A Moment in Time ..... When It Stood Still

On our way ( JL and MOD) Panaorama of our destination The peak of the Wildstrubel was our objective

A moment in time ..... when it stood still
By Martin Ough Dealy
It was the beginning of a promising summer’s day. The dawn was just showing as the tops of the surrounding mountains began to glow golden red whilst the chalets in the valley below remained in total darkness.
After a quick breakfast of coffee and muesli the 6 climbers got into the battered van carrying all their gear for the day ahead. Individual bergens, rope in coils, crampons, goggles, ice axes and all the other paraphernalia needed for climbing took up all the spare space.
The intention was to get to the lower scree covered slopes of the Wildstrubel before the sun had reached the valley floor, so they tore along. It was important to start the climb before the sun melted the ice that stopped the daily shower of stones falling down the steep slopes up which they had to climb.
It was not long before the mountain revealed itself in the light of the dawning day. It was the highest point on a long ridge some 10000ft high at the head of the valley.
The distance made the Wildstrubel appear less challenging than its more famous counterparts like the Eiger, Monke and Jungfrau with fiercer reputations. The Wildstrubel was thought to be more suitable for the group because for all except the leader the team had limited experience of serious alpine climbing.
There is no exact English translation of the mountain’s name but words like savage, fierce, rough, and rugged come to mind. So despite its rank in the middle range of the giants of the Bernese Oberland it was going to be a challenge.
The climb began on a narrow track up steep slopes of scree and larger broken rock…the detritus stripped off the mountain by endless yearly cycles of the eroding effects of wind, rain, hot sunshine gales snow and ice. At first the going was easy, so the leader declared no need to rope up. They would do that at the foot of the glacier where the going got much harder with greater risks.
They climbed steadily for the next hour and a half and reached the foot of the glacier and the snowline. The weather had been good to that point and showed no signs of changing. They stopped for a short break before heading for the steeper slopes above the moraine. The aim was to reach the summit before mid-day. No special precautions were taken, and the group continued slogging up the mountain un-roped. The going was made increasingly difficult by patches of ice on the edges of the glacier and the steep broken ground in which the track had petered out.

On the Scree Slope Approaching the foot of the glacier A Closer Look Three members of the team

Three of the group were reasonably experienced alpine climbers, being expatriates living in Switzerland for whom their jobs were just the means to an end – a love, almost an obsession for climbing. The leader considered himself to be one of the best climbers on rock. The mountain was to test this conceited opinion.
The solitary woman was the wife of the 60-year-old factory owner who was the fifth member. Both he and his wife were from long established Swiss families used to the mountains and climbing. But theyhad never done anything as technically challenging like the Wildstrubel. They were just two fit tough locals who had grown up regarding the mountains as a background to their lives, and liked walking in the Alps for enjoyment.
The last member of the group and the youngest was also expatriate and least experienced. But he was fit and eager to explore the Alps during his short summer break.
By 11 o’clock they had reached the last pitch to the summit. At this point the leader decided to rope up. The rope was attached by bowlines round their waists with about 4 meters between each climber. Ice axes were carried by everyone except the Swiss couple who were placed in the middle. The purpose of these arrangements was to enable the recovery of anyone from slipping and falling off.

ON THE SUMMIT and ignoring the signs of worsening weather.

The last pitch looked formidable as they approached it but was in fact not difficult. They reached the summit after about 30 minutes of hard climbing. The weather still held so navigating the climb was easy and they were able to avoid the glacier and the crevassed ice falls and kept for the most part to solid rock.
The view from the top was magnificent and well worth the effort of getting there, but the wind had picked up and there were ominous signs of change. Distant heavy dark clouds were forming to the west. But these warning signs did not concern the leader, or to be fair, any of his companions. They were all intent on enjoying their achievement, the views, and the food they had carried with them.
Staying too long on the summit was their first mistake. By the time the leader decided to start the descent the weather had seriously worsened. Not only had the wind turned to a gale, but cloud quickly obscured the view and to make matters worse, they lost their way in a blanket of white mist. Their view was so restricted at times that the last man on the rope (the youngest) could not see the leader at the front.

Inevitably they missed the way they had climbed up the mountain. They were now on the glacier, and in the worst possible part on the edge of the heavily crevassed and dangerous ice fall. A break in the cloud gave the leader a view across the glacier where he recognized a landmark on the original path upwards. He decided to head for it across a steepening slope of the glacier.

That was the second mistake. Especially as the visibility had dropped almost to nothing as they stepped through an ever denser fog.

Shortly after the glimpse across the glacier there was sudden loud shout. The man at the top end of the rope saw his companion ahead slip and fall. He felt a sharp tug on the rope pulling him off balance. He started sliding with all the other climbers down the steep slope into a white abyss. Everything was brought into sharp focus and in the next few seconds everything seemed to him to be in slow motion. The fall accelerated, but instinctively, he stuck his ice axe into the snow that covered the glacier. Hanging on for dear life he used the broad blade of the axe as a brake until suddenly the tension on the rope slackened and he stopped sliding. He could see the climber in front of him had also stopped. But where were the rest? Had the rope broken and freed them to continue a descent into the oblivion below?

The silence was broken by heavy panicky breathing. It held for what seemed an eternity. In that awful moment in time everything stood still.

After a while he got up. After checking that his companion was also alright the two started slowly and with great caution to follow the rope down the slope. They kept it tawt between them and beyond. They found the woman and her old husband still on the rope lying on the snow-covered ice. The rope was still tight between them and tighter still as it disappeared over the edge of the hole and into the darkness of a crevasse below.

The old man then shouted something in German and there was an answering bellow from the crevasse. Slowly the first of the experienced climbers managed to haul himself with help from the rest of the team out of the hole. His fall into the void had been halted by the rope and the four people hanging onto it above.

It transpired that the leader had broken though a snow bridge over the crevasse and had fallen in pulling the second climber with him. By the grace of all good fortune the leader had landed on another ice and snow bridge some meters below which by a miracle resisted the momentum of his fall and did not break. He was lucky that he had not cushioned the fall of the man behind and now hanging above him.

Securing themselves the team then managed to pull the leader out of the crevasse. Incredibly as he emerged, he was seen still with his pipe between his teeth and his hat still on. But his ice axe had fallen irretrievably into the depths below the ice bridge that had saved him, and the rest of us.

In that moment in time pride had come before a fall.

Members of the Team in contemplative Mood After Returning from the Wildstrubel.

Ough Family Memories
Leggett Memories