old, but we'd just bought the guide...checked the date : 1985...ouch!
We were now in serious trouble, lost in the middle of nowhere, with no phone coverage. My mother and I still had enough strength to go far, but my brother was now completely exhausted, just about sulking and trailing his feet (very bad, big waste of energy). We could only walk out of this, because we had no means of spending the night (and it was only 3 o'clock). We had a very steep way to go down, but part of it was scree, which is easy to go down (so we thought, Craig didn't...). Luckily a bit was snow so we could slide down, and it brought Craig's mood up a bit.
We had too solutions : walk right down to Fully, 2000m below, take the bus back home and fetch the car another day, or walk up to one of the huts around there. Both would have been fesable, but Craig was really having difficulty. We at last got down to the lake, and decided to go up to one of the huts : Demècre, "just" a 200m climb. We asked Craig if he'd manage, telling him it was as easy as [an easy walk we'd done before]. That cheerd him up, and was now walking much better...it was very psychological. We got around the lake with no problem, then got to the path that would bring us up to Demècre. I took his bag from there on, it lightened him up and he was now cheerfull, and walking just about like us. That made the differance before, I was positive and got on fine, he was sulking ; I got on fine, he had to be dragged along. It's all in the attitude!
We got phone coverage and were able to phone home and explain we'd be spending the night up there. The path was beautifull, it was one of the places we were planing to come to another time, but presented like that it was even better :-D. The hut was a nice place, were we could have a wash (not a shower...but a wipe in cold water is better than nothing, and my feet liked it alot!). We didn't have enough money but they could do us a bill type thing. There was an up-to-date map on the wall, and the paths we wanted to take weren't there anymore. We spent a nice warm night sheltered from the storm (I forgot to mention him, another reason to not spend the night out!), and had propper breakfast. They even lent us suncream! (we didn't take any spare stuff...). I still had a litre of water left, but wouldn't of minded changing it for fresh stuff, but I had no means of purifying it, and the bottled water was very expensive, so I just kept that.
The walk back to the car should've been an easy walk, flat most of the way, two and a half hours for normal people but we planed three with my little brother. The place was beautifull, with the rocky moutains above, grass and rock around, and cliffs below (but we could see them since the path slaloms along the mountains. Now full of blisters and with very sore legs, my brother was really miserable (he hadn't even treated his blisters or given his feet and legs a rince and massage)...and walked very, very, very slowly. We were hoping he'd be happy to get to the car soon and would be wanting to get past the "hot part" before the sun got too bad...but no, he decided to go slower than anything. Well, time isn't the worst thing, we can wait, but there was a storm ahead when we got to half the walk, but he still didn't accelerate. So we got caught in the fog then storm near the end of the walk. It was pouring with rain and lightning was approaching...it was in the distance first, then time between the lightning and thunder got shorter and shorter, till they were synchronised...being caught in a thunderstorm in the mountains with lightning cracking all around me isn't really my idea of fun! I was actually terrified (fortunatly the forest wasn't far...a mass of trees is always better than a little group of walkers in the open!). Fortunatly the fog stopped us from seeing how close the thunderbolts were, which probably saved me from a heart attack ;-) (with a little exageration). Oh, magic, my brother was walking as fast as us now, no more pain, so he needed a storm for motivation?
We reached the car shortly after, completely soaked. Well only my trousers were wet, I had my trusty Helly Hansen jacket to protect me, unlike my brother with his "waterproof" jacket and my mother who had water coming in the collar of here windstopper fleece (it's the only place it came in mind you)
Thanks for reading this far!
So what I learned:
- never be kind to somebody that potentially couldn't make it and take him with you, leave him home...
- treat blisters...and check others also have done!
-Always have a map, it saved our life. Which leads to the next point...
-UPDATE YOUR MAPS the mountains don't change, but the paths do! It's the map that got us into trouble in the first place. As for the guide, the "easier" path was a horizontal climbing route, they just didn't say so...
-have some means of spending the night, like a blizzard bag, it could have been a potential lifesaver. But luckily in Switzerland there's a hole network of alpine huts that are always in reach and are guarded, so there's always warm supper, beds, slippers (to change out of your wet shoes), toilets and sometimes even soap and means of cleaning yourself.
-take foot powder, my feet would have wanted it (cold soapy water did help though)
-a little towl is very usefull too, my mother always has her little packtowl with her, it was very usefull (and the smallest size was enough)
-a toothbrush wouldn't be stupid either
-suncream too, even if yours lasts the day, you might be happy to have it the next day after an inexpected night out.
-spare food. We had plenty of dried fruit but we still bought a packet of biscuits and some chocolate.
-water purifier, like a few tabs of micropur or something, takes up no space, weighs nothing, but could have been usefull to fill up with water (I did have some left but just a little bit)
-A little stove and cup, no more than an esbit and stainless steal cup. Esbits are slower than gas but gas is heavy and expensive for just a back-up, and Stainless steel mugs are three times the weight of titanium ones, but then it's only 100g more, and quite a bit cheaper (5 for a surplus mug, or 40 for a titanium one).
-the portable phone was also usefull to say that we were alright, getting a rescue team coming for us would have been embarassing...
-and the obligatory waterproof jacket that you should never leave for the mountains without, even on a short walk. I also had a down vest with me for warmth.
Means of lighting a fire would have been absolutely no use: 1000m higher than the tree line there's nothing but rocks, snow and a bit of grass (sometimes). A stove would be much better.
In between time my mother bought herself a bigger bag to fit all of that stuff in (Karrimor eclipse goodness, what a great bag), she's been using till now a little 10l bag because it's light, but with small bags you tend to cut down on what you take with you, and end up with too little. I'm also considering a blizzard bag if I can find a not too expensive one (they're 100.- here, that's over £40 [and they're sold through Salewa, not marked as blizzard]).
One last thing, my mother used to be at university in Edinburgh, and was part of the mountaineering club, and told me : "it's silly, we always had emergency gear and rations when we left for the hills, we never went out without them". I guess that good habit faded off...
You never expect problems to happen, but they do. Be prepared.
We love them really, but they can be a pain in the butt ! I have "carried mine" plenty of places. It can feel like you are loaded down with their burden, putting strain on your shoulders as you have to constantly make allowences for them. Don't get annoyed, and be patient. I hope he enjoyed his trip and didn't spoil yours too much. 
) you will have a climbing partner you can rely on, and a world of adventures will unfold for the both of you.
