Rimpfischhorn - Normal route from Täsch Hut

The week before, at the summit of the Allalinhorn, I was talking to Jack about this tour. The webcams from the valley floor don’t inspire confidence: you can see green meadows and woods, but the mountain hut tells us the conditions are good. We didn’t need to be told twice, and, feeling a bit doubtful, we set off on the ascent with our skins on, over fir needles interspersed with patches of snow. The narrow track leading to the mountain hut is all dirt with no white tracks, but we soon realised the trick: beyond the hut, we could see a white couloir descending quite a way down, bringing us back close to the track we’d taken on the way up, not far from the car. So we set off in high spirits, and before long we’re preparing to tackle the tedious queue on the ridge leading to the summit, where Marcello refuses to overtake anyone for fear of being gored in retaliation. The descent, unfortunately, is on wind affected snow, but not so terrible as to make it unpleasant.