Blitzkrieg on the Kanzelgrat of the Zinalrothorn!

Blitzkrieg refers to an offensive military tactic that seeks a rapid victory by striking by surprise with brutal, concentrated force.

While this word, like the plan for the day, may sound somewhat barbaric to ears unfamiliar with the activity, they actually reflected a certain elegance and above all a fine ethic: climbing the Zinalrothorn for the first time (for me at least), in a single push from the valley, using public transport, and by a little-known ridge.

Anthony had been telling me about the Kanzelgrat on the Zinalrothorn for a long time – this somewhat mysterious SE ridge, apparently rarely climbed. While the Zinalrothorn is fairly famous for its superb shape and its several very fine ridges, the Kanzelgrat seems to remain in the shadows, little documented and rather confidential. Everything we needed to spark our interest.

And the forecast for that Friday was too good to miss the window! Like a last burst of summer before letting winter settle in, the mountains seemed to throw their doors wide open to let us embark on one last fine alpine adventure this season!

And naturally, we intended to carry out this adventure in the purest and most ethical style possible.

Alarm at 3:45, ride down to Sion on my turbo-electric two-wheeler, and the first two trains in a row to reach Zermatt. It's 6:45 when we set off. Morale is good, excellent even, and we seem to be in good shape too. A good two hours later, we stop at the Rothornhütte to eat a few provisions — potatoes and bacon, what more does a mountain dweller need to be happy? The weather is sublime as forecast, the panorama already grandiose... We savour it, and not only the food! We can feel the day is going to be grandiose, even though it's only just beginning.

And the pleasure builds, with a very relaxed approach to the foot of the ridge, chatting away quietly, without forgetting to take in all the majestic mountains around us. And in that respect, I find it truly prodigious to “discover” brand-new panoramas, and to marvel at these new views of mountains that I have nonetheless all climbed (with the sole exception of the dear Weisshorn next door!). Being in a new place offers unprecedented and surprising perspectives on these summits, their faces and their ridges, and this novelty is a source of quite tremendous joy and wonder.

The moment to start the climbing proper has finally arrived. And what awaits us exceeds our hopes: we're climbing in T-shirts above 4000 m, the rock is excellent, the line clever but obvious, there's absolutely no fixed gear (except for one trusty piton that has probably been there for decades)... Pure bliss. After a few lovely pitches (whose announced difficulties, between 4a and 5a, are short), we take the variant graded V+ (which we'd rather call 5b), a slightly overhanging cracked dihedral that tops out right onto the famous Kanzel... Truly fantastic!

A few strides, and we reach the summit. 78/82! Immense gratitude: the summit of the Zinalrothorn reached from Zermatt and by this Kanzelgrat we had mentioned so often... And exactly 4 weeks after our last outing together, with a similar approach on the one-day Matterhorn traverse. It's so good when a rope team runs like clockwork.

After a good slice of happiness, and another of chocolate cake, we begin the descent. We carefully go down the SW ridge, snowy here and there, then continue calmly towards the hut. We then jog down to Zermatt, where we get back to our starting point without having let the clock go all the way round, and without having had to take out our headlamps all day!

A not-so-cheerful little anecdote: on the way down we pass the rope team of a guide who had taken a client up the normal route to the summit of the Zinalrothorn... after taking a helicopter for the “approach” and being dropped at Ober Äschhorn (3550 m). And to add to my dismay, the helicopter picked up its “passengers” after their ascent. Clearly, we don't all share the same ethics in the mountains — nor the same acute awareness of the tragedy unfolding in the Alps...

In contrast to this utterly dismal observation, let's end this story by celebrating the mountains, boldness, friendship, ethics, sustainable mobility, and the nobility of our practice of mountaineering when it is lived in complete harmony with our values and aspirations.

Back in civilisation, we also learn of the death of a Swiss climber who had left Zermatt at 1:30 a.m. the day before to climb the Zinalrothorn. Sadly, he fell on the descent near the end of the N ridge. Our condolences to his family and loved ones. Had we known, we're not sure we would have gone, and certainly not with the lightness and joy that characterised this day...