Tour Monte Rosa, stage 3
Macagna to Saas Fee
Stage 3/6
photo by Andy Astfalck
With a team of four we decided to run around the Monte Rosa Massif, covering a distance of 170km and 11,000m ascent in 6 days. We battled extreme weather conditions, detours due to landslides, hypothermia, sickness and injuries. We worked as a team and were determined to finish together. This is our journey, part 3/6 from Macagnana to Saas Fee.
Tuesday August 4,
Again, I can not sleep, but this time I am not worried about it, partially because I started to get used to not being able to sleep and discovered sleep is not necessary to keep going - it’s all in the mind - and partially, because we have only a short seventeen kilometre stage in front of us going down to Saas Fee. I figure I can try and catch up on some sleep, or at least some rest, when we are back in town.
We call this stage our ‘rest day’. The Tour Monte Rosa is known as a hard hiking route that takes about nine days to complete. As we are doing the route in six days this means we are covering two stages in one day at times, but this day we are only covering one of the regular stages of the route from Macugnana (Italy) to Saas Fee (Switzerland); our rest day.
On hindsight, calling it a rest day might not have been the best for managing our own expectations. Even seventeen kilometres on Alpine terrain at 3,000m altitude might not be exactly what one would consider a rest day. Especially now, knowing this stage would still take us three and a half hours to complete, which is more than my longest training run the entire year.
With a little extra caffeine this morning and a good breakfast, I feel I have enough energy to run the 1,200m descent down to Saas Fee.
EASY LIKE TUESDAY MORNING…
At breakfast we talk about Andy, the photographer, coming up to shoot us this day. We are excited about it, knowing we will get some amazing pictures of our run. Andy is staying in Saas Fee already and has said he wants to leave early enough to catch us on the mountain on our way down. He will take the car down to the lake below us and start to hike up from there.
Unlike other mornings, this morning we are not in a hurry. Quite the opposite. We are taking our time to let our clothes dry and wait for the weather to change, from cold and cloudy to the promised sunshine from ten o’clock onwards.
As we are running with all our stuff in our small ten litre running packs, we packed as light as possible; two sets of clothing only. One set of clothes to run in during the day, shirt and shorts, and one evening outfit consisting of a long sleeve and tights. I also took two jacket with me; one to protect from wind and rain, which I was wearing the other day, and a packable light down jacket to protect from the cold, which I maybe should have been wearing the other day.
“I guess tiredness and cold do not work great for the brain”
We probably also could have used our evening wear, long sleeves and tights, when going up the mountain in the storm, but somehow we did not think of it in the moment. I just thought about moving forward and getting to the hut as soon as possible.
Earlier that day, when we were still down in the valley, we discussed putting on a long sleeve as it was getting more chilly, but we decided and thought it would be better to keep one set of clothes clean to wear in the hut in the evening. When we were up the mountain later that day, the thought of putting on warmer clothes did not cross my mind anymore. I guess tiredness and cold do not work great for the brain either.
The shorts and shirt I was wearing during the day got dirty and wet, obviously. I washed them in the shower, like I did every night, and hung them to dry overnight. Unfortunately the climate at 3,000m altitude is not ideal to let clothes dry, so they are still quite damp this morning. We take them down to breakfast and hang our clothes in front of the fireplace in the restaurant, hoping they will dry, while we are taking our time at breakfast.
Meanwhile we realise Andy has started hiking up to us. We are joking he can walk in any moment and still see us at breakfast. Not much later we found out, we were not far from the truth.
A BRIGHTER PLACE
"Do you know the feeling of waking up to a new day and the world seems to be a brighter place?" That is how I woke up this morning. I decided I wanted to forget all about the whole ordeal of the day before, getting hypothermia, feeling sick and exhausted. I woke up, looked around, took in the spectacular scenery and decided it was going to be a great day.
