Long-time climber and adventurer, Hans Boyce from NYC made the trek to Zermatt for a crack at the Matterhorn, among other climbs. Unfortunately his arrival coincided with a storm that put new snow on the famous peak and, hence, took it out of condition and out of the running. But Hans and Mark enjoyed several other enjoyable climbs as you can see hear.

We started with a hike up to the Almageller hut in the pouring rain. Fortunately the forecast was good and on our second day we climbed the Dri Horlini, a fun rock climb just above the hut. This photo was take from that climb.

The Almageller hut with the rock of the Dri Horlini behind. Across the valley the Täschhorn and the Dom are white under the previous day's new snow.

Sunrise from the Almageller hut. Left to right, the Alphubel, Täschhorn, Dom, Lenzspitze and the Nadelhorn are reflected in the little pond at the hut.

Climbing good rock on the Dri Horlini.

The next day's objective was to traverse the Weissmies, up the South Ridge and down the normal route to Hohsaas. But the weather had a different idea and the extremely high winds made the traverse very ill-advised. We arrived at the pass, shown here, just after dawn, and could hardly stand up in the severe winds. So we retreated to Zermatt, safe and (we think) sane.

Back in civilization in Saas Almagell.

With new snow on most of the nearby peaks, we thought we would hike up to the Hörnli hut and wander a few feet up the ridge above, just to get a taste of the Matterhorn.

The hike to the Hörnli hut begins with a ride up the lift to Schwarzsee, the little lake shown here. Behind are the Dent Blanche and the Ober Gabelhorn.

The Hörnli hut. You can see the new snow on the Matterhorn. While there were a couple crazies up there, the guides had sensibly decreed the peak out of condition, at least for this day.

We climbed a few hundred feet up the Hörnli ridge just to get the flavor of the ascent. But new snow on the rock turned us back in short order.

Looking back at the Hörnli hut from just above. Monte Rosa, Liskamm, and the Breithorn are the three big peaks behind.

On our last day we did a fun rock climb on the Riffelhorn. Here, Hans has a look at what lies ahead. Below is the Gorner glacier. The backdrop of the Riffelhorn, as well as the good and steep rock are what make this climbing area so special.

Hans on the summit of the Riffelhorn.