Index		 Allalinhorn, 4027m
Alphubel, 4206m
August 1999
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Rimpfischhorn from Alphubeljoch with Mellichgletscher below

When we were going across Alphubeljoch Rimpfischhorn was getting in and out of the clouds. Every time I tried to get my camera ready the summit would somehow disappear. This shot shows most of the mountain with the glaciers that we traversed only a few days before but the summit eluded me one more time.

Even before we had reached Mittelallalin we knew that the terminal was closed. It was so silent, there was not a single skier or hiker on the whole mountain. We were the last to come down. We started descending as fast as possible across nicely combed skiing routes. This whole side of Allalinhorn was one huge maze of them. After a couple of hours we arrived at the end of the glacier at another ski lift terminal called Längflue. There we rested and packed away our rope and crampons. It was another 1000 meters down but now we were on a well marked and easy trail. We were going to make it to the car before dark. While we were descending I could not believe how much damage skiing can do to the landscape. It was sad. But it is big money for Sass Fee -- climbers do not spend much money in the mountains, skiers do!