Alpine Passion: Mönch South Face, my greatest skiing experience

Carefully I click my boots into the skis. The summit ridge is narrow and airy. My skis point out over the impressive south face of the Mönch, 4107 m, with an exposure and steepness that I've never encountered before. I look out and feel my heart beat. Am I ready for this?

It was a beautiful and cold morning the 26th of June. The Royal Marines mountain leaders, Gorm Gunleiksrud and myself, left the Mönch hut just as the first sun rays hit the mountain col.

The Mönch hut in the morning

The Marines also had the ambition to climb the majestic 4000 m peak in the heart of the Swiss Jungfrau massif: The Mönch. The boys tied into their ropes under the mixed snow and rock SE-ridge as Gorm and I started climbing.

We all aimed for the summit at 4107 m, but from there, our ambitions would differ from the British climbers. Instead of walking back down the ridge, Gorm and I had carried up our skis with an objective to ski down the south face of the Mönch!

Me on the SE ridge, climbing.

The previous day, while approaching the Mönch hut, easily accessible from the Jungfraujoch mountain station, the South face of the Mönch had been clearly visible and looked down at us: as trackless as intimidating, yet beautiful.

Jungfraujoch, the tourist attraction, with Mönch in the background

Mönch south face seen from the air

Normally this time of year, in late June, the conditions on the South face are dry and icy, but this year proved to be very different. As we got up to the Jungfraujoch, all mountains were dressed in white and it felt like winter in the middle of the summer. The south face bathed in sunshine and was covered with a white blanket. It definitely looked skiable, but how steep was it really?

The south face of the Mönch

Gorm coming up on the firn ridge at about 3900m

I often have the impression that slopes tend to "lay down" as you approach them, that they feel more and more reasonable as you come closer, even the ones that from far seem outrageous. During our climb, I hoped that it would be the same thing for the Mönch, but nothing happened. I understood that my ambition would be something different that I had experienced so far in my skiing life.

Looking down on the face and Jungfraujoch

The exposed top ridge gave impressive views over the Jungfrau massif with famous mountains like the Eiger, Jungfrau, Finsterarhorn, Breithorn and many more. The climb up the SE ridge was easy (PD) but the top itself seemed secondary to the ambition that had developed during the last hours...
I couldn't think about anything else than the ski line that waited for us.

I'm close to the top ridge, seen out left.

It felt like the time stood still. There was not a single track on the white face. I looked at the slope and tried to imagine how the turns would be. A mixed feeling of curiosity and discomfort passed my body. The exposure played with my mind and made me feel far away from my comfort zone and the fear started to creep in.

The moment.

You can't hesitate in a situation like this, if you go, you gotta go 100% and with a 100% conviction that you are able and that you want to do it. Being outside of the comfort zone will create fear for most people and we need to be prepared for that if we want to explore ourselves. I managed to think rationally: technically, I knew that this was in within my skiing limits and soon I felt convinced: I could ski down the south face, I just had to think away the exposure and focus more intensely than ever before!

Gorm at the top ridge

A few meters down the summit, on the snow ridge, Gorm built an anchor with his skis. We would have to test the snow before throwing ourselves out on the 600m big face that kept a steepness of around 50° for most of the descent and never any less than 45°. Under us was a rock band and a majestetic icefall. We would have to be very confident that the snow would not be the weak link here, so I tied in and started jumping hard to feel if it was solid enough.

The ski anchor on top of the summit ridge

The snow is good, letting go of the "safety line"

A couple of turns tied in, then I released the rope. It was a peculiar feeling. Suddenly I was alone on the biggest face I had ever been on, and my safety line was gone. It was a moment that I will never forget. I felt small out there, in the hands of nature, and I asked nature to be kind as i looked up towards the hanging glacier above me. Then I skied.

I'm enjoying the turns with Jungfrau in the backdrop

"You can do it, strong legs Johanna, release the sluff...and now, turn!" I spoke to myself, planned each movement and focused in every second. This was one of the most intense moments I've ever had.

Gorm on the upper slope under the hanging top glacier

Above me, Gorm started skiing. We could do nothing for each other now, only trust and believe. Together Gorm and I have experienced many mountain moments, we've climbed, opened up new ski lines in Norway, been happy and scared, and have learnt to know each other's strenghts and weaknesses. Even though I trust my partner as much as I do, I could feel the vulnerability.

Gorm skied confidently and with determination. I heard the roaring sluff he'd released on the rocks next to me and on the track far below from the Jungfraujoch, I registered that people had stopped up and followed us. It was no room for distraction and I had to concentrate on the next turn.

The last turns down to the foot of the mountain

Yes, my legs are shaking a little, we're down.

The last bit down the face was a traverse above the ice fall and after some last turns, we were down by the foot of the mountain. We looked up at our turns and with big smiles. The both of us had skied our first 4000 m peak, and the realization of skiing the south face of the Mönch is undoubtedly the greatest skiing experience I've ever had!