Every evening, we have the honor of seeing heavy storms turn our camp into puddles. Fortunately, we can shelter under our tarp and in our tent. We try to minimize the weight by traveling with a small light tent ( Samaya2.0 ) in which our inflatable mattresses fit to the millimeter and which constitutes an excellent shelter without taking up much space and weight.
We have many friends on the way, who are happy to offer us the comfort of a bed and a hot shower from time to time. A much appreciated luxury after long days of cycling and climbing. To minimize our weight, we continue to leave things for our friends: two pairs of underwear and two pairs of socks are enough, and we continue to wash them in rivers or wherever we can.
The heavy rain forces us to continue our journey after only two days in Rätikon. Well bundled up in our waterproof clothing, we drive to Chur and from there we cross the Rheintal to Disentis and the Oberalppass. Long days of cycling, thousands of meters of elevation gain and a considerable distance. We soon realize that our fuel is our food and that we need a lot more than on a normal climbing trip. Luckily, as we cycle, we pass many small shops or farms that can provide us with energy, and it's nice to support local commerce in this way.

After our first pass, the Oberalppass, we reach our second climbing destination: the Teufelstalschlucht just above Andermatt. Eight pitches of clean granite on the Peruvian Dancing Dust (7a+) route have me feeling in my element. From finger cracks to chimneys, corners to rooftops, we find all sorts of different climbing styles on granite. Simply incredible ! But while climbing I have a whole new experience: normally my arms are swollen, this time my legs are sore and when I lay down they start shaking. The plan of recovering from the bike by climbing and vice versa doesn't seem to be working very well and we'll probably have to think of a rest day for our tired bodies. But first we still want to cross the Sustenpass. Which means that the next day we find ourselves on our bikes again, hoping that our tired legs will allow us to ride in the rain. It's amazing how we can keep pedaling day after day, going with the flow and keeping going. We manage to pass the Susten and descend towards Gadmen under a heavy downpour. The Wendenstöcke will have to dry out and we can finally take a day off. After 9 days of climbing and cycling, it's more than necessary.
The Wendenstöcke are known for their exposed approach: steep, slippery grasses protect the imposing rock face and this time we even got a few more rockfalls. Suddenly large boulders begin to fall from the top of the wall as we cross a ravine to the base of the Excalibur Pillar. We try to stick our bodies as close to the wall as possible hoping that none of these stone bombs will hurt us. And when the nightmare ends, we both arrive at the start of the route with shaky knees and trembling hands. For today a lot of our mental toughness has been used up and we decide to climb Excalibur instead of something harder. A great route and still demanding climbing between the bolts, while we still think about the descent and having to go back through the scary corridor. On top of that, a mother ibex crosses the ledge above us and we fear she will cause even more rockfall. After all the experiences of the day, we decide not to climb another day here, but rather to continue on our bikes towards Interlaken and our next stop: the Eiger.

The climb to the Eigergletscher is steep and we have to repeatedly get off our bikes and push them. They are so heavy that we cannot push them alone. We need to work as a team every step of the way. At the Eiger we find windy conditions and cold temperatures during the ascent of the Deep Blue Sea route on the Geneva Pillar.
Then the weather gets worse and we are happy to rest a little in Interlaken. But at some point, we can't waste any more time waiting for the rain to stop. So we start pedaling under a cool drizzle. And when it finally clears up, all the mountains around us are white, covered in snow. Not really what we wanted to see on a rock climbing trip, but just another challenge. We take a night tour to cycle up to the Jaun Pass and are very happy to find a hot shower and a bed at the pass campsite to recuperate. The bed and the shower suddenly become possessions that we dream of as something special and luxurious.

Due to the cold, we climb the south face of the Gastlosen, a classic route: "Father's Day". A few slabs and some steeper sections make for a varied climb, which we like to hike. During this bike roadtrip, we realized that we had to lower our expectations when it came to climbing difficult routes: cycling up so many cols tires the whole body and makes it difficult to climb to our maximum.
After a full day of climbing, we sit down on our bikes again to cross the Col du Pillon. And after another session of night cycling, we reach Les Diablerets, motivated by the possibility of sleeping at a friend's house.

At the dawn of a beautiful day, we continue our way on our bikes towards the Rhone valley and then in Valais, the last Swiss canton that we will visit. Fortunately, the wind is pushing us and we can move quickly towards the westernmost part of our trip. Due to the snowfall, we are starting to change our plans from climbing steep granite fissures on the north face of Petit Clocher du Portalet, which will probably be too cold and wet, to climbing an alpine ridge. right next to the Aiguilles Dorées. But that means we suddenly need crampons, ice axes and warm clothes, which we haven't brought on our bikes! Fortunately, we receive help from our friends who lend us everything we need. It's amazing to see all the support we get from the climbing community. The climb to the Cabane du Trient seems much longer than usual. First by bike, then by hiking on a steep mountain path, we barely arrive in time for dinner. Olivier, the cabin keeper, has an amazing surprise in store for us: a hot shower. Amazing and so nice for our exhausted bodies.
The next day, we get up early and start walking in the dark on the glacier towards the start of the Aiguille Dorée traverse. We know it's going to be tough because there's a lot of snow on the mountains and no one has opened a trail yet, but that makes it even more interesting. We start with some icy cracks and snow-covered rocks to then move onto the southern slope, where we find amazing golden granite that glistens in the sun, allowing us to climb without gloves and without freezing.
The most difficult part is not the well-known steep dihedral, but the lengths of the north face. Here we find tons of snow, which is not consolidated. Leading one of those steeper pitches trying to dig in for some sort of grip while moving upward through a chaos of powder reminds me of some early Himalayan climbs I've done. One hell of an adventure.
It's incredible to cover all this long ridge line to finish at the top of the Aiguille de la Varappe. What a great end to our Rock'n'Road trip! A big and long hug being so happy to reach this last point near the border with France. We succeeded: we crossed Switzerland and climbed all these incredible walls. A moment of happiness that makes all the little inconveniences and suffering disappear.

Back at the hut, you feel the same as when you return from an expedition. A feeling of release from all pressure, deep exhaustion and pure happiness. We have finished our little “expedition home”. We both agree that traveling by bike is a unique opportunity to meet people, see beautiful landscapes and get to climbing spots in an eco-friendly way. It's definitely something we'll try to do more often. It also showed us once again how many good climbing routes are right next to us.

Photo credits: Caro North / Ines Papert