Täschhorn: third time lucky!

After a first attempt via the South ridge in already very wintry conditions on 23 October last year (turned back a little below 4000 m), and another attempt to ski the NW face just 3 weeks ago (turned back at 4260 m), this Täschhorn seemed determined to go into extra time.

The disappointment in mid-May was all the greater because that outing was meant to close the ski season and crown the Täschhorn as the very last 4000er I intended to ski from the list of 82!

Fortunately, the energy returns for another assault. This 9 June will finally mark the successful ascent of this austere mountain, now laden with a whole history!

We leave Sion at 10 p.m. to reach Randa on the last train. A brief nap in a car park under dismal neon lights, before keeping our 2:00 a.m. appointment with the moon and the vault of heaven. Our night-time progress takes us from a dark forest to cliffs glistening with running water, before we reach the foot of the Kingletscher at the first hint of dawn. We climb it with the caution and deference it calls for, before finally hauling ourselves onto its summit flank, guarded by several barriers of seracs. A few treacherous crevasses and a short section of ice guarding the summit remind us that it should never be taken for granted... until the moment when fingers numbed by frost can at last savour the long-awaited moment: it's 10:37 and I finally touch the heavens and the summit cross of the Täschhorn, adorned with a suffering Christ enthroned at 4491 m and exposed day and night to the tumult of snow, wind, and all the wounds that humanity bears.

Thank you, Romain, for your trust and for such a well-matched rope team!