Monch North Face with the Steck

by Jonathan Griffith
Its been a tough month since Everest and the bad weather hasn't really helped either. But last week I found myself in Interlaken where myself and Ueli were finishing off a film with Sender Films. It just so happened that it was the first time the sun has come out in weeks so it was a frustrating time; I was just glad that I managed to nip up the Midi North Face at the start of the week with Dougal Tavener. It was deep trail breaking but felt amazing just to be out again.

So it was that at the end of the week myself and Ueli were chomping at the bit, so we hatched a plan. Seeing as we were both psyched for a huge day out covering as much ground as we could until our legs fell off we opted for the Monch from town. The Monch North face is not hard but it is a long way from Grindelwald and fearing poor snow conditions we left at midnight. In a nutshell it was a long way but very liberating for the two of us- we felt strong and after 3460m of vertical ascent and 18km or horizontal we topped out with huge grins on our faces. It had been a good day.

Now the weather is settling down and all my summer plans are starting to look a bit more promising- the next week is going to be a good one!

A well earned sunrise on the Monch, cool to see our starting point of Grindelwald so far beneath us

Climbing the serac on the Nollen Route

Ueli doing his running 'thing' on the Nollen

The Eiger West Flank

The Jungfrau

Cumbre! Happy boys...

Summit Panorama, I'd forgotten how stunning the Oberland is

The Guardian 
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Bernese Oberland, May 9, 2013

Dear friends

The past days and weeks were emotional a rough ride sitting on a roller-coaster.

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