Hasenflüeli

Clemence visited from Geneva for the weekend - in generally terrible skiing conditions we managed to find something that resembled powder on the north side of Hasenflüeli - but mostly it was an excercise in survival skiing.

Gross Ruchen (3138 m) from Unterschächen

Another awesome trip with the Zürcher Studenten Skitourenclub. This time to the apparently infamous Gross Ruchen - this is a long tour, over 2100 m of elevation gain. Half of it takes place in a roughly 1000 vertical meter gully/couloir that reaches almost 40 degrees at the top but is somewhere between 20-30 most of the way. Snow was hardpack and made skinning on steep slopes challenging. I love my Dynafit ski crampons... I was feeling fine and jolly until just after lunch at 2600m - the last 500 m I felt really really slow and decidedly unwell. Don't know what happened, but maybe the altitude and the elevation gain had caught up to me. In any case, we all made it to the top in spectacular weather with almost no wind. Amazing. The ski down was challenging - my light and soft skis were difficult to handle on the hardpack, but the descent was fun - all 2000 meters of it. This was my first 3000-meter peak reached on foot - very exciting. Thanks to Ralf and Martin for organizing and everyone for great company! (map link)

Our objective in the distance - so far away...

 

The massif eventually gives way to a weakness - the Ruch Chälen couloir/gully

Halfway up Ruch Chälen

Eventually the angle got steep enough that we had to switch to crampons... 

toward the top of Ruch Chälen

Pretty crappy place for a lunch...

Lunch panorama

Approaching the summit block

Fun exposure

Smiling or in pain?? Personally, I was starting to feel it here... 

On the summit

Narrow ridge off the summit

Downclimbing - the gully in the shadow on the left is Ruch Chälen, i.e. our ascent/descent route

Pizol (2844m) ski tour - 23. 01. 2011

Finally managed to connect with Tobias for a tour - amazing weather, fantastic snow, great company. We took the chair up to Pizolhütte and headed west toward the Wildsee. A quick descent to Wildsee, a pause for lunch, and up the north-facing Pizolgletscher to the Pizol col. An exposed scramble up to the summit was made a tad less adventurous by a cable for self-belay. The descent was great, despite the crowds we found untracked lines all the way down to civilization... perfect light fluffy powder. Yum. a map

I also just realized that every ski outing I've been on this winter has been in perfect weather... something I'm definitely not used to but I'm quickly acquiring a taste for it. Thanks everyone for a great day out! Again no action shots, I still don't have a good way of skiing with my camera...

heading out in the frigid morning

the col before wildsee

slopes above wildsee - I'm really into these shots straight at the sun... 

found a poralizer that fits my lens on an old camera of molly's...

looking back down the pizolgletscher

this is a peak for everyone - shelter from the wind above the col

you never have to wonder where the summit is in these parts... 

some delicious exposure

group summit shot - somehow the only cloudy five minutes were right when we reached the summit

traverse back down to the col

mountain goats

this was a collage experiment - view from the Pizol col

Visit to Basel

Molly and I headed to Basel for some change of pace and because for some reason we've just really wanted to go there. Did you know that Basel has 40 museums? We were going to go to the Kunstmuseum Basel (Basel art museum) but with a choice of 40 museums we decided to go for something smaller and perhaps more quirky. We found the museum of musical instruments, which is housed in a building that used to be a prison that used to be a convent. Strange place. Some very cool things in there.

old and new

 

tinguely fountain

by the bassler münster

a doorway i liked on augustinerstrasse

taking a moment in the rathaus

still life in st. peters church

molly admired the polish work

one of the prison cells was preserved

the former prison, current musical instrument museum from the other side - also now a jazz club

Riedchopf (2552 m) and Silbertälli powder (08. 01. 2011)

Another tour with ZSS (Zürcher Studenten Skitourenclub) - this time in a much smaller group (only four of us), probably due to the slightly more difficult route (roughly 1300 m of elevation gain) and very early start (6:30am departure from the HB! *gasp*) Whatever the reason, I prefer smaller groups anyway. Expectations were low - the snow line was at 2000 m for the few days prior. It also rained. I thought we would find ice, except for maybe a pocket of powder or two (I even picked up some ski crampons the day before, and carried my ice axe). Instead, we found relatively great conditions, perfect weather, and even some powder in the protected northeast bowl of Silbertälli! (see map of the area) Low down the gloppy mush brought back memories of the Cascades... All in all, a fantastic day - thanks again to Guido and Patrick for organizing!

Roman, Guido, Patrick hurrying to beat the crowds to the saddle

 

Swiss candy-wrapper

I waited and waited to get the shot of him skiing from the top, but just took too long and my fingers were freezing

Final few meters to Riedchopf

Airy ridge walk from the saddle to the summit - we approached from the sunny side of the saddle in the background and skied into the shade

On the other (false) summit