Hoch Ducan

After some weeks abroad, far away from skiing, yesterday, I had time to ski again. A friend came to visit me. We agreed to go to the Hoch Ducan. I haven't been there before. So I thought it's a good goal for a late spring skitour. The initial plan was to climb it on the normal route and then ski down on the northside through the Ducan valley, but as we say in german "First it comes different, and second as you think". From the parking lot next to the Walserhuus we had to walk a while to the Chüealptal. After we crossed the little river, we could step into the bindings. Along the east side of the Mittagshorn and the Plattenflue, we reached the Bergüner Furka. From there, we skied down a bit and climbed again. The last couple hundred meters to the ridge, we used crampons and axe. Probably it would have been possible without crampons, but it was also fine with it. A bit a more confidence, especially for the later part along the ridge to the summit. The first look down from the ridge to the Ducan valley revealed what we feared. The snow on the steeper north slopes went down along the whole valley as avalanches. So there was no point to stick on the initial plan. So we decided, after a short break on the summit, to go back the same way we came. The first part was well melted on the surface. Nearly to much. After a short hike back to the Bergüner Furka skiing down became a bit worse. The snow was really sticky, later, the surface crust started to weaken and brake under the skis. Still, it was a very nice trip to one of the highest mountains in the regions, with a peak, that should not be underestimated.

Check this move on movescount

During the climb, new projects?!

Marcol on the last part to the ridge

View from the summit, Ducan valley looks bad