Full Moon at the Bivy

On Monday a small crew of us set off for the bivouac of the Pantalon Blanc. After an effortless 3 hour skin/ski, we made it to the top and were greeted by a majestic 360 Degree view of the Alps. En route, we had a French couple who had followed in our tracks and once at the top asked us if they were at the Rosablanche which is a peak in a totally different valley. That peak was way behind us so we told them to stay at the bivouac for the night. The highlight of the evening, besides the dark chocolate, whisky and wine, was a full moon rising over the Matterhorn and illuminating a sea of clouds.

The plan for the morning was to ascend a peak called La Sâle but it was snowing and cloudy so we waited a bit to see what would unfold. We decided to head in that direction anyway and descend from the col down to Bonachiese. As soon as we got into the main couloir a thick cloud engulfed us. From there on we had to move slowly and take out the map every 100m since there were cliffs everywhere. At one stop the three others were checking out the map when a big rock came hurtling down the mountain striking Fred’s binding then Seb’s bag and finally smacking Jesse in the arm. The mood was pretty tense until we got out of the cloud and the rest of the run was pleasantly uneventful.