About us
- Project Overview
- Concept
- Safe mountain climbing
- Safe rock climbing
- Gift sertificates
- Feedback
-
Articles
- Lirics, enigmas and misterios of mountain climbing
-
Stories about alpine climbing trips
- Climbing Ojos del Salado from Argentina 2023
- Khan Tengri Edge of risk
- Dykh Tau and Bezengi 2023
- Mount Belukha - the Princess of Altai
- Climbing Alpamayo 2023
- Season 2023 completed
- Season 2023 specifics
- Climbing Kazbek. Georgia
- Ushba mountain beach
- North Ushba climb
- Morocco, Toubkal climbing
- The smile of the Sierra
- The Life of the Valley of Sun
- Ushba. Forbidden Mountain
- Peak Lenin Climb
- Kilimanjaro climb
- Elbrus. Today, yesterday and tomorrow
- Mount Kenya climb
- Wind, Rocks and South Cross
- Kluchevskaya Sopka climb
- Peru climbing
- Matterhorn. Touching the Legend
- Solo climb of Matterhorn
- Elbrus. Interview with rescuer
- Elbrus - the live legend
- Tian Shan, Peak Komsomol climb
- Khan Tnegri from the North
- International Ushba climb 2002
- Ushba 2002. Author Sergey Zabrodin
- Svanetia, Caucasus from the South
- Climbing Matterhorn - first article
- Climbing Belukha, Altay
-
Rockclimbing stories
- Climbing in Mallorca January 2023
- Montserrat
- Majorca rockclimbing report 2014
- Rockclimbing in Peru - Huaraz 2023
- Georgia Rockcimbing spring 2019
- Madagascar rockclimbing
- Rockclimbing trip to Kalymnos, Autumn 2014
- Rockclimbing trip to Kalymnos, Spring 2014
- Rockclimbimg in Cuba
- Armenian Rockclimbing
- Rockcliming Armenia
- Cuba far away
- Crimea winter Rockclimbing
- Gear reviews, repairs, fails
- Iceclimbing trip stories
- Codex of Mountain Guide
Matterhorn. Touching the Legend
Climbing Matterhorn. Touching the Legend
Climbing Matterhorn - the story how impossible comes to reality and the sky falls to your feet. Alex Trubachev narrates about one of his best climbs ever done!!
Only automatically translated version is available at the moment, sorry for the inconvenience.
Our Matterhorn climbing program here!
Time for the the mountains and people flows in different ways, human century - it is only seconds to the undisturbed stone giants. People come and go, generation replaces generation, the history of mankind as the wind washes the cold granite, leaving no trace on it ... Only in the brief moment it is impossible to retain the stone hands warm, mountain echo momentarily extend the sound of the live voice. And everything calms down again. The mountains were to man, and will be after him, unchanging in its cold majesty, impregnable guard of eternity ...
The middle of the 19th century. Europe is taking a step into the future - inventing the airplane, the telegraph, dynamite. Russia abolishes serfdom America beats in hysterics civil strife ... The reforms are changing the way of life of millions of people. Over the thunder of the great achievements of the world is lost at first glance inconspicuous, modest achievement - a few brave people together to solve complex problems for the time and work together to achieve success. At the top of the most difficult and inaccessible Alpine mountains set foot man ... Once in 1786, a handful of adventurers, climbing Mont Blanc, proved to the world that the snowy mountain peaks for climbing are available, it took almost a century. Mountaineering has found its adherents, it has become a fashionable sport. In civilized Alps remained only one unresolved issue - the Matterhorn.
To this day, this giant rock teeth, grinning greedily into the sky, does not leave indifferent those who by fate has been given the opportunity to witness this grand spectacle ... July 14, 1865 on the route now known as Hornli Ridge start climbing team of seven people led by the famous climber and traveler, the Englishman Edward Whymper. According to another route, from Italy, at the same time he raised one more team, led by Italian Jean-Antoine Carrel. The reason for the simultaneous ascent became prisoners on the eve of a bet on who will rise to the top of the first. Route from Switzerland, through which went Whymper was suddenly much easier route selected Carrel. The Englishman won the bet, he ascended to the summit three days before his rival. But it's hard to call this gain victory ... Of the seven members of the climb, descend only managed three. Four climbers died during the descent. According to the official version offered by Whymper, a rope, which were all linked, it broke at failure of one participant, entailing a total drop. But at the bottom, not all believe such an explanation. It was claimed that the rope was cut, too look flat edge of the precipice. But to find the truth and failed. Silent Witness this long tragedy, disheveled piece of that same rope, still carefully preserved in the museum of mountaineering in Zermatt.
... At the same time the team Carrel reached the summit and descended in full strength, having a route for a long time remained the most difficult climbing routes of the Alps. Climbing the Matterhorn on this route in our days, when the level of technological progress has made the impossible possible, using the most modern climbing equipment, an easy and warm clothing designed specifically for climbing, sleeping in a comfortable cabin, equipped with solar panels, could not help think about the people. How do they do it? What is the power of the spirit led them up through the snow, cold, steep ice-covered rock? This is the question that most interests me. I do not think that the value of human life somehow changed ... has not changed, in my opinion, the motivation and mountaineering. But such self-sacrifice, such purity aspirations are no more, no more, and people like that. Against the background of their feat pygmy feel helpless hothouse plant. Here, I stumble on another idea - does not involve any progress Technical spiritual regression, the weakening of the spirit? But that is another topic, far away from my story threads.
