Matterhorn solo climb - 2012

[@mickwander8582]

Hey, it's Mike here, we've met on Dent Blanche! Good job on Matterhorn! I did it from the Italian side but I can see now I want to do it vie Hornligrat.

[@kentdodge6130]

Hi Mike! Yes! I made a video of the Dent Blanche and some other stuff I did on my visit to Switzerland. I'll post it soon. You are in a couple seconds at the top! Hope you are doing well!

[@raywright7953]

Great job. Seeing the matter horn in person has always been in my bucket list. I hope someday it will come true. My favorite mountain hands down. So majestic one of the wonders of the world Gods masterpiece for sure

[@briang4225]

One of the best Matterhorn vids out there.

[@loveaodai100]

Great video and accomplishment! Growing up in NYC I dreamed of the mountains and asked my father to take me to Switzerland when I was 15. He said he would do it if I earned the airfare. Off to a fast food place I went to earn the money. At age of 16 in the summer of 1970 we made the trip. I hiked by myself from Zermatt to the Hornlihut with absolutely nothing more than a windbreaker. The trail and the hut were quite different back then and well above the snow line even though in summer as there had been a heavy recent snow at the higher elevations. When I got to the hut I was completely exhausted. Everyone else were climbers and had the look of such while here is a young wily teenager in regular clothes without so much as a daypack.They looked at me walking in as though I just came from the moon. I bought a coke for three Swiss francs which was a lot of money at the time. It was the most enjoyable drink I ever had. When I got back to Zermatt to my worried father I was exhausted but felt almost like you did back in Zermatt after reaching the summit. ps... One of the greatest jaw dropping experiences in my life occurred when coming on that train to Zermatt in the afternoon with the Matterhorn bathed in late afternoon light suddenly coming to full glorious view. Simply unbelievable!

[@kentdodge6130]

Great story! I imagine Zermatt and Switzerland were wonderful in 1970! Coming from NYC and hiking up to the Hornli hut solo at that age must have been so thrilling! Like a trip into space! I think its a special place on the planet and a great hike. I imagine the hut atmosphere then must have been fun to experience. I would have enjoyed seeing what the climbers had for equipment and observing their behavior. That's pretty much what I did in 2012, and those are memories really stick with me. Thanks!

[@chriscooper775]

My hands are sweating just watching this. I have to say that is absolutely breathtaking an terrifying all in one. Congratulations

[@faiyazkhan1108]

You are insanely legend, I am lying down my bed and watching your clip, and started getting jitters believe me you really have balls, you are a hero no:1, WOW 😳 bravo clapp, clapp, awesome, no words for your bravery !! Superb

[@richardfowler6403]

Thank you for sharing your dream with me. I too have that dream. Wonderful essay. Thanks!

[@riceman2112]

Really nice! Congrats and thanks for capturing it so well, felt like I was climbing with you.

[@sandyhossman7771]

I was just up the visitor center, gorgeous. My paternal grandparents came from Switzerland, loved visiting there. Zermat and the Matterhorn are a must visit. Great job congrats, fantastic video. I will never be able to climb a moutain, I am afraid of heights

[@jaycahow4667]

Over 40 years ago when I was just out of high school I use to work with a girl the same age who went to school in Switzerland before she came to the USA. She used to guide people up the Matterhorn and told me she had climbed it many times. I have a better appreciation now of what she actually did.

[@pimmelpaule5606]

she probably lied to you

[@franzbibfeldt]

Kent, you thought you accomplished something by climbing the Matterhorn. Big deal. How about me? I managed to watch your entire video without fainting once! Now that's an accomplishment! Congratulations on your persistence and determination as much as for the climb itself. Individuals like you, and not the mob, push humanity forward.

[@patrikpass2962]

He stood on a rock...

[@lisashackleton5049]

Ha, ha, ha, me too! That final walk along the summit ridge, which seems barely two feet wide, no way that's real, I kept telling myself, and holding onto the armrests for dear life. No way! This must be some deft digital simulation, or something... Thanks for the laugh.

[@chrisbatten8]

All of the loose & fractured Rock on these Alpine Peaks just looks absolutely terrifying .....!!!!!! Not to mention the Summit its self being a ridge a few feet wide literally made of loosely piled stone with massive exposure on both sides.....stunningly Beautiful but terrifying and seriously made me weak at the knees as soon as he looked down to see where to place his feet.......!!!!!!!

[@softride12]

Great job! I am proud of you!

[@mongolmcphee7791]

Absolutely cracking video mate. I hope you and your lads get to scramble up together soon. Congratulations on your achievement. I’m very jealous!!

[@Charles-xe2qh]

That is very impressive. You did not even seem to break a sweat! I think it was brave to go without a guide. Quite risky I think.

[@lisashackleton5049]

All praise to the hero!

[@sieglindefrick4346]

I can live without this

[@linhnguyensituation]

Hey Ken.. Linh Nguyen- your old BD colleague here. Just stumbled on to your video. This is great!! Hope you are well!

[@kentdodge6130]

Hi Linh. Glad you enjoyed the video. Was really a fun thing for me and definitely a special day in my life. The adventure of it. Glad I took so many pictures! Hope you are well as well! Best.

