We will meet our guide at about 10:30 at the Jungfraujoch station in the coffee bar. Last year we climbed the summit of Moench together. Our train at Kleine Scheidegg leaves about 9:00 o'clock. So we have enough time for a good breakfast.
We should be hungry - as always 🙂 ... but for some reason our appetite is less than usual. Probably that is due to the excitement which none of us really wants to admit at this point in time. The train to Jungfraujoch is full of people - many tourists from all over the world. There is a television in the train explaining all and everything about the Jungfraujoch in 6 different languages. Some tourists hold their cameras out of the window filming the train slowly going up - even in the tunnels ^^ (I wonder if those people have ever seen a mountain before).
Martin - our guide - is on time. At about 10:45 we leave the Jungfraujoch through a tunnel and stand right in front of the Jungfraufirn. The sky is blue - the sun is shining. It is about 0°C but still the sun is quite warm. The tour is about to start 🙂 One strange thing we both noticed: After meeting Martin in person our excitement completely has gone away - at least for the moment. We rope up and leave the "safe" glacier zone.
Our rope team follow the Jungfraufirm downwards heading to the Konkordia Platz. Martin in front, Lisa in the middle and myself at the back. The upper part of the Jungfraufirn is still covered with snow. Hence, we are not able to see all the crevasses. Here and there we can see wide gaps in the ice. It's hard to imagine that the ice under our feet is up to 900m deep. Some crevasses are so deep - they look like black holes.
After maybe two hours of walking we arrive at the Konkordia Platz - this is the place where several glaciers come together. Far above our heads is the Konkordia Hut. Martin tells us that the ladder which leads up to the hut has to be extended every year by several meters due to the melting of the glaciers. Also today the glacier is melting. The melting water cuts small rivers into the glacier. Sometimes they get so big that it is hard to pass them.
We take a break - in front of us the Konkordia Platz. We are in Europe - in Switzerland - actually in the center of the western civilization. But in each direction we are looking at - we only see ice and rock - and we are alone. Those glaciers and mountains probably have been here for millions of years. And at least the mountains will probably still be here for the next few million years. I am deeply grateful having the chance to see all this.
We continue heading upwards to the Grünhorn Lücke (greenhorn gap). It doesn't look too far away - but that's an illusion. We go upwards all the time passing a few crevasses. After maybe an hour we arrive at the top. From up here we can already guess where the Finsteraarhorn Hut is located - our destination for today. However, it is hard to see it because it has more or less the same colour than the surrounding rock. After another 1.5 hours walking over the Fieschergletscher we finally arrive at the Finsteraarhorn Hut.
It is just 5pm. Rest of the day we are waiting for the dinner 🙂 - at least up to now we both still have a great appetite. To shorten the time we prepare everything for tomorrow - the "big" day. The plan is to get up at 5am and leave about 5:30am. We dry our clothes and shoes in the sun in front of the hut. Dinner is at 6pm. This evening the dairyman serves four courses: soup, salad, ... and mixed fruit as dessert. We eat up everything!
A small television mounted at the ceiling shows the news. In the frolic atmosphere many people talk to each other. But suddenly it is getting quite - the weather forecast in on TV 🙂 It looks very good for tomorrow - sun, almost no clouds, no rain, no thunderstorm. Quite early we go to bed. In the evening we both get a little headache - probably due to the height of 3100m. With lots of impression from this day in mind and too tired to be excited any more we fall asleep.
