Dom - Festigrat
Good conditions on the North West Ridge of the Dom (Festigrat)
After the 3 hours or so to reach the Festijoch a decision can be made as to which route of ascent will be taken to reach the summit. The faster, more direct, objectively safer and technically more interesting route is the North West Ridge or 'Festigrat'. Our ascent benefited considerably from one of the snowiest augusts for decades. Where sometimes bare ice is exposed on the ridge requiring exacting crampon technique and perhaps ice screw anchors we found good firm snow with useful tracks in.
The combination of the large rounded snow ridge, intermittent outcrops of interesting but fairly easy mixed ground and the wild open mountain panorama gave a real big mountain atmosphere to our ascent. Dobber and I joked we were going to top out, not on the Dom, but on Nanga Parbat (an 8000m peak in Pakistan and one of the worlds highest and toughest mountains).
This feeling of height and isolation was only added to by the strong and cool late summer wind blowing and the fitting climax of an exposed snow arete ending abruptly at one of the finest viewpoints in the whole of the Alps.
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