THE BREITHORN

The Breithorn

Some cloud bubbling to the south

.....but fine, clear views across the entire Monte Rosa group

Summit smiles, the Matterhorn just peeping out of the cloud

A rare quiet summit, all to ourselves

Looking down to our ascent route

The Breithorn's several summits and Castor on the far the right

Another glorious day and we had a fabulous time up on The Breithorn in the Monte Rosa group. 4 hours up and down and beautiful views from the summit. The cloud bubbled up in the south but we got terrific views from the summit. I must be getting soft, last time I went up here I walked all the way back down to Zermatt- over 2500m of descent! The Breithorn is classed as the 'easiest' of the 4000m peaks in The Alps by virtue of its uncomplicated slopes and you can start at over 3800m from the Klein Matterhorn gondola station. Having said that it shouldn't be something taken lightly. There is still the altitude and weather conditions to consider, a quick browse around the cemetery in Zermatt and you'll find one or two headstones with climbers coming to grief on this mountain! A wonderful week in the area, we also did some easier half day walks and our final day saw the only bad day of the week, it was cloudy and some light rain/snow. We had a walk up to the Schonbiel Hutte which lies below the impressive north face of The Matterhorn and surrounded by glaciers and other lofty 4000m summits but not much in the way of views.