long forgotten dream

“the man who loves walking will walk further than the man who loves the destination, When you love the journey, Goals will just happen, and you will hit milestones as a side effect.”

I have unconsciously lived by this saying my whole life until recently.

I decided to go back to Europe for more climbing and wanted to end the trip with a major climb, but my plan was flexible due to the unusual heat. 2022 was a warm year. Permafrost thaws made it really unpredictable with frequent rockfall. Alpine clubs around that region constantly rerouted and advised against climbing certain mountains.

Despite any changes, I was planning to do eight days to get acclimatized and fit for the Matterhorn.

So, for the first two days, we hit Aiguilles Rouges. and spent the first-day rock climbing a big wall that took us around 5 hours with the approach. It was a fairly easy grade with long pitches, and the plan was to build my endurance.

Climbing the southeast face of Pointe Gaspard for the following day seemed like a good plan. It was a mix of crack climbing, some slabby parts, and a narrow ridgeline, a good practice for the Hornli route. It was a short one, but the aim was to climb light and fast, Most slow climbers who attempt the Matterhorn end up going back before reaching the summit. The climb should be swift due to rapid weather changes and the closure of the lift to Zermatt, So if we linger up there for too long, we’ll end up spending another night at the Hornli hut.

We decided to take a break after Pointe Gaspard and focus on improving my climbing skills instead of attempting long routes. I spent the day lead climbing, practicing how to efficiently set anchors, belay from the top, and learn self-rescue techniques, Essential skills to become an independent climber. In the afternoon, we discussed and planned our next climb for the following day, and ultimately decided to tackle the Perrons.

Traverse of the Perrons was the first sign, You’ll know why in a later post!

It was a typical early morning, We drove to Switzerland and began our hike to the starting point. The initial part of the climb was relatively easy scrambling, the kind that gets your blood pumping. The Perrons comprise of three peaks that are linked by a very narrow ridgeline. It is one of those climbs that a person should attempt before tackling the Matterhorn, as it helps with long, technical, exposed ridges.

After reaching the top, we came across a group of base jumpers who were evaluating their exit point. One of them had a range-finder looking into rock drops. I offered to film them with my drone, and they liked the idea. One of the wingsuiters was Ben Dicko, who was quite famous in that community.

We decided to take a break, have our sandwiches, and wait for the wingsuiters to prepare. I fired up the drone to get some establishing shots, filmed a bunch of climbers doing one of the faces, and then got some incredible footage of the jumpers exiting.

As I watched them fly away, my long-forgotten passion was reignited. Back in 2014, I got into skydiving, specifically to fly wingsuits. I aimed to get into proximity flying. And my skydiving journey was headed in the right direction. However, my life took a different turn, and I ended up pursuing mountaineering instead of Base.

Those base jumpers stirred something inside me. I yearned to have that human-flight experience, But It felt like a far reach dream since I wasn’t current in skydiving, my last jump was in 2017. Besides, base jumping wasn't something I could decide to do on a whim. Even though I met all the minimum requirements for Most base schools it just felt like a longshot. Maybe because of the risk factor, Unlike skydiving, base jumping doesn't offer any guarantees or second chances. There are no backups, and one wrong move can be fatal.

I kept my focus on the climb and was really comfortable traversing those narrow paths. It felt really natural to me. this climb was definitely good practice for things like the Mittellegi or the Hornli. the fear I had at the beginning wasn’t there anymore, The last part of the climb was mostly abseiling on the other side of the Perrons down the valley, where we had to hike back for a little over an hour to where we started.

My brain couldn’t stop thinking... Why not? It feels as if a seed has been planted in my thoughts after seeing those wingsuiters. On the last stretch of the hike, I was battling with that inner voice in my head, doubting myself, putting limitations, telling myself it’s too risky, and I’m not current. that I have to accept the fact that it’s not for me, but what if I get back at it? gradually get back to skydiving then transition into base? it was just noise in my head, nothing too serious, but definitely made the hike shorter.