I want to appreciate the silence, waking up in the middle of summer in a quiet place in nature surrounded by snow covered mountain tops as far as the eyes can see (At least that is how I remembered it to be. Looking at the picture afterwards, the latter was not really the case). A view we did not have the night we arrived, when everything was covered in clouds and mists and we could barely spot the mountain hut from only a few feet away. I take a moment to take it all in. This is what we came for…
FOR 'THE GRAM'
After a nice long breakfast and putting on my clean and dry shorts, shirt, jacket and gloves, we head out. Judging by the snow around us, knowing the altitude and how we were feeling the day before, it should not have come as a surprise, it was still pretty cold out. Clearly the temperature had not suddenly changed overnight. I immediately feel that wind again, reminding me of how cold we had been. This time we are running down though and it is comforting to notice it is not raining anymore.
photo taken by Andy Astfalck
First, we need to cross a patch of snow to get back on track. It is a beautiful sight and Nils wants to have a picture for 'the gram'. As Christof is getting his GoPro ready to take the shot, we see a familiar face coming around the corner hiking towards us. “Andy!” He came from a different direction that we were expecting or heading towards. If he would have been any later, or we had not stopped for a second to take our own pictures, we probably would have missed him completely and Andy would have hiked up and down this mountain without anything to show for.
He mentions that there was another hut close to ours. He had been looking forward to having a nice cup of coffee with us and had checked both of the huts to see where we were. At the last hut, the people there told him we had just gone out and he had missed us by literally a few minutes. Christof put his GoPro away and let the professional do the work.
HERE WE GO AGAIN
Other than my expectations of only having to run down this stage, to my surprise, I find myself climbing up some sort of staircase on the first part of our route. It is a tough pill to swallow, but as always during these kind of events, you adapt quickly and I change gears. The wind is pretty brutal. On this side of the mountain, going up higher, you can feel the wind even more and it literally takes my breath away, while pushing me off balance. I have to hold on to the cable along side of the stairs not to take any missteps on my way up. The grunting and swearing starts. I really did not feel like going through the same thing again today.
Fortunately the climb does not last very long and we soon have ascended the hundred meters and are ready to run down. We set off downhill with a decent pace. We are all done with the cold and the wind, I guess. Christof tries to catch us with the GoPro running down in the snow for the short video he makes of every day. Although, instead of running, it probably looks more like slipping and sliding down.
photo taken by Andy Astfalck
“Christof and his camera ate snow that morning”
Christof is probably the most experienced and fearless trail runner amongst us. He skilfully runs up and down the trails to catch us from different angles with his GoPro. The snow gives the video of the day another dimension so he tries his best to capture most of it. Filming while running down in the snow holding his GoPro in one hand and his poles in the other. While I need my poles in both hands to prevent me from falling or sliding down this mountain entirely on my butt.
Just when I am convinced Christof is invincible, even on this terrain he seems to be, he slips and takes a tumble, beautifully caught on camera. Seeing the images at the end of the day, you can tell Christof and his camera ate snow that morning. That should have been somewhat of a warning, but as we get out of the snow and onto a trail with seemingly solid rocks, it all looks pretty runnable from here on.
WHERE LIFE IS AT ITS' BEST
This is the first time during our trail running days, we notice the Tour Monte Rosa is a pretty popular route. We encounter lots of hikers that day, fully geared up in down jackets, convertible zip-off trousers and massive backpacks. They let us pass as we are running down. Every now and then we look up if Andy was still following. Once we lost sight of him, we figured we would wait for him when we get a bit lower, where it will be warmer and we are out of the cold wind.
photo taken by Andy Astfalck
The running feels good. It is a nice way to warm up and it is nice knowing our day will not be as long after the very long days we had so far. We all seem to be going at a similar pace that we are comfortable at and enjoy. Karen up front, Nils behind her, then me, and Christof with his camera at the back so he can capture us on the way down.
