Hut Overnights/Weekend Travels

Since the last post, we had some more class, outdoor activities, and two overnight trips to other cities in Switzerland. We divided the kids into two groups, strong and weak hikers, and then all headed out to Bern to start hikes into different Cantons ("states," if you will) within Switzerland with various mountain passes.

My group traveled from Bern to Lenk where we started our 6 mile hike to the overnight "hut"/barn. We traveled by bus and train, then hiked most of friday afternoon. Shortly after arriving we at dinner and two of the other teachers and I read the Mark Twain's "Ascent of the Riffelberg." The next morning we ate breakfast, then headed out on a 16 mile trek through the Riwal (sp?) pass down to Montana (pronounced Mon-tah-nah) Switzerland where we ate dinner and then caught a train back to Zermatt (because you can only access Zermatt via train or donkey... no cars allowed).

We then resumed a "normal" week again and are now preparing for our Weekend Adventure Trips. These include: Wet Gorging, Alphubel (a helicopter ascent and then some ice climbing), a bike ride through several of the other Cantons, another Hut Overnight at the Monta Rosa Hut (brand new last year...woot!), and the Breithorn Ridge Climb (a different Breithorn ascent from the last one, described as a"strenuous ice climb along the narrow Breithorn ridge, facing the Matterhorn) ... to which I have been assigned as presiding faculty member, haha. SUPER psyched and hope to have lots of pictures, assuming I'm not clinging to the ice for dear life... :/

Below are pictures from the Weekend Trip to Bern, Link, and Montana, as well as some more pictures from my weekly hikes: