Day 2 - View Point

Rising at 6am to catch the snow while it's still frozen, we gather in the dining hall for a breakfast of bread and jam. Everyone is groggy, and we don't speak much. After breakfast, I accidentally fill my bottle up with "Marsh Tea" in the dim light of the cabin, thinking it was water. Marsh tea is a strange rather horrible tasting fruit tea; this mistake caused the water from my bottle to taste of the foul liquid for several days after the trip, no matter how many times I washed it out! To buy bottled water in the huts is very expensive, however they usually give you water that has been melted from snow and boiled for free. 

Getting up at sunrise is tough, but rewarding - the views are amazing! 

We set off with the sun low in the sky, and the near-freezing conditions make the hard snow easy to walk on, plus the cool air is refreshing. We ascend a further 400 metres to the high ridge, which overlooks the glacier we had climbed the previous day. My breathing is much better now, I seem to have acclimatised to the high altitude, although I feel very tired as a result of not sleeping. After a while we reach the summit of the ridge at a height of 3200m, where we are greeted with the most spectacular views. We can see across a lot of the Alps from here, with some famous peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn visible in the distance. Suddenly I don't feel tired any more, just incredibly alive and awed by the beauty of nature. This is the furthest away from civilisation I have ever been, and never in my life have I witnessed such spectacular beauty or serenity. There were no power lines or roads or fences or McDonalds up here, nothing to spoil the magic. I really hope they don't discover oil up there or something; you can be sure that if humans found a way to exploit the mountains they'd cover it with roads and buildings and structures and probably blow half of it up just to make a bit of money. 

Climbing in the early morning means the snow is hard, the sun is low and the air is fresh! 

Paul pointing out the various peaks from the high-point of the ridge

Me at the top

Before long we continue on our journey, and start our slow descent back down the ridge. As we are working our way across the Alps, our journey for the next few days involves crossing several mountains and ridges, meaning a lot of ups and downs. Descending feels a little disappointing after all our work climbing up, but it is a necessary evil. Huge sheer drops lie to our right, but we follow confidently in Paul's footsteps and keep clear of the danger.

Starting our descent back down over the ridge

Huge sheer drops lie to our right

After a while we reach a valley that we must cross which shoots steeply down the mountain. This should be a dry valley, but the exceptionally heavy snow fall this winter means water is pouring down the mountain. We nervously pick our way across the top of the waterfall, seeking natural stepping stones where possible and trying hard not to look down. 

At one point we must cross a particularly deep, fast flowing section of the waterfall, which is pouring down the valley and an incredible rate. This really terrified the hell out of me; one slip and that's me  into the water and off down the mountain. There haven't been many times in my life when I wondered if I genuinely might die, but this was definitely one of them, and although I didn't know it yet, the first of several times during the trip where I honestly feared for my life. With my heart pounding, Paul urges me on, and I take a leap of faith and made the jump. Relief flooded over me as I reached the other side, and I was delighted (and a little surprised) that the group was still intact. 

Safely off the waterfall, and on to our rocky descent off the mountain

We work our way steeply back down the mountain from here, until finally arriving at our destination at Fafleralp. This was a hut village if you will, a collection of small huts that orbit around one big mothership hut. Once again we had a short walk down a rough path to our hut - it was becoming clear that you never just arrive at the cabin, there's always a final hurdle or challenge. 

At the bottom; we have just descended the steep slope seen behind us. 

Back down in the greenery of the valley

That evening we enjoy a well deserved beer in the warm evening sun, and discuss our previous mountaineering adventures. I'm impressed by the experience of my peers, and hope to follow in their footsteps someday. I start to wonder if I'll ever have a beach holiday again; nothing can compare with the intense satisfaction of sipping a cool beer in the sun after a hard day climbing through some of the world's most spectacular scenery. 

The guide and some of the others retire to bed about 9pm. This is 8pm UK time, and there's no way I was going to get to sleep so early. Ross and I stay up till nearly 11:00pm, and joke that we feel like "naughty school boys" for not going to bed. We wondered how cross Paul would be if we staggered in drunk at 3 in the morning, although concluded that he probably wouldn't care, and we'd have to suffer the consequences of trekking hungover at 6am the next day. We concluded this was a bad idea, and promptly retired to bed.