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CETNeva travels
MATTERHORN . WINTER 2005
First Russian winter climb on the Hornli (NE) Ridge
"The Matterhorn joins hundreds of beautiful, significant and inspirational sites throughout the world that have been dedicated to the cause of peace and international friendship.
With its majestic beauty, power and silence the Matterhorn conveys a sense of overwhelming peace, reminding us of the source of creation. This quality of peace, based on love and the feeling of oneness, will help humanity create a world of harmony amongst all people. This inner peace, which begins in the heart of each of us, will change the fate and face of humanity..."
Text on the Hornlihut wall.
In January 2005 the CET NEVA team headed by Anatoly Moshnikov climbed up Matterhorn (4477m) following route of the first summiters. The climb is dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the first ascent of that famous Alpine mount.
Russian climbers attempted the Matterhorn in winter conditions more than once but all the attempts failed with the unique exeption for the ascent-1998 from the Italian side via South-West, Lion Ridge. The mountain, in summer admitting to the top about two hundreds climbers daily, in winter reveals its savage character.
Lindsay Griffin
(from "Chris Bonington and Audrey Salkeld.
WORLD MOUNTAINEERING. 1998.")
the matterhorn
Situated on the Swiss-Italian border in the heart of the Valais or Pennine Alps, the Matterhorn, at 4477m (14,701ft), entirely dominates the area. More has been written about this eroded, rock pyramid than almost any other mountain in the world. No other peak is more readily recognized by its form or by its name, which has become generic for similarly shaped mountains everywhere.
Not surprisingly, this is one of the summits most coveted by alpinists at some stage in their career, and it has been subjected to all sorts of media attention . and many unusual climbs. The rock is notoriously variable and stonefall is an ever-present threat.
The Matterhorn gives life to the two famous resorts at its toot: Zermatt, high in the Mattertal to the north; and Cervinia (the modern version of Breuil), at the head of the Valtournenche to the south.
ridges, faces, and peaks
The four ridges and four faces of the Matterhorn converge to horizontal crest, 85m (280ft) long, with the Swiss summit 4477m (14,701ft) at the west end, and the Italian summit 4476.4m (14,686ft) at the east, adorned with a large metal cross.
The 1000m (3300ft) East Face and 1200m (3900ft) West Face are rarely climbed due to poor rock and high objective danger. On the East Face, just below the large summit block, a series of ledges . the Mummery Ledges . connect the Hornli, or North East, Ridge (the least steep and most frequented of the ridges) with the more or less rocky Furggen, or South East, Ridge.
Between the East and West Faces lies one of three great North Walls in the Alps (the Grandes Jorasses and Eiger are the other two). The most prominent features on this 1000m (3300ft) face are a left-to-right slanting couloir in the middle third (taken by the classic 1931 "Original Route") and a huge vertical-to-overhanging rock wall like a giant prow coming down from the Zmutt Nose and forming an inset North-North-West Face.
The stone-swept, 1200m (3900ft) South Face is in Italy, above the Lower Cervino Glacier. It is a huge, concave wall with marked central recession. The main face is demarcated on the left by the Cresta de Amici, coming down from a shoulder known as Piс Tyndall on the South West Ridge, and on the righ by a splendid pillar descending from the Picco Muzio, the thin step on the Furggen Ridge.
The South West (Italian or Lion) Ridge forms the right edge of the West Face, rising from the Col de Lion, which is the lowest point on the ridge between the Matterhorn and the 3715m (12,200ft) Tête du Lion. Two-thirds of the way up the ridge is the prominent shoulder Pic Tyndall.
The first ascent history
CET NEVA climb
CET NEVA photogallery
Composed and translated by I.Moshnikov and S.Kalmykov
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