{"id":756,"date":"2018-12-02T23:12:04","date_gmt":"2018-12-02T23:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jochenhemmleb.com\/web\/?page_id=756"},"modified":"2018-12-02T23:12:34","modified_gmt":"2018-12-02T23:12:34","slug":"berner-alpen-part-1","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jochenhemmleb.com\/web\/en\/tours-expeditions\/berner-alpen-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Berner Alpen – Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Berner Alpen – Part 1<\/h1>\n

1994<\/h2>\n

In retrospect I have realized how indifferent I had become after the death of my father in early 1994, and what kind of risk I had been willing to take as a result. Gerhard Deigendesch from Munich and I met at the M\u00e4rjelen Lake and hiked along the Aletschgletscher into the heart of the Bernese Alps, each of us carrying 66 lbs. In quick succession we climbed M\u00f6nch, Gro\u00df-Fiescherhorn and Finsteraarhorn, hiked back to the Mittelaletschgletscher and finished with an ascent of Aletschhorn.<\/p>\n

After Gerhard had gone on to climb in the Valais Alps, I continued solo: Gro\u00df-Gr\u00fcnhorn (a very emotional experience, during which I felt very close to my father), then in bad visibility to the Ober-M\u00f6nchsjoch (including several unprotected jumps over crevasses \u2013 talk about indifference…), Hinter-Fiescherhorn \u2013 and as a crowning finale, a solo climb of the Jungfrau.<\/p>\n

The last page of my diary from the trip spoke of \u201ca breakthrough holiday\u201d. It was a \u201cconcentration of experience\u201d and my personal way of turning the mixed emotions and grief into positive, creative energy. Yet the certain fatalism with which I had gone into the trip gives it retrospectively, at least in part, the appearance of an act of desperation \u2013 a glimpse of the dark side of adventure.<\/p>\n