[@michaeljensen4638]

Congrats from Minnesota

[@adrienkulig]

Amazing video and accomplishment! Bravo! What kind of training did you do before hand?

[@taulpaul5112]

I lived in Zermat Spring of ‘71- Spring of 74. My first job there was at the Hotel Schwazsee. Spirit In The Sky Rising high out of the planet, silhouetted by brilliant blue sky. Is a mountain of great distinction on which many have tried. To scale it’s mighty ramparts and reach it’s boundary ridge peak, It only accepts the prepared ones, rejecting the foolish and weak. It is a rocky fortress snow clad through most of the year. The strongest of climbers approach it subduing unwanted fear. For fear will distract one’s attention from the work that needs to be done, To enjoy the great view from the summit, and rejoice in the bright noon day sun. And that time frame is the objective to make it back down to the base, Before cold and darkness surround you, and you must bivouac out on the face. For the bone chilling cold on the high slopes, and a night breathing rarefied air, Is to be dancing with death as your partner, believe me for I have been there. Yes I’ve climbed three times to the summit and twice spent the night on a ledge. Once well prepared for a bevy, for the other I’m glad I’m not dead. And I’ve this to relate for my efforts, that I’ve learned many lessons up high, To draw character from deep in your being, learn to climb a Spirit In the Sky. This spirit that I did climb on, resides in the Alps Pennine, I lived in a village below it, oh how I relish that time. It’s ramparts by winds are battered, on its flanks plumed clouds are borne, It’s beautiful, stately, indifferent, the majestic one, The Matterhorn. Taul Paul, retired climber, river guide, back country skier, still a poet.

[@kentdodge6130]

I enjoyed your poem. Thanks for sharing. "It accepts the prepared ones" is very true. I had prepared extensively to "subduing unwanted fear" but while on route saw several people who had fear in their eyes. One group I remember, I believe from Korea, was off route and looked terrified. They all had brand new gear including boots. The night before my climb, I could see several headlamps of people who had to bivouac and wondered what that was like. Zermatt must have been a fun place to be in the early 70's. Thanks.

[@diseasefire]

Beautiful video! May i ask how you could find your way? Is the path clear or signed somehow?

[@Irizume]

If he was solo ascending, chances are he is very experienced and has studied the route, hence why he was comfortable enough to take a detour past those climbers :)

[@Dr.Pepper001]

I climbed the Matterhorn in 3 hours. I packed a cheese sandwich and a bag of potato chips. I forgot my GoPro so I couldn't record it all.

[@52daytripper]

is there any marker or memorial marking the spot where 4 of the original 7 submitters fell off the mountain?

[@kentdodge6130]

No marker at the spot of the accident on the mountain. It's the upper headwall just below the icy summit slopes. It's easy to see how a slip could happen in the days before crampons there. Having been to Zermatt a few times, I tour both St Mauritius and St Peter's English church to visit those memorials and others. I think they and others would have appreciated it. There is a very long and interesting history of mountaineering in the region that really adds to the experience for me.

[@steveyo1]

Really great log of an incredible climb. I might need to add this to my bucket list. But for gods’ sake get a helmet cam!

[@kentdodge6130]

Thanks! It was a much better climb than I expected. Later climbs I did in the region included a few helmet cam shots. :)

[@bld9696]

Summit Ridge, also known as Am I Fuck!ng Crazy Ridge.

[@sieglindefrick4346]

When you pee,will it become ice?

[@MrLumalon]

Fantastic! Great job man, and what a beautiful day! Very inspiring. One question: How long rope would you recommend for the abseil down?

[@kentdodge6130]

Thanks. It was an amazing perfect day. I used a 25-30m thin rope to abseil down the lower Moseley slab. I'm pretty sure I could have down climbed it, but since I took a different way up it I used the rope. If it's really crowded, I would suggest using it on the summit headwall as well. Passing on the thick fixed rope was sometimes awkward and a variable that I've never encountered before. 25-30m was enough for me and the perfect conditions I encountered.

[@MrLumalon]

@@kentdodge6130 Ok thanks a lot. Yeah it looks like the crowd would be something to really take in consideration...

[@paolosilver5259]

Cracking video mate! Did you use any ropes for descending? As it seems you didn't....

[@kentdodge6130]

Thank you! Yes, I brought a short rope and used it for descending the slab directly below the Solvay hut. It's useful to have a rope on the way down because of opposite direction traffic. I didn't use it coming down the upper headwall, but it would have been better form to use one. People were still coming up it and the overtaking without a rope was a variable I didn't consider.

[@paolosilver5259]

@@kentdodge6130 I see... do you consider the Matterhorn a difficult mountain to climb? Thanks

[@paolosilver5259]

As it seems a piece of cake for you, your face doesn't transmit any worries through out the video and you done it without a guide. :)

[@YnseSchaap]

I bet you got a lot of dirty looks from the guides 😁

[@janmueller7477]

I want tot ask when y habe all the money repeat and repeat

[@andersstreifeldt2990]

Walking that thin edge on top must be nervous,, just a little unbalanc

[@Designarchi1]

I better not climb the Matterhorn, I got freaky shaky just sitting in my chair watching this video.

[@winstonsmith3690]

My nads went awol.