Maya on the final approach to the summit of
Alphubel, 4206m
We went to Alphubel from Feejoch over the ridge to
Feechopf (3888m) and then down across a large
plateau called Alphubeljoch located
about 500 vertical meters just below the summit.
While crossing Alphubeljoch we met a large
group of climbers coming down. Visibility was still very poor.
The trail, however, was hard to miss.
Finally, when we crossed Alphubeljoch and started going up on a steep
ridge the weather got better. All of a sudden we could see all the
high mountains around us: Rimpfischhorn, Alphubel, and Allalinhorn.
This photo was taken on the final approach to
the top, where the slopes get to be 45 degrees plus. Our excellent Alpine guide
mentioned that this was the only difficult part in case one ends up walking on
ice. It now was an early afternoon, rather warm, and there was no ice.
In fact snow condition were excellent and final ascent presented no
objective danger. It was very steep though. We were on the top at about 3 p.m.
The summit of Alphubel is a flat, large snow field. In fact, it is even
hard to guess where the highest point is. The familiar cross,
typically found on most of the higher summits in the Swiss Alps
is not there. Now, the weather was almost perfect but it was getting
very late. After a short discussion we decided to descend the same
way we came. Our original plan was to cross the Feegletscher
glacier on the way down to Längflue.
However, a long glacier walk in the warmth of the afternoon sun was
not something we were particularly excited about. Yet, we were to end up
at Längflue anyway.