Matterhorn North Face

Last week, Tom Grant of Haute Pursuit teamed up with resident alpinist Ben Briggs to attempt the mythical North Face of the Matterhorn, via the uber classic Schmidt route. The first ascent of the face via this line was established in 1931. For their ground breaking achievement, the Schmidt brothers received an Olympic gold medal, the only one ever given outside of the Olympic Games. In anything but exceptionally good conditions, the route is graded ED (extremely difficult). Tom and Ben found that the route provided sections of high quality climbing and while never very hard by modern standards, protection is sparse and the line is committing, giving it a feel of real seriousness. Tragedies occurred on both the day before and after their ascent, with at least three climbers losing their lives' on the mountain. RIP.