Those looking for a straightforward first experience at 4,000m in the Alps often head for the Breithorn. This massif of three peaks above Zermatt, close to the Italian border, offers altitude without too much difficulty. That is, as long as they don’t choose the new route recently opened by Francois Cazzanelli, Stefano Stradelli, and Etienne Janin on Breithorn East.
At the summit of Breithorn East after climbing the Northeast Face. Photo: Francois Cazzanelli
Chasing dragons
The 800m mixed line involves difficulties up to R4 AI4 M7. They called it Alla Ricerca del Drago (“In Search of the Dragon”) as a tribute to Reinhold Messner, who used the dragon metaphor to represent the apparently impossible adventures that alpinists must always look for.
“We, in our own small way, sought that [impossible adventure] on this face and experienced something unique and authentic,” Cazzanelli wrote.
On the new route up the NE face of Breithorn East. Photo: @demiangoaway
For the three friends (and cousins, in the case of Cazzanelli and Stradelli), the dragon lay hidden in the little-visited face of the arguably most popular mountain massif in the Alps: the Breithorn group. They spotted a line that went over mostly untrodden terrain and embraced the challenge in a “simple and honest way.”
No crux, neither easy
The three Italians, who work as guides in Italy’s Aosta Valley, started on the left-hand side of the Vanis Couloir. They then followed the peak’s northeast spur until an obvious gendarme. From there, they entered unclimbed terrain.
The new route’s details. Photo: Francois Cazzanelli/@demiangoaway
“The terrain is severe; each of the 14 pitches had its challenges. While there are no particularly difficult pitches, none of them are easy,” they noted.
Difficult route on easy massif
The Breithorn group offers the easiest 4,000’ers in the European Alps. Less experienced climbers, or even those who want to reach the 4,000m without alpine skills, can easily do it, thanks to a gondola that takes them from Zermatt to the top of Klein Matterhorn, or from the Theodule refuge on the border with Italy, accessible from Cervinia.
Map of the Breithorn area. Photo: Christian Pau’s blog
Nowadays, most stop at the western peak, which is the highest, but also the easiest and the closest. Some then proceed to the central peak.
Breithorn East, where the new route goes, rises farther away and features some exposed ridge sections up to Grade IV, which prompts most to turn back.