The Illuminated Moléson Via Ferrata

Every year the Moléson tourism board and related teams provide people with the oppotunity to do the Face, and the Pillar by night. I have wanted to experience this multiple times in the past but because either of work, or weather, I had to cancel the plan to experience this.

The idea is simple. Sunset is at 20:25. People start climbing the VF from 1900 onwards with the option of doing the “easy” Pillar or the hard “Face”. As I did The Face a few weeks ago in daylight I did The Pillar instead. My decision was based on two things. The first is that I had organised to go with a group, and I felt a sense of responsibility to help those with less experience should they require it.

Some Thoughts

Two thoughts I had during this climb is that it’s like caving, rather than diving. When you look up you can see people making their way up both faces simultaneously. You can hear cow bells in the fields below as well as the sound of crickets. Every so often you notice plenty of small spiders. The legs are thin and the bodies are not big. If I’m indoors I would hate to put my hands so close to spiders but on a VF it doesn’t bother me. I thought that I may see bats but noticed none. Either they don’t have enough insects around there or they have no caves or caverns within which to sleep. It’s possible that they’re active between midnight and 4 am as indicated by a sign near the Areuse river.

Fear and Physicality

When you’re climbing by night the landscape is different. You can see far, due to city lights and car lights. You get a sense of height but not as you would if you were doing this climb during daylight. In daylight you would see everything. At night you see as far as your light will reach, or other groups ahead and behind you.

At one point I heard one person in another group say “don’t look down” and this felt odd to me. I always look down. With rock climbing, and especially when abseiling down I learned that if you don’t look down constantly, when it comes time to descend you will be surprised by how high you are, and feel fear. By constantly looking down the change is gradual.It also implies that people doing this VF are afraid of heights.

Logistics

The illuminated event is well organised. You can book via a web form up until 1400 the same day, or you can see if you can get a ticket on the spot. They check off your name from the list. They get emergency contact info, check that you have all the required gear, and snacks. They also provide you with a ticket for soup at the end of the VF in the restaurant.

One of the best aspects, in my opinion is that they have a team at the start of the VF routes, to log you in and then three individuals at various points along the route to check that everyone is okay. In case of an emergency they are ready to abseil down in case of bad weather, or use the helicopter in case of good weather. If you push beyond your limits then people are there to support you.

A Howling Wind At the Top

One of the key features of this specific climb is that there was a very strong wind. At moments there were gusts strong enough to require you to fight back to remain upright, both on the VF but also when walking from the end of the VF to the télécabine. That wind made it cold, which is why people didn’t stop and wait at the summit, but chose, instead, to head for the télécabine, and the restaurant below.

And Finally

It’s an interesting experience that is worth doing. By the end of it I was exhausted so I’m happy that I did not do a hike that morning. It’s when I finished that I felt exhausted, and barely able to stay awake. I don’t remember being this tired after a daytime vf. I am rarely so tired after a daytime VF.