Verso l'Alto!

So the following morning, Sunday, we set out at 6:15 am to attempt the summit.  We'd spent the night at 3278 meters, and we had another 500 to go to make it to the top at 3798 meters, but much of it was technical climbing.

Sunrise

Strapping on crampons and roping in together, we began ascending, helped by having spent the night at altitude, so we were a little more prepared for the thin air.

You can see the trail we came up over Robert's right shoulder.

Christoph's experience was essential at this point:

By approximately 8:07, we made it to the summit:

Standing below the Cross

The morning light from the summit was spectacular:

Looking South-East:

What goes up must, of course, come down.  At the bottom of this photo you can make out the cable line we used in our descent back to the glacier:

We stopped in for tea at our upper lodge before attempting this drop.

Sweeping vistas kept opening out before us as we quickly descended.

Dropping down to our lower hut.

And soon we were below snowline:

A traveler returns.

We arrived back at the base with still enough strength to stand--enough at least to hike up into the trees and find a sunlit spot to celebrate Mass, and thank God for a beautiful climb.