The ski touring blog continues this season with a detailed insight into some of the thousands of classic routes throughout the Alps. We kicked off this season in style heading with Performance Verbier ski instructors Ben Proudlove and Johanna Obermoser to the Breithorn, a 4000er in the glaciated paradise above Zermatt, on the border between Switzerland and Italy. We started our climb from La Testa Grigia on the Italian border meaning we had around 5km distance to cover, climbing a vertical distance of 719m, not an easy task at this altitude especially early in the season. The initial climb from La Testa Grigia to the Breithorn Plateau is relatively straightforward, following the piste all the way to the col at 3795m. From here we travelled roped across the plateau contouring round to the south to keep clear of the crevassed area to the east of the Kleine Matterhorn. We continued skinning, now with ski crampons on, up towards the base of the rock band on the SSW flank. A lack of recent snow and strong winds meant the snow was hard and compact, much closer to summer than winter conditions. Traversing the face we reached the Western ridge which leads up to the summit. Care needs to be taken here to keep clear of the Cornice along the northern aspect of the ridge. We soaked up the views from the summit and shared some Schnapps courtesy of our Austrian Johanna! Given the conditions, we weren't expecting much for the descent. Skiing off the summit we took it easy on the exposed 35-40 degree face before skiing left back towards our skinning tracks. Speed was key as we reached the plateau so Ben headed of first, the test dummy for the rollercoaster ride across the sastrugi. Johanna and I follwed suit praying we would arrive back at the end of the Breithorn Plateau with all our ligaments still intact! We were the only group to ski off the summit that day, a rare occurence on the Breithorn! We all made it in one pice and enjoyed the ski all the way back to the car at Cervinia, a vertical descent of 2114m! Now we have found our touring legs, it's time to start planning many more outings. The 2016/7 season is in full swing!
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