Sean and I climbed the Matterhorn on new year's day. The climb is almost a 5,000 foot vertical ascent and it took us about 5 hours up and 3 down, including the hazardous trip across a slippery and uneven lake surface.

The weather started out well, but deteriorated as we went on. We almost called it off, but decided we were still pretty safe and since there wasn't any technical climbing to do below us, it would be pretty easy to descend quickly if need be.

There were lots of neat ventifacts near the top and the spire itself was pretty amazing. We scrambled up a chimney and I literally crawled onto the summit, then tucked tail and ran back down... it was pretty stormy up there.

The descent was quite nice and we were able to sled down a good portion of the glacier we had climbed up. It was a pretty good feeling of accomplishment, I don't think I've ever climbed that much vertical in one day.

~G