Biner_Leseprobe

All night, I dreamt about standing on top of the Matterhorn, sending a
yodel down into the valley, loud enough to be heard in all of Zermatt. And
then, suddenly, I was all alone on the summit. I was not able to see the
others, and the terror of that woke me up. It was about 2 o’clock and the
others had started to wake up, as well. We made some tea after which
we started our attack of the enormous peak before us. Of course, we
roped up immediately; Croz led the party, followed by Hudson, Whymper
and Hadow, then my father, Lord Douglas and I. At about three o’clock,
the day began to dawn and the sky in the east was shimmering like pure
gold. There was not a single cloud in sight; the only audible sounds were
the steps of seven passionate mountaineers and the clattering of the ice
picks on the rock.
We followed the same route Croz and I had reconnoitred the night before.
Everything went smoothly until we reached the bit above the place
where the Old Refuge is located today. From that point onward, the level
of difficulty started increasing, but we were all of good cheer and able to
quickly gain height. About 150 feet above where today’s Solvay Refuge
is located, we rested and had a little something to eat in order to restore
our strength. Then, we attacked the shoulder, into which Croz carved
steps. Douglas, who was in front of me, had great difficulty placing his
feet on the steps, and several times he slipped. But for most of the time,
I pressed his feet firmly into the steps. Finally, we reached the shoulder.
We left our knapsacks and provisions at the very top; nowadays, that is
where the fixed ropes begin. We deliberated on the route we should take
to overcome the most challenging part of the climb. We knew that it would
get easier once we were above the roof. Croz was the one who took the
decision to cross over to the west face, the so-called ‘in d’Lätzi’ (‘shady
slope’). It was entirely free of snow, and there were small, naturally formed
steps about one or two inches wide; we used them to climb our way up.
Below us was a 6,000-feet vertical drop, as steep as it gets. Not a word
was uttered while we were cautiously and tensely climbing up. We were
all very well aware of the seriousness of the situation.
Just one wrong movement or one wrong step and our bodies could have
ended up down on the glacier, dashed to pieces. I was young and agile
and I climbed the mountain like a cat climbs a tree. I was always able
to observe the others and to secure Lord Douglas’ feet for him. He was
not the best mountaineer. Slowly but surely, we safely made our way
up; finally, we reached the bit above the roof. At around 2 o’clock, we
reached the summit.
54 The conquest of the Zermatt Mountains