Alpine Eclipse

Early September brought perfect conditions in the Alps – the ideal chance to initiate Hugo, my French boyfriend, into his very first Swiss 4000er. And since a first time should be memorable, why not do it in style? The Zinalrothorn: dramatic views over the Imperial Crown and just technical enough to make sure he’d never forget his Helvetic baptism.

To ease him into our traditions, I packed the Swiss survival kit: Rivella and Ovomaltine. As a proper Swiss, I went for a wake-up that was early but neutral: 4 a.m. sharp. The result? Way too early. We started climbing without even seeing where we were headed, froze like never before, Hugo nearly lost his toes, and I got two bonus bouts of screaming barfies in my hands.

Style-wise, it was clear we hadn’t grown up with the same alpine schools: Hugo climbs “à la française,” while I move “à la suisse.” Two cultures, two approaches – in the end, surprisingly complementary. Next time, I’ll aim for the Swiss compromise: a 5:30 start would have been perfect!

In the end, we had a stunning mixed climb, completely alone on the south face and southeast ridge, with a huge red moon as our witness. We didn’t even realize it was the night of the eclipse… A cosmic little bonus to mark this first Swiss 4000er.

See you soon in the “Peu-Al,” as the French like to say,

Tamara