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The snow on the slide was soft enough to be able to self-arrest. The rope just adds a little extra safety here if someone were to fall and slide- you'd have the other two team members arresting the fall. If it were more icy we'd have wanted to place pro since one person falling would likely bring the whole team down. In the conditions we had we probably could have done it without the rope though since each person could likely arrest themselves.

He was pretty good about using protection in the critical areas, for example draping the rope behind boulders or fixed anchors so that if I fell he wouldn't go down with me. On a ridge, the technique is usually to step off the opposite side of the person falling so that the rope catches you both on the ridge. And he did anchor himself to belay me in the most technical sections.

Fine with me as long as you give attribution! Thanks for reaching out.

We did, due to the intermittent ice and snow on the route, it would have taken too long to remove crampons for the rock sections, so it was proper "mixed climbing". Doesn't feel great at first but you get used to finding good places to place the crampon points.

We passed quite a few parties on the way up so we were a bit faster than average. But I was quite slow on descent, it took about 6 hours to get down (though no one passed us on the way down). I think the descent would be quicker if there was less snow and ice on the route, but it there was a lot when we climbed.

They make a "Insta360 Third-Person Backpack Mount" which is what I used. It's unfortunately quite a bit heavier than it needs to be, which is definitely a downside for climbers.

In general temps were mild during our climb, I was surprised by how warm it was. It was probably around 1° C near the top. You could learn the skills needed for Matterhorn in a few preparatory climbs; I know some guides will take clients after 2-3 prep and instructional climbs on smaller peaks. Definitely need good crampon technique on steep slopes, ice axe self arrest, some basic knowledge of rope management and anchor tie in, rappelling, etc. Plus the fitness to climb a very steep 1200m (4000ft) in under 4 hours, probably 3.5hrs by the pace set by most guides.

That's right, Luca was my guide for this

Thanks! The gloves I wore were "Hestra Ergo Grip Active Wool Terry". Excellent gloves, but honestly I could have taken them off at parts of the climb, it got warm enough the rock would have been easier to grip without them.

@@ledged_up thank you, I did the climb two weeks after you, got unlucky with the weather, and made it only to the Solvay. However I noticed my hands were getting really cold because I'd taken my gloves off at the beginning cause I got too warm and by the time I had them back on, my hands didn't warm up.

I'd prefer less distortion too, unfortunately for this particular climb I had to mount the camera quite close to my head so I had to make the POV wider otherwise you'd mostly just see my helmet in the footage.

Thanks Bob, glad you enjoyed it. Yes most guides (maybe all?) for Matterhorn will only do it 1 to 1. I did use an Insta360 X4 on a stick on my pack. I had to keep it a little tighter (closer to my back) than I would like to avoid chances to accidentally cause rockfall on this route. Ideally it would be mounted a little farther away from my head, but had to keep it tight on this one.

The summit day was this July 17th, but they got a lot of late season snow this year (more than usual) so the route was only just becoming manageable.

​@@ledged_upThank you. I'm going to climb on July 31st. It was helpful.

Thanks Gyan! Great to hear from you, I hope you and your family are well.

Thanks for your kind words, I hope you enjoy the footage I got, it should hopefully inform your attempt. It's an incredible climb, some of the most dramatic exposure and best views of any I've done, and the summit is a trip. If you go with a guide, know that the European guides set a fast pace on this mountain so it is more challenging than other "14ers" because of how fast teams have to move, and you want plenty in the tank for the intense downclimbing. Training for a slightly faster pace is recommended. Well worth any effort! Enjoy Whitney!

@@ledged_up that footage was amazing! Nice work hoofing it up there! It doesn’t seem too technical but only in a few places. I will most definitely be using a guide like you did! I do enjoy sport and trad climbing and the exposure looks great, but I agree, the pace looks very fast. I’m from PA and I’m going to do Whitney broken up into 2-3 days. So I’ll need lots of conditioning for that trip! I saved your guides info, perhaps I’ll get in contact with him at some point soon. Great job again and thanks for sharing your experience!

Definitely true, we did it this was to be able move faster since the risk of fall was relatively low. But it has drawbacks for sure.