Nils, from the beginning of this trip until now, has become way more confident on the trails. Something he, as a former athlete on the road, did not have much experience with. Now he starts to run down these trails faster, more confident and with more ease, enjoying the adventure. Running at the edge of your ability, taking risks within control. I guess, that is what we enjoy about running trails and where life on the trails is at its’ best…
But you only need one slippery rock, and there he goes. Right in front of me. I can see him slide, tip over, with one leg over the other, landing underneath the big rock, facing the other way. I can not estimate the gravity of his fall immediately. I just hope it is nothing too serious and he can continue without too much pain.
It seems to be mostly some scratches and a few cuts on his knee and ankle that are bleeding. We get the first aid kit out and clean and cover the wounds. It does not seem too bad for now and we decide to inspect it further when we are in our hotel later this day.
A bit more careful this time, we continue our way down. You can tell Nils was shaken up a bit by his fall and his steps are more cautious than before. All of our steps are, as we now have seen how slippery some of these rocks are. We are not in a hurry anyway and this gives Andy the perfect opportunity to catch up with us.
photo taken by Andy Astfalck
THE BEAUTY OF NATURE
It is a pretty trail. Good for some nice photos by Andy on the way. I enjoy the beautiful scenery running down to the lake where the morning mist is still hovering above the water. Although, the opinions on the Mattmarksee ‘lake’ are somewhat divided as it clearly is a manmade reservoir, marked by the big dam at the opposite side of the lake, I still enjoyed the sight of it.
The smooth surface of clear blue water reflecting the sky, in contrast with its’ harsh Alpine surroundings I find stunning nonetheless. I have always found places with water, whether it be a lake, the sea or in this case a reservoir, rather calming. The flat surface, the open space in the midst of this rough mountain terrain offers me a sense freedom. It is like the emptiness creates space to clear my mind.
photo taken by Andy Astfalck
The purpose of a trip like this, is to escape our urban surrounding and find ourselves in the middle of nowhere surrounded by nature, experiencing the immensity of our world and realising the insignificant small part we play in it. That is why I also understand Karen and Christof’s disappointment seeing this manmade dam. It confronts us with reality and shows how much mankind is influencing and changing our world.
We go down the other side of the lake than the GPX files on our watches direct. Andy assures us it is better for the photos and the light to run on that side and it is not really a detour for us anyway - anything for the gram right?!
BACK ON ROUTE
After saying goodbye to Andy who has his car parked close to the lake, we continue our original route to Saas Fee. To get back to our route we have to cross the dam. As we get closer we see a road running next to the dam that seems to be going in the right direction, avoiding a little climb we might have to take otherwise. We choose to run down the bigger tarmac road. I really enjoy the easy running down, not having to concentrate for a moment.
photo taken by Andy Astfalck
Nils however, is enjoying this less. He already struggled with his ankle over the past days, but after his fall his ankle had started to swell, which now causes him even more pain, especially with the pounding on this tarmac road. The road goes down more than we expected and I start to worry that this means we have to climb back up again. Good for Nils, but I do not like it. There would not be any uphills on this day. It is our rest day after all.
Fortunately for me, we do not have to climb back up, but we see our route will cross the main road just a bit further down. There we can get off the tarmac road and on to some nicer and softer trails. Good for everyone.
photo taken by Andy Astfalck
Some fun easy single tracks take us down to a nearby town. From there it is only a few more flat kilometres to Saas Fee. We decide to refuel at the supermarket. We get some water, coke and chocolate; mainly our diet for this entire trip. As soon as we stand still, I get cold again, a sign of not having enough energy or altitude sickness which it more and more seems to be like I am suffering from. I put on my jacket to stay warm and after this short break we continue our way to Saas Fee.
WE HIT THE JACKPOT!
Back in Saas Fee we stay in the Popcorn hotel, nothing special and very basic, but we can not have been happier with it. We feel like we hit the jackpot having a bed with clean sheets and a shower in our room. Let’s say, days on the trails are humbling and you start to appreciate the little things, like being able to use actual shower gel instead of the little sheets of pocket soap.
The rest of the day we do what one would expect on a rest day; we have food and we rest, making sure we will be ready for the hardest stages yet to come…