PROJECT HUT TRAINEE: A UNIQUE SUMMIT MOMENT
Last Friday morning, at 7.20 a.m., our mobile phone vibrated, we had just received a Whatsapp message from Pascal Schumacher. Pascal, who has been walking up and down the Swiss mountains since the end of June as a hut trainee sent us a picture of his black Suunto GPS wristwatch, which showed an altitude of 4,106 meters. In the background of the picture you could see the first rays of the morning sun over the summit of the 4,078-metre high Schreckhorn.
The day before we received the message, we had talked to the young mountaineer from Walenstadt on the phone, and could sense his joy, lightness and energy right away. His good mood was contagious. Pascal told us that this week he was travelling from mountain hut to mountain hut with his girlfriend Fabienne. From Monday to Friday, she accompanied him carrying out his job as the highest sales representative of the small Alpine nation, which could hardly be more culturally and alpinistically diverse.
During our phone call, Pascal was already at the Suls-Lobhorn hut (1,955 m) and was enjoying a "Lobafel". "That was one of the best lunches I have ever had”, Pascal said enthusiastically. The Lobafel, most commonly known as a falafel, was renamed in honour of the Lobhorn hut, made an impression on him, as did the view from the wooden hut: A direct view of some of the most impressive Swiss mountains - Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. Life in the mountains could hardly be more beautiful.
Pascal told us briefly about his plan to climb the Mönch (4,107 m) early the next day with Yann Roulet, the warden of the Mönchsjoch hut (3,650 m). The Mönch is about 4,107 metres high and is situated high above Grindelwald on the border of Valais. The Eiger (3,970 m) the Jungfrau (4,158 m) and the Mönch form a strong trio.
His Whatsapp message reached us just an hour after the unique summit moment, which Pascal enjoyed by himself, as Yann Roulet was simply too tired for the early tour up the Mönch. By the time we had received Pascal’s photo, saying "I did it - solo", he was already on his way back from the summit and met the mountaineering groups that started the ascent about two hours after him.
"That was a romantic moment and a tremendous feeling", Pascal recalls three days later on his tour to the Engadine. We learned that the Mönch was not his first four-thousand-metre peak, but it was the first summit above the 4000-metre mark that he climbed on his own. Heading towards his last week as a mountain trainee, Pascal had time to think about the past week:
Together with Fabienne he went to Ticino first. There they met up with some good friends who were spending their holidays at a campsite near Lake Maggiore. Pascal remembers the Alpe Saléi (1,777 m), the Capanna Cristallina (2,575 m) and the Capanna Basodino CAS (1,856 m). The three friends from the campsite insisted on accompanying the duo to the three mountain huts. "The Italian-speaking part of Switzerland is very different from the eastern part of Switzerland”. Here you can feel the southern flair and it is less alpine. You can also experience the different atmosphere in Ticino," laughed Pascal, who, until now, has rarely travelled the southern canton.
Through the St. Gotthard tunnel (it was the first time that Pascal drove the approx. 16.9 kilometres from Airolo in Ticino to Göschenen in the canton Uri) the route led over the Susten pass (2,224 m). Not only geographically a highlight, Pascal also fell in love with the Sustli hut. "A beautiful little mountain hut with a very special atmosphere", Pascal explained. The 28-year-old from Walenstadt said this hut was “definitely worth a visit.”
Up there, Pascal and Fabienne were tempted by a mountain tour without a destination. The Murmelsplanggstock (2,864 m) showed Fabienne her limits for the first time: They had to cover quite a few metres in altitude and climb a section without a rope. Pascal enjoyed this summit moment with view of the Titlis (3,238 m) and the Bernese (4,000 m peaks) together with Fabienne.
The week before last of his job as a hut trainee was a tough one and the highlights remain unforgotten. Pascal juggles with names of Swiss huts, hut attendants, mountain peaks, Jochs etc. like no other. In his last week he will meet the editorial team of Bergwelten, an Austrian magazine. For four years now, six editors of the popular magazine and touring portal have been working from a mountain hut for one week each year. In 2019 it was a mountain hut in South Tyrol and this summer they will stay at Engadin in Switzerland. Pascal will spend an evening with them and we are sure that he has the one or other tour tip at hand.
