Day 4: Down to Les Hauderes; Alphorn Festival

This part of the descent was 'only' from 2,500 meters down to 1,600 meters.
Below, looking south toward Col Collon and Tete Blanche, and the pass into Italy.

Les Hauderes, site of an alphorn festival, preparing for Swiss National Holiday Aug 1.

Day 5: Leaving Arolla with a Guide

Through hiking contacts, we found mountain guide Josette Valloton  of Arolla, Switzerland to get us across the Glacier of Arolla and up to the Col Collon.

The glacier shown in the third picture is not the one which we crossed.

The last picture shows Josette taking Alan onto the High Glacier, which appears like a rocky ridge because it has so much talus on the top.

Day 5: To the Col de Collon (3,100 meters) over the Arolla Glacier

The Haut/High Glacier of Arolla is very rocky, flat, and easy to cross.
We were glad to be roped to guide Josette Valloton, even though for her it was a morning stroll.

Alan follows Josette on the rock tongue of the glacier above.
We roped up when crossing the icy portions, which can have crevasses, right.

Alan follows Josette up to the col.

Day 6: Rifugio Nacamuli (2,800 meters) down to Valpelina (2,000 meters)

Comba d'Oren; we are now in Italy, although names have a French inflection.
It was a spectacular descent through an alpine valley, a lesson in glacial geology.
Alan is used to provide scale.

Day 6: Up to Col de Valcornera (3,100 meters) from Valpellina (2,000 meters)

This was a very difficult ascent.  There was late snow, the slope was quite steep, the path had been covered by snow and rock, and the slope was unstable.  It did not seem that many had come through yet this year.

Day 6: Col de Valcornera to the Rifugio

After a difficult ascent to this pass at 3,100 meters, we skated down a steep snowy slope.
The pictures do not really convey how steep and snowy this slope still was, even in late July.

The Rifugio, at 2,900 meters, is finally visible.

Flavio, below (along with his family) were a welcome sight.

We were the only visitors at the rifugio in late July.

The snowdrifts were still 2 meters deep around the hut.

Day 7: Down from Rifugio Perucca--Vuillermoz

We left Rifugio Perucca at about 2,900 meters crossing late snow and descended all the way to the valley floor at 1,900 meters, to catch a bus to Breuil-Cervinia.  We did not miss the sights along the way in the alpine valleys where cows are summered.

Views of the Matterhorn from Val Tournenche, Italy

Even as we descended into the Val Tournenche, the upper reaches of the Val d'Aosta region of Italy, the Matterhorn remained shyly hidden by clouds.  In Italian, the mountain is Monte Cervino.

Breuil-Cervinia is the ski town on the Italian side of Monte Cervino.
This was a gathering of mountain guides at the Office of Fascism, whoops, Tourism.

Day 8: Crossing Theodulpass and Glacier

At 3,300 meters/10,500 feet, Theodul pass and glacier were the highest point on the Tour of the Matterhorn.  We were lucky to find two friendly guides who helped us cross the glacier safely.  Below, looking from the funivia back toward the ski slopes of Italy to the southwest.

 The funivia from Breuil-Cervinia, above, brought us quickly to the pass at 3,300  meters.
Cyane and Alan, with the Matterhorn in the background below, felt on top of the world.

We roped up as a team to cross the glacier, seen above.

There were no problems with crevasses, but Kasia did sink in to a snowbank, below. 

Kasia and Victor, who helped us safely traverse the Theodul glacier.

Views Around Gandeghuette, (3,000 meters)

The slopes around the Matterhorn have extensive lifts and ski slopes.
Gandegghut, below, is perched below the highest ski lift in Europe - and above two glaciers.

It can have great views of the Matterhorn, seen in morning light above.