Iceland Gear Test Trip (3.- 4.June 2007)

In order to prepare ourselves for the upcoming Iceland expedition we conducted a gear test weekend in the Swiss Alps. What better test can there be than going for a tramp with all the stuff you intend to test? It also gave me the chance to test my new digital camera (Canon EOS 400D) as I had drowned my old one on a canoeing trip during an unplanned swim in a rapid.
A plan how to get there and out again and a possible route was quickly assembled. The gear was packed according to my gearlist 'Tramping with bivvying' and on the Sunday, 3rd June, we left for the region around Erstfeld, that's en route towards the Gotthard pass; the main connection from North to South and vice versa in the Swiss Alps.











Overview over the area around Erstfeld. The Gotthard pass is at the Southern end of this map.



In order to speed things up we took a little gondola up to Schwandi and started tramping towards the Stich (2300m asl), meaning we still had around 1200m ascent to cope with. It was pretty cloudy at the start but it got lighter the higher we got and at around 1700m we broke out of the mist and reached the sun. High, precipitous cliffs and peaks were to be seen all around us and we continued to ascend through stands of alpine coniferous shurbs. It was here that we came upon the first patches of snow.







Andreas surrounded by alpine shrubs in front of the huge limestone cliffs.

















The higher we got the more frequent and deeper the snow got, a pretty slush kind of snow to be precise. Thus, leading the way was requiring some energy as with every step one would sink in almost up to the top of the gaiters.


Andreas ascending on alpine pastures with the snow covered opposite side of the valley in the background (top) and beating the trail (bottom).


























After a tiring snowbash we turned right shortly before the Stich and found a snow free spot a few hundred metres further on, just big enough to put up our tarp. Then it was time for a cupa and some cookies, but that took a while as we had to melt snow first. Time to relax and enjoy the scenery. Breathtaking!













Our camp with the Grosse Windgällen (3187m) in the background.




A brilliant sunset saw us standing near the edge of the cliff and surveying the cloud covered valley below. This is the feeling of true freedom!
























The next day consisted of more snow stomping and some rather hairy downclimb over some ledge on the other side, not the official route, I reckon. I would have quite enjoyed it if Andreas had had more experience in rock climbing, but as things were, we were relieved to get off the darn thing. The rest of the descent led us through alpine pastures and forests, ending at a bus stop in the village of Unterschächen.
A very neat adventure and most of the gear proved to work fine, however, due to the yet unknown climate circumstances in Iceland we will take a real tent and leave the tarp at home. And that new camera just rocks! I got that camera kit that comes with 2 lenses, one a zoom up to 200. Can fully recommend it!