Hi,
some days ago I shared with you the first part of our trip to Ortler @loulou1987/ortler-our-way-to-payerhutte-day-1. Today, I am taking you to the top, finally.
It was 4 am, still dark and we were setting out for our journey. It was really a weird feeling to be at 3000 metres and know there are rocky slopes everywhere around you. I didn´t feel confident at all as I saw only a narrow stripe of light in front of me coming from my headlamp.
First, we were walking on narrow paths and after some short time we reached the first rocks which we had to climb up. It took us about one and half hour of climbing to get to a point where we got the first rays of the sunrise.
We had to overcome some less and more difficult climbing parts of rocks, some of them were secured by iron ropes, some not.
After about 2 hours of climbing in total, we finally reached the glacier.
We put on our crampons, created our two-members rope team and got our ice axes ready to get through the glacier safely.
We were slowly proceeding, step by step, being careful of the cracks which were bigger and more visible with each ray of the sun.
After some altitude meters, the slope started to be more steep and we needed more energy for every step. Also due to being in such a high altitude, our physical condition seemed to be worse and worse.
With each additional altitude meter, the views were more breathtaking.
And from some point, we were higher than any other peak around us.
There were just clouds above us moving quickly.
The last phase of the glacier was the most difficult for me because as the place was exposed, there was a strong wind blowing the iced snow into our faces. At one moment, I thought that we would just die there.
Fortunately, we didn´t and after 5 hours from the start we reached the top. We took some photos with the cross on the top and enjoyed the best view with the best feeling ever. I was standing at 3905 metres above sea, the highest place I have ever reached only with use of my own power and energy.
We went down, with more optimism and more energy than on our way up. The glacier took us much less time than on our way up, naturally, but still, there were hours of climbing the rocks waiting for us. At the end, we reached the Payerhütte, we survived and we even enjoyed the whole trip.
For me, it was the best and most emotional mountain experience ever and I am pretty sure that I will get the energy from these memories for many and many days.