Dom (4545m) - Huge Vertical



The Tallest Mountain Standing Entirely on Swiss Territory Makes You Work Your Butt off for the Thrill&Beauty


This is tougher, than Mont Blanc. Extremely demanding physically, with a vertical rise of 3100 meters from parking lot to summit; even greater than what you get on Mont Blanc. The beauty of the scenery, however, of the Mischabell-Group of the Swiss Alps more than compensates for the challange.

The Dom is the most massive peak on the ridge separating the Matter- and Saas valleys. It is technically on of the easier 4000er in the area, but the physical demand is huge. You have to tackle more than 3100 meters of vertical from the parking lot to summit this peak, which is the third highest in the Alps. You will not find another mountain in the Alps with a vertical rise as great as Dom's. The Dom, by the way, is also the highest mountain standing entirely on Swiss territory.

START DATES END DATES
  • 22. July 2011, Friday
  • 24. July 2011, Sunday
  • 9. September 2011, Friday
  • 11. September 2011, Sunday

BOOKING DEADLINE

About these prices...
Join Summit Club for free and enjoy a huge discount from your first trip on! All you have to do is sign up on a short form and you are immediately eligible for Members' price! Click here for details and to enroll. Yes, it is FREE and takes 2 minutes.
About these prices...
 
Join Summit Club for free and enjoy a huge discount from your first trip on! All you have to do is sign up on a short form and you are immediately eligible for Members' price! Click here for details and to enroll. Yes, it is FREE and takes 2 minutes.

Prices

CLIENT-GUIDE RATIO * PRICE
  • 1:1
  • Friendly Price:
    1100 GBP
  • For Our Members:
    1000 GBP
* You get to choose this after booking, don't worry about it just now.
  • 2:1
  • Friendly Price:
    600 GBP
  • For Our Members:
    540 GBP
* You get to choose this after booking, don't worry about it just now.

PRICE INCLUDES PRICE DOESN'T INCLUDE
  • guiding
  • all climbing equipment
  • meals
  • lodging
  • insurance

Other info

There is no skilift to Domhütte, so you really do have to walk all the way from the village of Randa. That's a lot of vertical meters on both days, that's why this mountain is more challenging than Mont Blanc.


About these grades...

Physical difficulty of trips

  1. Alpine trekking - up to 1200 m of vertical in a day on short trips
  2. Longer trips with high daily loads of 1000 m+ vertical
  3. Climbs involving 1000 m+ of vertical climbing above 4000 meters
  4. Same as Level 3 with the addition of speed as a must
  5. Climbs to summits over 6000 meters in altitude

Technical difficulty grades

  1. Trekking on rocks or snow to 25 degrees steepness, no hands required
  2. Alpine Grade PD - 30-45 degree snow/firnice axe required, may have to use with hands, as you may meet UIAA Grade III rock.
  3. Alpine grade AD: 40-55 degree slopes or UIAA grade-III rock
  4. "My feet are shaking!" Alpine grade D: 50-70 degree snow-walls or UIAA IV-V rock: serious stuff
  5. D graded climbs None of our package trips do this level, but you can request an expert to accompany you for your D or higher graded project.

Here's a table detailing the above used grades on MountainDays.

Culture shock grading

As far as the cultural environment of your country/area of destination, we have set up grades to indicate what degree of culture shock you may expect.

  1. Your usual cultural environment, no big surprises in relation to Anglo/Saxon way of life
  2. A little different than what you are used to at home, but no big suprises
  3. Your trip is a cultural experience in itself, with amusing differences form what you're used to at home.
  4. This is a different world; you have to significantly alter your expectations and behaviour.
  5. Possibility of extreme culture shock; forget any rules you may have brought from home, life runs completely differently than what you can even dream up.
About these grades...
 

Physical difficulty of trips

  1. Alpine trekking - up to 1200 m of vertical in a day on short trips
  2. Longer trips with high daily loads of 1000 m+ vertical
  3. Climbs involving 1000 m+ of vertical climbing above 4000 meters
  4. Same as Level 3 with the addition of speed as a must
  5. Climbs to summits over 6000 meters in altitude

Technical difficulty grades

  1. Trekking on rocks or snow to 25 degrees steepness, no hands required
  2. Alpine Grade PD - 30-45 degree snow/firnice axe required, may have to use with hands, as you may meet UIAA Grade III rock.
  3. Alpine grade AD: 40-55 degree slopes or UIAA grade-III rock
  4. "My feet are shaking!" Alpine grade D: 50-70 degree snow-walls or UIAA IV-V rock: serious stuff
  5. D graded climbs None of our package trips do this level, but you can request an expert to accompany you for your D or higher graded project.

Here's a table detailing the above used grades on MountainDays.

Culture shock grading

As far as the cultural environment of your country/area of destination, we have set up grades to indicate what degree of culture shock you may expect.

  1. Your usual cultural environment, no big surprises in relation to Anglo/Saxon way of life
  2. A little different than what you are used to at home, but no big suprises
  3. Your trip is a cultural experience in itself, with amusing differences form what you're used to at home.
  4. This is a different world; you have to significantly alter your expectations and behaviour.
  5. Possibility of extreme culture shock; forget any rules you may have brought from home, life runs completely differently than what you can even dream up.

Is this climb for you?

  • Physical difficulty:
  • Technical difficulty:
  • Culture shock:

Your guides

Laci Mecs


Born in: 1972
Occupation: mountain guide, climbing instructor
Spoken languages English, German
Favorite climb: Monte Rosa
Other climbs: Grossvenediger, Grossglockner, Grossglockner-Stüdlgrat, Matterhorn, Mont Blanc, Monte Rosa

dom dom dom

dom dom dom

dom dom

Day 1: Meeting in Randa (1408 m) and hiking up to Domhütte (2940 m)

Meeting in the parking lot, you pack up and start strolling out of the lovely little town passing the church and eventually entering the pine forest. Going all the way through the trees and leaving them behind as you gain altitude, you're on grassy slopes approaching a big rock caldron.

Over rock steps and ledges, you come across some fixed ropes (wires, actually) to help you as you gain more and more altitude. Soon you take your first steps on the Festi-Glacier, which takes you to Domhütte (2940 m). Have a nice rest and eat up on carbohydrates - you'll need everything you've got the following day!

Day 2: Summiting Dom (4545 m) and retiring to the valley after a huge day

Be prepared for a real early rise.  Following the trail from the hut, you soon find yourself on the glacier. The ice is covered by rocks on this part of the glacier. Following the length of the glacier, you are looking at a stripe of rocks where you find fixed ropes to aid you with climbing. Now you are trekking on morena again and you come to some easier, grade II rock with some exposed ledges to climb to Festi pass at 3723 m. Descend just a bit to Hohberg glacier and pass under impressive rock walls and around huge blocks of ice. Now, the glacial slope gets steeper and steeper (all the way to 35 degress) towards the northern ridge, which takes you to the summit. 

Nice going, but you're far from being done! You need to descend 1600 meters to get back to the hütte. This may be one of the longest, most strenous days of climbing you've ever done. 

Day 3: Walking back down in the valley

Descend back down the same way you came up. Keep turning back around to take some pictures of Mischabell Group's hightest summits. The descent should take 2-3 hours depending on how tired you are and on your appetite for photography. 

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