Vorderer Tierberg (3'092m)

Length: 15.6km
Duration: 2-day trip
Ascent: 1'279m
Descent: 1'279m

First time mountaineering on a glacier :) Zeno and I signed up for an introduction course in mountaineering offered by the SAC (Swiss Alpine Club). The gear list for this trip included some items that we needed to buy/rent, including: Ice Axe, Crampons and a Climbing harness. The class was over two days, and we stayed at the Tierberglihütte, a SAC hut. It was actually the first time for me to stay in a SAC hut :)

On Saturday morning at 7:09 our group of 15 people (including 3 guides) met at Zurich Main Station to start our 3hr long train ride to Sustenpass. In the bus toward the trailhead we could get a first glimpse of the glacier we were about to traverse, and it was simply breathtaking. The first part of the hike was on a trail. After about 45min, we reached the base of the Stein Glacier and were ready to put on our gear: helmet, climbing harness, crampons, ice axe and gaiters. Next, we divided into groups of three and tied ourselves to the rope with about 10meters in between each person. This is to make sure you’re secured when walking over the glacier and in case you fall into a crevasse, your partners can rescue you.

It was the first time we've walk on snow/ice with big crampons. We only once went on a daylong ice climbing trip in Canada where we used the crampons to climb up a mountain. The first section on the glacier was free of snow and we walked over bare ice. It was quite impressive to see the glacier and to hop over small crevasses. Once the snow covered the glacier, we had to watch out for crevasses. Sometimes you could see them underneath the snow, however, at higher elevations the snow was fairly thick so you couldn't see them anymore.

The first adventurous part came, when we reached the first steep section of the hike. It was an ice slap at about 32degree angle. On the right side, you could also climb over a rocky section to skip the ice section, but for training purposes we decided to walk over the ice. As we were all beginners in this course, one guide and his two partners on the same rope walked up first and he set up about 6 ice screws on the way. These were used to tie our rope into so that in case someone falls they are secured. It was actually quite impressive how easy it was to walk up onto the ice, the crampons were holding amazingly well on the ice, you just need to trust them. After this section, the rest of the hike to the hut was over snow with amazing views. Walking with 15 people over snow with crampons is definitely much slower than my regular hiking speed. But at over 2,500 meter it is also more exciting.

4hrs after we left the trailhead, we reached the Tierberglihuette, a renovated small SAC hut with space for 60 people. The weather started to get cloudy but fortunately there was no rain. For the rest of the day, we had two training sessions in smaller groups. We learned how to walk on a short rope for sections that a steeper and where the risk of falling is higher than the risk of falling into a crevasse. It took some time to get used to the concept but after a while it was very useful. The second training was on making an anchor to rescue or to repel. This was pretty interesting as you only need to dig a small hole for your ice axes, put it in there and attach a rope onto it. With four people we tried to pull the ice axes out, but with no luck. The guide also showed us how to set an ice screw into the ice.

After the training sessions, it was time for dinner. The dining room was completely full, that meant 60 people were eating together. The food was basic, but good. The rest of the evening we talked and admired the view outside. At 10 pm everyone was in deep and sound asleep.

Breakfast was served at 6am and we were ready by 7am. On the second day, we hiked up to Vorderer Tierberg at 3'092 meter before descending back to the hut, and then back to the trailhead. Only the last part of the mountain was more step and we walked on a short rope. It involved some rocky section as well as snowy section. We reached the top 45 min after leaving the hut and had a breathtaking view over the cantons of Uri and Bern with mountains like Titlis, Eiger and Monch. We could even see the Eiger Northface.

The descend was steep at first, but the crampons were holding perfectly in the snow. Once back at the hut, we had another training section on how to stop when sliding/falling down a snowy slope. The hike down through the snow was much faster than on the first day. Mostly because it was going down, but also because most people felt more comfortable with their crampons and the snow/ice.

When we reached the ice section, we decided to make an anchor with an ice axes (just as we learnt the day before) and attached a fixed rope to it. This way each of us could be tied to the rope and use it as a security. A big group from Italy was just finishing their descend using the same method and the mountain guide who went last, removed the anchor and walked backwards down the ice slap with two ice axes and his crampons without a rope, it was really cool. We were actually able to walk down the slap facing forward, the crampons itself were secure enough. I myself decided to walk down backwards as I felt more comfortable. As the rope was not long enough to go all the way down, one guide set up another anchor in the ice with an ice screw and attached a second rope onto it. Once I reached that anchor, I had to tie myself to the second rope and remove the first one. It took quite some time until all 15 people descended down, but it was fun. The last person on top, removed the ice axes, packed up the rope and descended down over the rocky section without walking over the ice.

We walked on the ice/snow for another 30 min and on the trail for about 45 min until we made it with 1 hr to spare to the restaurant at the trailhead. It was an incredible weekend and I learned a lot. It was hopefully not the last time I was doing a mountaineering trip. Looking forward to all the upcoming trips :) But next time with better sunscreen as I got really burned...