Marie and Nil have acquired a third trekker, Matthieu from France, and together the three climbed (the Monte Moro Pass) into the fifth country on the trip, Switzerland.

Prior to the crossing they had been spending weeks in the Italian Alps with a Dutch trekker named Jesse. They often stayed in homey, wooden Italian lodges called ‘refugios’, perched high in the peaks. In other areas they pitched tents or stayed in high-mountain bivouacs.

A typical pattern in this region was that they would have gorgeous, sunny mornings but the weather would turn sour in the afternoons with cold rain and fog.

Their path has taken them by a few peaks around or over 4000 m (13123 ft), some of which they decided to climb. This includes Gran Paradiso (13323 ft) and several 4000+ m peaks in the Monte Rosa range. Once, when they were climbing Rocciamelone Peak, Maria got sick leaving them with no other choice but to cross their first glacier.