I know I am unlucky but this is ridiculous

So, after I'd missed my plane the worst that could happen was for me not to meet Vlad in Zurich. Thank god that at least I had told him the wrong date of my arrival and thus he was happily waiting for me when my plane landed. It was the first time I had seen him in ages but boy was I happy to see him! We got train tickets (very expensive, about 150 SGD, 75Euro, 116 CHF one way Zurich-Zermatt), I got myself a Swiss sim card (to deal with singapore airlines) and we were on our way, woohoo! Of course we spent the whole 4 hrs journey in the train restaurant, drinking beer and coffee and catching up. We arrived in Zermatt around 2 and got to the campsite. The campsite is managed by an old guy who used to be a matterhorn guide. His son is now a guide too and whenever you go to his office to buy beer or ask about toilet paper (let's say), you get greeted with mountain stories, especially if you have the face to prove you can take them (i.e. if your face is burned).

Marius and Radu were already there, trying to recover from the long drive (2000km) from Romania to Switzerland. We talked and talked and sorted the gear for the next day. I highjacked Vlad's Gore-tex pants because they were smaller than mine, so now watch out for the midget wearing blue gore-tex pants. You see, I bought my pants (technically they were given as a present) when yours truly was a bit on the "if you push me downhill I roll" - side. So now they are a good fit for Marian and I at the same time. This is why I steal pants, whoohooo!

Day 2 found us making our way up to a rocky plateau above Monte Rosa Hut where we would be camping for the week. This week was supposed to be for acclimatisation and in preparation for Lyskamm and Matterhorn. I won't talk about the trek from the train station to the campsite. Just to say that it was long. And hard.

It took us about 8 hours because we were carrying heavy bags (as usual) with the whole camp and food, food food. And gas tanks (they will prove quite important).

I find that a long approach makes for good training, and it did. And at 57 CHF (30 eURO = 60 SGD) a night at the Monte Rosa Hut, with 10Euro (20SGD) a meal, it is damn affordable too! Without that camp site I don't think I would have been able to see those mountains, so it's a bliss that I'm fit enough to carry. To say nothing of the amazing views of Matterhorn that we had ... Vlad was having a hard time because of the sudden altitude change and because of his back.

We spent the next day resting. There was nothing we could do because the weather was acting up. Marius, Radu and I went up the Glentz glacier just to take some photos and practice self arrests and all that. Radu, while an extremely fit trekker and carrier of loads, had absolutely no technical experience. This would later prove very important. Vlad did not join us because he was feeling very very bad. He had headaches, was nauseous and his heart was feeling funny.

The following day (day 3) Marius was the one to rest and Vlad, Radu, and I went towards Dufourspitze on the Monte Rosa glacier. That morning while we were having our breakfast, an English guide came to our camp and asked who was the leader. We pointed to Marius and he started saying: "You sir are a bloody idiot. A irresponsible, bloody, stupid idiot." In the meantime Vlad and I were asking him "Why?", while I was trying to move somehow in between Marius and Vlad and him, wondering who will be the first to launch the first punch (Marius or Vlad). Thankfully that guy said "Your people are dying up there and you sit here ..." ... In the end we got it sorted out without problems: apparently there was a very large Lithuanian team up on the glacier with no gear, no crampons, not tied in, no sunglasses and with absolutely no idea where they were going, with their leader waiting in camp. He must've thought the leader was one of us and got even more infuriated when he saw us peacefully eat and have fun. We gave him some tea and he was on his way. I don't know how it ended, he did say that he had called the Zermatt police (we saw them in the helicopter evaluating the area).

It was either that evening or the next one when we realized that Marius had bought the wrong gas tanks for his MSR stove. Yes, it sounds stupid but the bloody tank lid was covered with a plastic cap and there were the two types close to one another and then disaster struck. With no gas it would be impossible for us to go further on the Glenz glacier. The base camp for Lyskamm starts somewhere on a plateau on the Glenz glacier at around 4151m. We were at 3100m, preparing for the next day to go up the remaining 1000m difference on the glacier. After much consideration of what the proper thing to do would be, Radu and I went down to the Monte Rosa hut just to check whether they had any gas tanks for sale. Highly unlikely, and after 20 minutes trek down some boulders on which I hopped like a goat and Radu hobbled after me, we found out that indeed they did not sell them. Marius would have to go back down to Zermatt the next day then come back up with new tanks. While we, the rest of the team, decided that we deserve a good meal and the next midday found us in the Monte Rosa hut enjoying a hot coffee and a plate of Swiss Rosti.

Marius came back with vegetables, fruits and bratwurst!! Woohoo! We had a good meal and the next day we were ready to go.

We started very early, around 7 o'clock, after we packed up the camp. After about 1hr Vlad stopped us to say that he could take it anymore and that he wanted to return. I did try and try to make him change his mind considering that I knew that he could make himself walk: he climbed Ojos del Salado, almost as high as Aconcagua, when he was feeling really really bad, he climbed Matterhorn 2 years ago, etc. But he wouldn't. This meant only that I would be carrying the rope and that Marius (a big man), Radu and I will be sharing a two person tent.

A good thing that he didn't, because it was a loong, loong hard trek up that bloody glacier. And when we arrived at the plateau we ended up in a fucking storm.

Marius and Radu immediately started to dig up a hole in which we could place the tent, taking turns with the shovel that Marius had carried. I on the other hand had nothing to do and I started to freeze. Marius made me sit on a backpack and put the tent foil on me to prevent me from turning into hypothermia. At one point they erected the tent and made me go inside only to make me come outside 15 minutes later and switch the position of the tent.

Finally when Marius was satisfied with his urban development urges, we huddled inside, with me sleeping between the guys, facing the opposite direction (my feet at their heads, their feet at my head). It was quite ok if I slept on one side. This is how our tent was buried the next day.