We are having breakfast at 5 o'clock in the morning. For me, the night was not that good but Lisa slept well... as always 😉 5 o'clock is not my time... so I am not very hungry. In fact it is hard to eat something... looking back I think the cup of coffee rescued me 😉 Thirty minutes later we are sitting in the shoe room putting on our equipment. In here it is already cold - it gives us a first impression of the temperature outside.
Outside it is still dark. The only light comes from our headlights. Directly behind the Finsteraarhorn Hut the way to the summit begins quite steep. It is a small path leading upwards through boulder and rock. After maybe an hour we arrive at a glacier. There we take a short break. The daylight is already sufficient so that we do not need our headlights any more. From that point we go on the rope, again. We cross the glacier all time upwards until we arrive at the "Frühstücksplatz" (place for breakfast). The Frühstücksplatz is located a couple of meters above the glacier we are comming from.
The path turned back to boulder and rock. We take a break here. The look back opens a beautiful panorama. A strong and cold wind is blowing - but we find a quite nice place. This is the first time I am getting hungry. We take some photos and enjoy the great landscape. Below we can see the Fieschergletscher and the Grünhornlücke where we came from yesterday. The break didn't last long. Due to the cold wind we continue going upwards. Lisa and I we have cold feet what is quite uncomfortable. In turn Martin didn't have any problems... Again, the path leads us to another quite steep glacier. This is the longest of all the ascents. Still on the rope it is going upwards... and upwards and the air is getting thinner and thinner. Finally - I can hardly say how long it has taken - we arrive at the Hugi Sattel (hugi saddle) 4088m above ground. Up here the cold wind is still blowing - even more than before. The water in our camel bag tube is frozen.
From up here we can look down to the other side - and we see the beginning of the ridge which leads all way up to the summit of Finsteraarhorn. Looking up there is a little frightening. It is a steep mixture of ice and rock. Most of the time the way goes a few meters below the ridge - to the right. But still to the right it is going quite steep downwards - I can't say how far. And so we start climbing the ridge. Martin at first, then Lisa and then myself - still on the rope. I can't stop looking down into the abyss. I am feeling very stressed right now - it is a mixture of fear and excitement. After maybe 15 minutes we meet another rope team coming from the summit. Hoping that we are almost at the summit I am asking: "We are almost there, aren't we?". "No, it is still a piece of way to go - maybe 25 minutes." they say. That is not what I wanted to hear. At least the climbing makes my feet come back to life, again. And so we continue further upwards to the summit. Then, suddenly Martin tells me to take the lead of the rope team. It is going downwards for some meters - and then upwards again - and then - after a few more minutes we are there ... on top of the Finsteraarhorn on 4274m above ground. We shake hands and hug each other. The panorama in all directions is awesome. For a few minutes we are forgetting the cold wind and the fact that we have to go all the way down again. We take some photos and enjoy being alive - maybe more than ever before. The sky shines in a deep blue. At the horizon we can see Monte Rosa, the Matterhorn and the Mont Blanc Massiv. Lisa is licking a cereal bar - because it is also frozen...
After some really unforgettable minutes (now sitting here writing it down it feels like a dream) we start descending again. This time I go first, then Lisa and then Martin in the back. Looking down the way we came from I still feel a little nervous. But after some steps all my fear and doubt suddenly goes away. I am feeling quite safe. It is hard to describe that in words - but even standing there right on the ridge looking down hundreds of meters in both directions does not really scare me anymore - I am feeling free for the first time. It seems my brain finally realized that fear does not help in this situation. And so it is almost fun going down the ridge back to the Hugi Sattel. Compared to where we come from the way back down to the Finsteraarhorn Hut is quite simple and relaxing - just the last hour needs caution again. Finally, back at the Finsteraarhorn Hut we are sitting outside in the sun. Below our feet we see the Fieschergletscher. Again we congratulate each other - we made it!
To shorten the time to dinner we decide to solve some crossword puzzles. Now, instead of cold wind the sun burns down on our heads. So we decide to go to our bed after a few minutes. There we try to continue a simple crossword puzzle for one minutes maybe... and then we fall asleep 🙂 We wake up just in time for dinner. This evening we are having soup, salad, indian curry with rice and chicken... and something called Meringue. The weather forecast on TV looks ok for the next morning - but in the afternoon they say there can be some thunderstorms. We go to bed again and fall asleep immediately.