@c.5376, you're right but actually, for most of this route they would ALL have eaten it if ANY of them fell, supposedly for the sake of bragging about car-to-car elapsed time and summiting early. The way these guys roped up is more appropriate for glacier travel on level or moderate terrain and at least that gives the other climbers a theoretical chance to belay over short sections when necessary or rescue a team member who falls in a crevasse or bergschrund. These techniques are difficult, low-percentage in many cases, and require special training and practice, during which you will get beaten up pretty good before you can do it semi-reliably. However, unbelayed simul-climbing on steep technical ground is only for experts and only justified for speed in the sole interest of safety or survival (like to outrun an electrical storm or move together quickly through a dangerous avalanche or rockfall zone). Or if you just wanna tie yourself to your bros and film your own version of The Eiger Sanction to prove you think you're willing to die together. Most of the time that doesn't happen though, but it sure can. If something CAN happen it eventually will. In effect though they're each free-soloing, yet not in independent charge of their own destiny if someone else falls. I don't begrudge these guys for quasi-courageous bro-bonding. I admit I've done it myself when I was young, ten feet tall and bulletproof. I did several great technical peak routes in Colorado this way- very audacious but only tied to one climber, we were certified badasses in the mountains who could climb way harder than anything we were attempting, and we stopped to belay normally whenever it got difficult or hairy. One thing I will criticize these folks for is not keeping multiple bomber points of running protection between them at all times as a fail-safe, and they passed a thousand good opportunities to do that on this route. The video was thrilling and I enjoyed it, and I thank the climbers for taking me back vicariously to the glory days of youth. But I don't recommend climbing with them, at least not in this style.

@@markpell8979 For sure... there are some very poor rope techniques used in this video.

@@Bustercruz Buster, as I read my own words I feel like I went a little hard on the guys but what I said is true, and at least five people have agreed so far by clicking 'like.' Folks can climb as they wish if it doesn't harm someone else- I sure did when I was young. Simul-climbing is one way to bet your skill against the things that can go wrong if you're too slow in the mountains and get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. We have to weigh that risk as we go. You're already gambling by simply hiking into the mountains and away from help. Admittedly moving a roped party of three up the entire east face of Long's could take a long time if everybody gets belayed the whole way, and high peaks don't normally give you all day to just carefully take your time. I think three on a rope simo is great on snow and glacier travel but highly inadvisable on vertical rock and I never did that or saw the advantage. If this video was of a party of two doing this technique, while putting in solid running protection between the climbers and stopping occasionally to belay for some sections, I would've noted the potential dangers in my mind but been able to enjoy their bold adventure and would not have said anything about it because they actively managed the risks, and were successful and home that evening for beers. But no matter how good and lucky you are, it can always go wrong quickly from factors out of your control or simply because someone f--ked up. I don't want to either kill or be killed by someone else on my team because one of us fell and dragged the team off the mountain. Oh well, just some thoughts. Thanks for yours.

​@@markpell8979 I completely agree. The thing for me is this... If these were 3 buddies going out on an adventure I really have no judgments. I'v done quite a bit of soloing and simul-climbing myself and agree that people should be free to take the risks and play as they want as long as it doesn't put others in harms way. This video is not 3 buddies though, it's a guide from one of the largest companies in the state and two clients. Mountain climbing will always be dangerous but these clients paid for a certain level of risk management that is clearly lacking. I'm a guide as well, and I really don't like questioning other guides - but often times clients are unaware of wether or not their guide is doing things well or not. I've climbed Longs Peak over 60 times and I've guided this route over a dozen times and watching the video there are some times where one small stumble from any 3 climbers could result in all 3 taking a fatal fall. Speaking from experience this is not at all necessary. It doesn't take much extra time for a competent guide to place some gear or belay the exposed sections and still get the route done in a respectable car to car time. To be fair, there are many times in this video where there appears to be an adequate belay, but there are other times where there is not. The moment at 7m38s makes me incredibly nervous to watch. There appears to be no gear, no belay, lots of slack in the rope and massive exposure below. I know for a fact that it's totally possible to belay that section. Cheers.

Glad you guys made it up, congrats! We were wondering about you all.

@@ledged_up I just soloed Kieners a few days ago. Much different experience than the Notch in a 3 group rope party. Felt good to move fast solo on dry rock. Congrats to you guys too!

Being up there definitely makes me want to go back for other routes too

That's right, body was found on Lamb's Slide I believe, poor soul

No AI whatsoever, just used an insta360 camera attached to my backpack to capture 360 degree footage