The first full training day for Ashley, Daphne, Diana and me was not with guides, nor was it a technical climb (as the others would be). It was a day hike. And it was epic. For those of you who hike, these numbers may resonate: leaving at 8:30AM, we hiked for five and half hours steeply uphill gaining 6,000 feet to arrive at the summit of the Mettelhorn. It is a hike usually attempted after an overnight stay at the Trift Hut-some 2,400 feet above Zermatt. We did the entire shot in one day.