[Removed user]

23 July 2011 at 7:31:17 #804511

hi

I am planning doing the Monch summit and wanted to know if there was a hostel or place to stay at the base > I would prefer to take the jungfraujoch train the night before and start Monch early , rather than taking the train in the morning and then climbing.

Any suggestions /

Thanks

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[Removed user]

23 July 2011 at 10:56:01 #833570

I’d suggest you get a guidebook! It’s a fairly basic route but some preparation is worthwhile. Grindelwald Sports can arrange guides, their website is http://www.grindelwaldsports.ch/

[Removed user]

24 July 2011 at 10:09:31 #833571

I have a guidebook !

however there is no answer to my question as to whether there is a hostel at the foot of the Monch so that i can sleep there the night before instead of taking the first train up from grindelwald in the morning.

Does anyone know of such a hostel.

[Arno]

24 July 2011 at 10:34:10 #833572

Hi gever,

I guess the Mönchsjochhütte is the hostel you’re looking for. You can walk to it from the rail station on the Jungfraujoch. Or are you looking for one down in the valley?

[Removed user]

24 July 2011 at 11:28:23 #833573

[quote]gever said: I have a guidebook !
however there is no answer to my question as to whether there is a hostel at the foot of the Monch so that i can sleep there the night before instead of taking the first train up from grindelwald in the morning.
Does anyone know of such a hostel.[/quote]

Sorry, to be 100% candid, you ought to know this already if you’re about to attempt to climb a 4000m alpine peak. It’s not a hard climb but I’d really expect the background skill level to know you’re looking for a hut, to actually call it a hut and to know where to look for that information. I also don’t believe you have a climbing guidebook that’s any use, sorry but any climbing guidebook such as the CAS guide etc will already have told you there’s a hut. So, if you didn’t know already where the hut is then you’ve not got a decent guidebook and you’re not anything like prepared enough. You ought to have known that you’d find this information on summitpost not be posting a question on a general travel forum.

I think what you really need is a guide which is why I purposely didn’t give you information to enable you to have an accident and gave you an answer appropriate to the knowledge level you demonstrated. I’m sorry if that seems harsh but I’m professionally accountable for any advice I give and that’s my advice, get a guide.

[Removed user]

25 July 2011 at 0:56:29 #833574

Thanks Arno that is exactly the information I needed.

Swiss mountain Leader thanks you too for your advice. Just so you know we are climbing monch with an qualified guide (first doing the 2 day mountaineering introduction course). I am not so dumb as to think I could do it all myself with no preparation.
we are meeting the guide early in the morning at the the coffee bar on the jungfrau joch and all i wanted to know was whether there was a hut/hostel where we could sleep rather than taking the first train up in the morning.

apologies if my simple question annoyed you. If i had known the level of information required to get a straight answer from you I would also have posted important data such as my training programme’, pulse rate and medical history so you could decide properly how and if to answer my question.

A simple answer such as Arno’s would have been enough.

[Removed user]

25 July 2011 at 2:54:31 #833575

If you’d made clear you were meeting a guide then you would have actually got the information you were looking for. So, now you’ve revealed what you actually want then the correct answer would be that there’s the SAC Mönchsjochhütte. You could stay there but it would be daft to walk up and down the cafe. What you could do is ask the guide to meet you at the hut. So what you should do is ask the guide, which frankly is what you ought to have done to start with being as you’re paying them.
Drip feeding information where the answers relate to life or death safety isn’t very sensible is it? I appreciate you can’t see you’re wrong but how do you expect me to know you’ve booked a guide if you don’t say so? How can I tell from what you posted that you’re not a tourist arriving who’s heard the Mönch is an easy peak and decided to have a go in training shoes? Clearly my assessment that this was a new activity for you was entirely correct and it would not have taken much to add “with a local guide” to your first post would it?

If people don’t want professional advice then I’ll not bother, I’m not being paid for it and I’m not going to put up with someone being rude.
Arno really needs to give a little thought to how to answer similar questions in future, it’s pretty clear quite a few mountain incidents have their roots in accident chains initiated on forums.
All that said, the Mönch is a great climb, mixed snow and rock, an “airy” ridge traverse and views over the entire Oberland and most of Switzerland on a good day. Have a good time!

[Removed user]

25 July 2011 at 4:28:24 #833576

Thank you and apologies again if my question was not detailed enough for you

i was not looking for “professional advice” just a simple answer re: sleeping accomodation not about climbing the Monch and the preparations. If i had wanted to know that i would have asked .

As for being rude I suggest you read your origional reply again and then think about who was being rude . Not everyone is an expert and not everyone knows the correct ” jargon’

have a great day !

[Arno]

25 July 2011 at 13:39:08 #833577

I think it’s time to close this discussion. I understand both your points of view, actually. Just for the record: providing unsolicited advice is certainly allowed in this forum, as well as asking a question without providing (all the) background information.

A note for other people who may stumble upon this thread: Safety is very important and often underestimated, especially by unexperienced hikers. Our website provides an overview of how to prepare for hiking in the Alps. I want to stress that the overview is for hikers, not for climbers. Climbing is a very different activity and not something this website is trying to educate about. Having said that, you’re welcome to ask any questions!