It all begins with a message from Giacomo asking whether he can share my phone number with a guy who is trying to link together all the 4000-meter peaks of the Alps on foot in a single summer, and who is looking for a climbing partner to do the Blanche and continue via the Peuterey ridge all the way to the summit of Mont Blanc. The very idea of this traversing project immediately inspires me. A few days pass and I hear from Teodoro, who has already done the ascent solo and is now moving toward Valais. After a brief exchange, I accept his proposal (although, deep down, I had already accepted it before even knowing the details) to attempt a long ridge traverse from the Bishorn to the Matterhorn. After quite a few complications finding a place to leave the car in the Anniviers valley—where only short-stay disc parking or payment with Swiss coins is allowed—I meet Teodoro, the only camper in Zinal without a tent. I immediately sense that the rope team will be bound by a certain chemistry, and after some preparations we head toward the moraine behind the Cabane de Tracuit. The trail is steep, and I’m not used to carrying what feels like the Leaning Tower of Pisa on my back: food for six days, sleeping bag, bivy sack, and mattress. After half an hour I start getting used to the weight; with some conversation the time flies, and we set up a small platform for the night. A demanding day follows: after the Bishorn, no one dares continue. The huts had not been able to provide any reliable information about the condition of the ridge, so we commit cautiously, breaking trail through sometimes deep snow and cleaning rock where necessary. Despite wind and fatigue, morale stays high, and once on the summit we look down toward the Schalibiwak. Conditions on the Schaligrat are wintry, and we take a look at the normal route, from which Alex suddenly appears almost as if teleported—a crazy Austrian guide who is running around Randa climbing all nearby peaks with the goal of reaching each 4000-meter summit in under six hours from his base. We descend together and find a good bivy spot a few minutes above the Weisshorn Hut. The following day we descend to the valley and, after a refreshing bath in an ice-cold stream, move to the Rothorn Hut area. We use the long walk to talk and get to know each other better. From there, after three hours of sleep, we set off at a solid pace for the Zinalrothorn, which we reach at sunrise. A quick descent, an encounter with a mad old-school alpinist wandering around without helmet or rope, a snack break, then we pack up base camp and head onto the normal route of the Obergabelhorn, which seems never-ending. We continue along the Arbengrat descent. The snow has softened, and with some zigzags and rappels we manage to avoid it as much as possible. We finally descend the long couloir leading to the Arben bivouac, where we sleep a long and deep sleep… Just kidding—we sleep 3.5 hours, then descend to the valley and climb back up toward the Hörnli Hut, from where we glimpse our objective: the Solvay Hut. Our legs surprisingly cooperate despite the fatigue of the previous days, and in less time than expected we find ourselves on the summit: an emotional moment for Teodoro, who reaches the halfway point of the traverse and, for the first time since we met, makes a phone call (actually two) from the top of a mountain. We quickly descend to the Carrel Hut, closed for maintenance. We spend the night nearby (for those interested, the bivy spot is just above, where the old Luigi Amedeo di Savoia hut once stood), and in the morning, under a fierce but very localized wind, we descend. The long journey home begins, bringing me back to Zinal by public transport. I say goodbye to Teodoro, who heads toward Cervinia, where he will meet the partners joining him for the next stage of this long journey. The “geographical” report of the trip is only part of this traverse, which allowed me to meet an extraordinary person whom I am sure will become a valuable adventure partner. To be continued…