WANTED: Partners for the Matterhorn in 2017

I'm climbing the Matterhorn in summer 2017, I need 1-2 partners to climb and travel with. BTW, I opt not to climb with a guide because it's a bit unnecessary since it's only a 5.5 and it will get pretty crowded during the summer so it's almost impossible to get lost. We'll simul climb the Hörnligrat route, there will be fixed protections all the way up. Contact me if you're interested, we'll do some training together. [not pirate guiding, I won't be charging anyone]

I'm down

Nice, I linked some pretty helpful websites and route descriptions.

Mammut 360 Project
Matterhorn Ascent
Hörnligrat Route Map

My info + experience is rather old, but back long ago when I climbed it ...

• lots of parties did get off-route. If there's two crowds of people going two different ways, not clear how you'll know which crowd to follow.
• there was not fixed protection "all the way".
• People did get hurt by rockfall from other parties. Especially other parties who were off-route.

A helicopter rescue was performed while we were higher on the mountain. On our descent, I saw fresh blood on the route.

• I'm guessing that the 5.5 difficulty rating means with using fixed Aid. I don't think it's anywhere near 5.5 if you climb the whole Hoernli route Free.
• We did not simul-climb anything like the whole way. I'd guess that a better plan is to do full belays for a few crux sections, soloing on some other longer sections, and maybe simul-climbing on a few other sections.

Good luck,

Ken

P.S. Just my own feeling ...
I did not think the Hoernli ridge of the Matterhorn was one of the more interesting climbs I've done in the European Alps, or even just around Zermatt. Surely the summit view was inferior to other climbs: because I couldn't see the dramatic profile of
... of course ... the Matterhorn.

I might be interested, how much are you offering to pay? Are expenses included?

I don't charge any money, just buy the plane ticket and climb together

There're some expenses that you might need to consider.

1. Plane Ticket, From USA to Geneva to USA
2. Car Rental Fee, we'll rent a car/van together and we'll divide the total fee to each climber
3. Chamonix climbing? we might drive to Chamonix to do some alpine/rock climbing. we'll discuss that later
4. Hotel fees. (Geneva, Chamonix?)
5. Hörnli Hut fees.
6. Gear Rental(if needed. Preference: Here )
7. Rescue Insurances(Just in case we get lost or whatever, Global Rescue : $119/7 days, Covers $500,000; AAC : $85/year, Covers $5,000 international, $5,000 domestic. NOT AN AD)
8. Others: food, waters, drinks, cameras, etc.

Hörnligrat route GPX file for GPSs.

GPX file

Google Earth Route File