Still can’t believe it: Beatrice Egli, 33, climbed the Matterhorn with her mountain guide Susan Hauser, 54, on Thursday. “It will be a while before I realize the whole thing. I am thrilled, but I am also relieved,” Schwyzerin tells SonntagsBlick. The entire adventure did not go without incident. Egli struggled with the slippery snow.
“I slipped twice,” she says. Getting off the top was the most challenging. Because of the bad weather this year, there was still a lot of snow and ice on the mountain. “My mountain guide gave me great safety and kept me in moments of shock. I always felt safe with her, she ignored my fear.”
At 4.30am we started downhill
At 4.30 am, the Egli team set off from Hörnlihütte (3260 meters above sea level) to “Horu”. “It’s straight to the steep climb. A big plus was that we climbed in the dark for an hour and a half first. “I didn’t see how high it was,” says Egli.
At 4,003 meters above sea level, in Solvayhütte, she had the first moment to catch her breath. “There was a bit of a traffic jam before a difficult section. That’s why we were able to watch the sunrise over the Sea of Mist.” To motivate her, she also sang a few lines from her song “Matterhorn” coming out on Friday: “Cham, run away, tame her, early in the morning, for sunrise on the Matterhorn.”
At 8.42 am it was finished
The last 400 meters of altitude were especially severe. The height bothered the eagle. “I always missed ‘Snuff’. But the people I met on the way were always encouraging and motivating me.”
At 8.42 am, it was time: Egli had conquered the 4,478-meter mountain. She fell on the neck of her mountain guide with joy and could not believe the conquest of her summit. “I’ve been training for this moment for a long time and I’m very grateful for the experience.”
Going down was the most demanding
Despite Horo’s delight: There was no pinnacle wine for Egli, who also doesn’t drink any alcohol. The hardest part is still to follow. “Going down was the biggest challenge. You’re already exhausted from going up, your focus has dropped and you have to stay focused. Every move must be correct, otherwise it may end fatally. 80 percent of accidents happen during landing.” The way back left her the greatest memory. “I still have pain in my thigh muscles to this day. Going down the stairs is agony,” she says and laughs.
The day after the Matterhorn adventure, Beatrice Egli returns to the stage in Stuttgart, Germany. How did you do that? “I am amazed at my own strength,” she says. Intensive training is now cut back a bit, but she wants to maintain her condition.
Is Beatrice Egli going to Täschhorn soon?
With the ascent of the Eglis Matterhorn, women climbed 47 of the 48 summits of four thousand meters as part of the “100% Peak Challenge for Women” launched by the Swiss Tourism Authority. Is my mountain climbing finished? “For the time being,” she says. “But if no one has climbed the remaining summit of the challenge, you will probably see me soon at 4,490 meters above sea level, in Täschhorn,” he adds with a laugh.
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