August 26, 1891 Jean-Antoine Carrel, the best guide Italy brilliant climber, behind which there were dozens of first ascents hardest climbing routes, sport climbing founder, dies of exhaustion on the slopes of Testa di Lione during the descent from the Matterhorn ... Today, the Matterhorn or Mont Chervin, as they call this mountain in Italy, is one of the most popular for climbing alpine peaks, coveted goal of many thousands of climbers. Plans collapsed due to stable weather. Traverse Monte Rosa - a beautiful route in the Alps had to cut and limit multiple ascents in the absence of visibility, climbing in a blizzard on the Mont Blanc has not delivered the expected pleasure. The next stage of our program was the Matterhorn. Well aware of the nature of this summit, I had no illusions about trying to climb up on it in bad weather ...
... In the light of lanterns, climbing inside Carrel hut situated at an altitude of 3820 meters above sea level on a steep south-eastern edge of the Matterhorn begins swarming morning. Four people, awakened neither light nor dawn, preparing breakfast and packed assault backpacks. To keep in reserve a maximum of daylight, we are already bound and wrapped in cats go on climbing, as soon as the first signs of the cliffs dawn ... Pre-dawn twilight. Horizon takes on a pale pink shade, its dark broken line is separated from the growing brighter sky, it becomes more clear, a contrast. No clouds. The air is calm and motionless, mountains yet asleep, smiling like children ... It looks like the weather finally relented and gave us a chance, to which all had hoped for! Now only upwards.
First on the easy rocks, a long traverse we climb along the heavily damaged, rugged crest of the gendarmes. I recognize the familiar outlines of the relief. I have passed here in the winter, during his unsuccessful attempt to climb solo. Traverse outputs to the base 60-meter sheer wall. There hangs a long chain stretching far up, bend over the cornice - it would be bad enough without her ... At the beginning of the chain nailed a few plaques. Someone here has paid with his life for his commitment to the top ... hand over hand firmly enshrined steel links, I thought about how pioneers were here. After all of the equipment they had a strong hand so relentless desire to succeed ...
From the southeast to the Matterhorn adjacent narrow rocky shoulder, the so-called peak Tyndall, whose height is 250 meters less than the height of the Matterhorn. From here begins the most interesting part of the route - a smooth cliff, bathed in the upper part of the ice has melted the snow cap on top. The rest of the path is visible at a glance - first upwards, then slightly to the right, then back up and traverse to the left coming out on top. However, these 250 meters are a key portion of the route and its most difficult part, for the passage of which is necessary to mobilize all the remaining forces. Vertex. Suddenly unfolded over the head vault space causes dizziness. Horizon opened a full 360 degrees, there is nothing difficult to review. In the north - the green valleys and snow-white peaks of the Swiss Alps, in the south - in the light haze of the whole of Italy to the Mediterranean Sea ...
I stand at the edge of a two-kilometer rock needle, under the bottomless blue dome of the sky, free from everything. The feeling that freedom is alien to human nature, it can not save, to carry with them down. Perhaps this is one reason why people again and again climb the highest mountains, risking their lives for a few short moments ... At Matterhorn two peaks separated by a small saddle. One of them "owns" Italy, another - Switzerland. That's funny. 50-meter climbing rope attached to the top of the Italian, just enough to dolezt to the Swiss! At the end of the last century-foot iron cross was mounted on the top of the Italian. It looks very impressive, especially when you think that the helicopters had not been ...
... Time for the mountains and flows of people in different ways, human century - it is only second to the undisturbed stone giants. People come and go, generation replaces generation, the history of mankind as the wind washes the cold granite, leaving no trace on it ... Time seemed frozen in stone agony. If you touch it, touch the roughness of stone, trace frozen all nervous fingers twisting pattern rock cracks, comes a feeling similar to what one experiences, holding the hands of a dusty, ancient book ... The feeling of closeness to something very distant, touching Legend .
Our Principles

AlexClimb Rule #1 - Safety First
From the very beginning of our activity, here nearly 16 years, the first Principle of work of School of mountaineering and rock-climbing of MCS AlexClimb is the Safety Priority. On the basis of this Principle all process of training is based, all programs and rounds are developed and carried out only within this main principle. We consider that at professional approach to development of programs, at personal discipline and correctly put motivation - occupations by mountaineering and rock-climbing are COMPLETELY safe. And from the return - all troubles and accidents in our sport come from nonprofessionalism, from ignorance or neglect by elementary standards of safety, from irrational motivation, from revaluation of own forces and opportunities. All these prerequisites we COMPLETELY EXCLUDE in our work - ours Rock-climbing, Ice climbing and Mountaineering are based on one Principle - the Safety Priority. In rock-climbing, mountaineering and ice climbing, the Priority of Safety of MCS AlexClimb-is your personal security and comfort irrespective of, than we are engaged - we train muscles and we work technology of the movement in the sports hall and on the rock climbing wall, we make the way through snowstorm to top or we relax on golden sand of the Caribbean beach after hot day of trainings on rocks. The Safety priority - the main credo of School of mountaineering and rock-climbing of MCS AlexClimb.

AlexClimb Rule #2 - Leave No Trace
Closely interacting with Nature, working with the active programs in mountains, woods, lakes and rivers, we perfectly understand the importance of carefull and respectfull bahavior towards the Nature, for its resources. From the very beginning of our outdoor-activity we adopted rules of Leave No Trace technique - the standard of behavior of the person accepted in all the civilized world in relation to environment and especially - to the wild nature. After all on the relation of people to the nature near which they exist, itself can draw dalekoidushchy conclusions on the relation of these people to... Where and as we didn't travel - we don't reserve any garbage, we try to reduce whenever possible our influence on environment to a minimum. We clear earlier zagryazyonny tourist parking of the left garbage, we take out and we take out to utilization places that to us other people left there. We consider that only thus, at personal individual consciousness of each citizen, each tourist, climber or autotraveller, we will be able to keep the nature surrounding us in its state, natural, suitable for life, - in it pledge of the healthy future for ourselves and our children.
