Wetterhorn - Matterhorn traverse info?

[Ridge runner]

Has anyone here done it or know much about it, particularly with snow? It appears to be class 4 loose rock, and Roach says the complete traverse is "arduous." But other than that and few pictures from trip reports I haven't been able to find much info on it.

[ketel1]

I have more pics if you need any...taken from below. My friend Mic thought it looked 'fun' when we did Wetterhorn, but he is not right in the head.
Beth

[Chris P.]

There used to be a topic here discussing it which I guess has since been purged. The gist of what was said from people with experience on the ridge is that the portion from the lowpoint up to the Matterhorn summit is full of big loose blocks, and I think the word "treacherous" was thrown around more than once.

I do know that grock52 said he has done the route, and dsunwall has done the portion from the low point to one of the summits (don't remember which). Also, sdkeil was talking about doing it this summer, but I don't know if he ever did it or not. Those 3 people might be good sources to get more information from.

I've been interested in doing it for a long time, but I don't know if I ever will. It looks super intriguing, but everything I hear about it just makes it seem like it wouldn't be worth taking the chance on a long rough ride down one of those gulleys being chased by refrigerator sized blocks.

[viejo]

Check SarahT's trip report entitled Wetterhorn Area 13ers. She provides an accurate and fairly detailed description of the ridge difficulties. In short, the rock truly sucks.

[Ridge runner]

Thanks everyone. I saw SarahT's report and their group gained the ridge at the low point and continued all the way to Matterhorn. She mentions the crappy rock, and the further down the ridge the worse it got, but staying directly on the ridge crest wasn't possible at times. Sometimes the addition of snow can make rock like this easier to get around, which is what I'm wondering, though sometimes quite the oppposite is true and it's much worse. Steve Gladbach's winter summit of Wetterhorn shows some side views of the ridge, and the last thing I'd want to do is traverse below the ridge crest along those snow slopes.

I've also read reports by several members who have done the east ridge to Wetterhorn, but no accounts of anyone also downclimbing this east ridge. So my main concerns would be the downclimb of this and the possibility of staying on the ridge crest to Matterhorn under winter conditions.

sdkeil said he was wanting to try the traverse out last summer, but he was never able to make it down there. I'll send grock52 a PM and see what he has to say as well. Based on what everyone seems to be saying though, this doesn't sound like it's worth it, but we'll probably at least check it out and make the call when we're there. I still think it would be pretty cool to be able to do this in the winter.

[sdkeil]

Yeah I never made the traverse, my partner I was going to go with was not able to make it. I joined in on another Wetterhorn trip instead and was not able to try the ridge. It does look like it could get interesting in places.

[ClimbandMine]

Thanks everyone. I saw SarahT's report and their group gained the ridge at the low point and continued all the way to Matterhorn. She mentions the crappy rock, and the further down the ridge the worse it got, but staying directly on the ridge crest wasn't possible at times. Sometimes the addition of snow can make rock like this easier to get around, which is what I'm wondering, though sometimes quite the oppposite is true and it's much worse. Steve Gladbach's winter summit of Wetterhorn shows some side views of the ridge, and the last thing I'd want to do is traverse below the ridge crest along those snow slopes.

I've also read reports by several members who have done the east ridge to Wetterhorn, but no accounts of anyone also downclimbing this east ridge. So my main concerns would be the downclimb of this and the possibility of staying on the ridge crest to Matterhorn under winter conditions.

sdkeil said he was wanting to try the traverse out last summer, but he was never able to make it down there. I'll send grock52 a PM and see what he has to say as well. Based on what everyone seems to be saying though, this doesn't sound like it's worth it, but we'll probably at least check it out and make the call when we're there. I still think it would be pretty cool to be able to do this in the winter.

That would definitely be an interesting winter climb - I scoped the ridge when I did Wetterhorn and, if you followed SarahT's approach and got on the ridge from the low point to climb one of the two, it would be doable. I would definitely want to stay on the ridge crest, which might up the grade a bit. I'd want to minimize the downclimbing on sketchy rock and snow... Sounds like fun.

[Ridge runner]

ClimbandMine and Chris, if either of you (or anyone else for that matter) are intersted in joining us for this, we're looking at going down there over the New Years. If it looks good then we'll give it a try. We also plan on doing Uncompahgre while we're down there.