If at first you don't succeed, try try again!

"If at first you don't succeed, try try again!"
These words were taught to me as a little boy and for some reason they stuck.  You see, sometimes in life, you won't be successful the first time you try something.  This was certainly the case in my first attempt to summit the Schilthorn mountain in Switzerland.  (You might be familiar with this mountain from the James Bond film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" because it was the location of evil villain Draco's mountain top hideout).  He's how it all went down.

You see, when one decides to book a four week trekking excursion to Nepal, it's advisable to get in shape before you go.  Fortunately, Switzerland offers any number of mountain challenges; each a perfect training facility for the Himalayas.  Now, as any man would, I decided to save the best test until last to convince myself that I was physically and mentally ready for Nepal.  I decided that the Schilthorn (2970M) would be an appropriate test of my physical abilities.  So, in the first week of October 2009, even though the forecast called for driving rain all day, three fearless adventurers embarked on a summit attempt of the Schilthorn.  We thought we knew what we were up against.  Approximately 1600 metre continuous climb from the town of Murren to the top.  We figured it shouldn't take more than 4 hours.  The bags were packed, the gear was ready and off we went.  Unfortunately, nature is an interesting thing and what started as a driving rain at the bottom gradually turned into a wet snow which by the time we were nearing the summit had turned into a full blown winter storm.  Now, being Canadian, I know winter storms but I'd never before found myself fully exposed on the side of the mountain, above the tree line without any clue what lay ahead.  By this time, the visibility had been reduced to maybe 100 yards at best and the wind was gusting and swirling in all direction. To our surprise, within view of the top, the path turned into a very narrow, exposed, Lord of the Ring looking, rock ledge/bridge that spanned approx 50 meters with no support or protection on either side.   By this point, the three of us were freezing, waterlogged and half buried in snow (exaggeration but that's how it felt) and we realized that we were completely alone on the mountain with no hope of rescue.  Knowing that in less than 2 weeks I was scheduled to be in Nepal, the decision (which was still the right one) was made to turn around and descend feeling utterly defeated.

Now, this entry is titled "try try again" because almost 11 months exactly to the day, the three of us returned to the Schilthorn to finish what we had started.  Fortunately, the weather was much better for the second attempt and we successfully completed the climb with little effort.

The second time around, the weather was almost perfect.  From the Schilthorn you look across the valley to the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau mountains

This lake sits in the bottom of the high valley right before the final uphill push to the summit.  It was at about this point that we began fully engulfed in a winter storm the first time trying to climb the Schilthorn

It was incredible to see what we had been climbing on the year before.  Even in good weather, when it came to the exposed ledge, one of our party was unable to pass for fear of heights.

Unfortunately, a photo never does it justice but this is the rocky ledge that you need to traverse about 100 vertical meters below the summit (left of the photo)  You can see a person in red on the far side.  The lower route, which we didn't know existed the first time is along the left

Fortunately, our perseverance paid off and all of us enjoyed a hearty mountain schnitzel at the top before making our way back down.

It is truly amazing the diversity of wildlife that you encounter on these walks.  this guy (a Capricorn) was just steps from the summit and didn't seem too concerned by our presence

The sense of gratification when completing something that you'd previously not been able to do is truly overwhelming.  Now, with this trek checked off the list we're looking to up the challenge.  Stay tuned to learn of our next expat adventure from Switzerland.