The Matterhorn

When it is not storming, Scott has a great view of the West face of the Matterhorn. It is a mountain that he has loved all of his life, but only this year has he been able to gaze on it. The veiw is making this trip spectacular.

A Phone Call from the Swiss Alps

Scott called and talked for about 5 minutes on Saturday. He said that the helicopter dropped them off on the glacier, but after a few minutes of scoping out a camp site, they realized that camping on the glacier would not do. There was not a level area on which to set up camp. There were many pits caused by the heat of the sun warming the rocks in the glacier, which made the rocks bore down into the glacier. There were also cracks and areas of melt and re-freeze. They decided to move their camp to the moraine (accumulated glacial debris), but that took hours and many trips to haul all of their equipment and gear to their new sight. They even had to recall the helicopter to come and move the items that were too heavy to carry. They did eventually get camp set up and to bed that night.

The next morning they woke around 4:00 am (they need to work while the glacier is completely frozen). It was snowing heavily. They ate breakfast, hiked to their work area, and put in a full 10-11 hours of cutting and drilling the ice, setting up a weather station and other equipment. Scott is on the drilling crew since he is the tallest there. Being tall makes it easier to pull the 5 ft. cores out of the ground, but it is exhausting. He said the hardest part, though, was that every step is a potential slip and fall since both the glacier and moraine are very slippery. It takes a lot of energy to keep up-right. After a long day of work and cold, they made dinner and were about ready to climb into a sleeping bag for the night. During the night they hear the moraine moving and adjusting. It is quite unstable this time of year. Scott said it sounds like a jet engine flying over the glacier. Kind of erie and cool at the same time. I asked if they were in danger, but he said they are camping in a stable area. The group is in good spirits and the work is coming along. He says "hi" to all and he will be back in Utah in about two weeks.


These images are from the web. I can't wait to see the images and video Scott is taking!

Elder Ritter Sighting

Last Friday, Amy and her friends Whitney and Hailey Halford were driving past the MTC on their way to Seven Peaks Water Park. The light turned red just as they approached the crosswalk leading in to the MTC and guess who was crossing as they were stopped at the light? Of course, you can guess. It was Geoff. Whitney and her sister Hailey were in the front seat and they rolled their window down and yelled, "Hey Elder Ritter!" Geoff looked up and smiled and waved. Amy was in the middle seat of the van and Geoff did not see her, but she saw him quite plainly. It was a very emotional experience for her. She called me immediately and told me that she had just seen Geoff. We both cried. It actually surprised us both how quickly tear came. Whitney called her mother to tell her and she cried also. She had just sent her son (Geoff's good friend, Skyler) to the Brazil MTC last Tuesday. She cried because she would never get the experience to see her son walking from the Provo Temple to the MTC and that Skyler is soooo far away. What makes this experience funny is that we got an email from Geoff later that day, since it was his P-day, that explained how he saw Whitney and Hailey. He had no idea that Amy had been in the car and that I had heard the story from her before I heard it from him. I think he will get a kick out of the fact that there are two sides to this story. He told us before he left that he would not greet family members any differently than just someone off the street if he were to bump into us in Provo, so I think Amy played it just right.









(See Geoff's email on www.eldergeoffritter.blogspot.com )

First Communication From Scott

Scott is in Switzerland for the next two and a half weeks. He is with a group of seven BYU professors and students. They will be camping on a glacier in the Alps drilling ice cores, making thin sections, collecting water samples, and mapping and taking data. He has been gone two days and I just received the first and possibly only email from him. I have copied it below.

"Hello from Zurich:
It is 5pm local time, but with jet lag feels much later. We arrived early this morning, rented a van, and headed to the Sterner Hotel. The day has been a bit of a chinese fire drill trying to find needed camp food, isopropyl alchohol, tools, tarps, etc. etc. It would be easy back home, but lacking a Walmart we had to ferret out 4 or 5 individual stores and then figure out how to drive there, and of course these are little shops on one way lanes with no parking. But, we now have got it all packed in the van for an early AM departure. Five member of the group head to Zermatt via the train. Summer and I drive the van, which should be scenic, but we have to get to Zermatt and turn in the rental truck by 5pm. I am the only driver, which is too bad since I will probably still be feeling the effects of jet lag. At any rate, it is nice to be in Switzerland again. It has lost somewhat of its novely, but perhaps that will return when we get out of the city and into the Alps.
This may be the last time to send an email for awhile, so I love you all and will be thinking of you. By the way, I am having french bread, Gruyere cheese, Perrier water, and chocolate for dinner (all of the 4 basic Swiss food groups).
Love Scott"


This email came the next day:

"Kathie:
The drive was long on curvy roads, but we now have all of our gear at the Air Zermatt heliport for an early AM recon of the glacier and then they dump us and the gear on the ice. We spend tomorrow setting up camp, which should take some doing and be ready to beginning sampling on Friday.
I love you and am thinking about you and Amy daily.
Love
Scott"