 Poster: A snowHead
|
This article is about a couple of weeks old but I've not been able to find a link until now.
If this happens in the winter season, will us skiers be warned of the potential of falling rubble (maybe the falling rock sign needs to be falling rock proof)?.One of the nicest off-piste runs in Wengen, certainly the most spectacular run I've skied there, lies beneath the notorious North Face of the Eiger. For those that have skied the White Hare - would you be prepared to run the potential gauntlet of falling ice and rock to ski it again?
PS I do have some photo links for the Eiger and the White Hare but alas, they are on the SCGB website
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
|
Kit Wong, Do you mean the photos are on the SCGB website, or that your links to the photos are on the old chat forum there? If the latter, give us some clues, approx date, thread subject, the user name you used to use there, and some of us who still have access will do a search.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
This article appeared last summer on the subject of the Matterhorn, following a massive rockfall and temporary closure...
| Quote: |
| According to environmental historians, last month was the hottest June in 250 years – six to seven degrees above average. And temperatures have remained high into July. |
| Quote: |
The heat is also being blamed for causing massive chunks of ice to break away from a glacier above the resort of Grindelwald on Tuesday.
The ice fell into a river, causing a two-metre high swell of water to barrel down the mountain. |
Back in 2001 this article appeared on the BBC Sci/Tec pages.
| Quote: |
| Longer-term studies suggest that the Alpine glaciers have been retreating for the last 150 years, and some scientists believe they could disappear completely by 2050. |
Permafrost distribution in the Northern Hemisphere.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
For those of you with SCGB access privileges, the photos are in the gallery for March 2003.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
The point about the Eigerwand is that it has always been falling down. In bad weather it becomes a garbage shute of rain, snow, ice and rubble. From what i hear, the climbing is not actually that hard but there is a lot of it and the options for escape are limited if bad weather hits while you are on the face.
In that respect it is much safer in the winter when there is more ice to hold it together, but you have to counter that with increased cold and shorter days.
The White Spider by Heinrick Harrer is a compelling read and explains the fear that the face has inspired for over a century
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Tony Lane wrote: |
The point about the Eigerwand is that it has always been falling down. In bad weather it becomes a garbage shute of rain, snow, ice and rubble. From what i hear, the climbing is not actually that hard but there is a lot of it and the options for escape are limited if bad weather hits while you are on the face.
|
ah, you beat me to it  I said as much to PG the other day, the difference now is that the permafrost that's been holding some of it together is failing of course.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Know just how it feels .... 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
|
Tony Lane, has it spot on, both with regard to the Eiger Nordwand & the book. "The White Spider" by Heinrich Harrer is the definitive book on the subject, even though it was written a long time ago & before the first direct ascent. I grew up ski-ing in Wengen (also my first ski teaching job) and find it very sad that things are getting worse. There is NO better view in the alps than the great, glowering north face of the Ogre. No doubt it's flexing it's muscles because too many people now dare to invade it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A guy my husband works with is an experienced mountaineer. He has attempted it twice, but has had to retreat both times. The first time when he was new to climbing due to lack of experience and once because the conditions changed.
The first time as he was trying to keep out of the rock and ice falls raining down he watched two French guys go past him armed with a packet of digestives and a water bottle each! They made it up and down safely!
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
Lorraine Agass, well done to those French guys but even more well done to your husband's colleague for not being tempted into following their example. It would have been all too easy for him to convince himself that he was just being a wimp and that he had to accept such risks on mountains - there's a saying (probably corrupted from elsewhere): there are old climbers and there are bold climbers, but there are no old bold climbers.
The Eiger North Face has fascinated me for a long time even though, strangely, i have never actually seen it (very jealous of easiski!). But my climbing is so infrequent these days (and my mountaineering almost non-existent) that it would be folly to think that i could have a serious shot at it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
|
Tony Lane, go and see it. It's a beautiful area, Summer and Winter.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
