Mont Blanc

It is never the case that you get exactly what you expect, and there are cases where this will be good as well as those where it will be bad. We reached the bottom station of the Aiguille du Midi cable car and ordered our one-way tickets. The lady behind the counter asked us if we were sure, and pointed out that the weather at the top would be very bad. We decided to carry on up, and as we ascended on an unusually quiet cable car we could see the rain falling, turning in to snow as we got higher. As we reached the cable car station (very nearly in it) we broke through the cloud. When we left the cable car station we were above the cloud, and the sun was shining - a lovely surprise. Hence we set off down the now familiar snow slope to the Col du Midi wearing sun glasses and a cautionary waterproof jacket. We stopped with a view of the Aiguille du Midi to take some layers off, hence the photo to the left.

It was clear that the weather had not been good for too long, as people were only just packing up their tents on the Vallee Blanche, and there was a large amount of fresh snow. The views around were spectacular with peaks poking out of the cloud all around. It was approximately 3:30 p.m..We headed towards the snow slope which we had followed up to Mont Blanc du Tacul only a couple of days ago, and this time it was much quieter with quite a bit of fresh snow. Al started off breaking trail through the snow up the slope. We picked a route further to the right than the previous day, taking care and moving as quickly as possible because of the avalanche risk due to the fresh snow.

Al took the spade and dug us a snow cave. We had views across to Mont Maudit as the sun set, and also to the Aigulle du Midi behind us. It was certainally worth the effort to get up there despite the weather in Chamonix! We planned to start off at approximately 4:00 a.m. when there would be some other groups breaking trail for us, and so went to sleep for the night. It did not go down too well when I managed to cave in a reasonable portion of the snow hole's roof on top of Al whilst trying to get in! Once again Al slept very well, however I was feeling the altitude slightly and did not sleep too well, although a couple of Anadin soon helped with the headache!

From the col we followed the other groups up a slope which led to the Col du Mont Maudit. There was a long queue before a cornice and we waited patiently in line. After a while we got to the front and climbed up just as the sun was beginning to rise. It took some time for our toes to warm up again after standing around. There was some easy ground to cover now, and as we looked back we could see a long line of head-torch lights stretching back to Mont Blanc du Tacul. The last bit of ground up to the shoulder of Mont Maudit was steep and I was starting to find it quite hard work after very little sleep. There were good views behind us, where the outline of the Matterhorn was distinct.

We made our way up the final snow slopes slowly. I was now finding it incredibly hard goind with the increased altitude. We passed one group who also seemed to be noticing the extra effort required. As we climbed we could see across to our planned descent route (thr Gouter Ridge). This the `tourist route` of Mont Blanc, and we could see lines of people on it. We pressed on up steadily, stopping occasionally for water and sweets, and eventually were on the final slope to the summit.

We reached the summit at around 10:00 a.m. On the top we paused for the customary photographs, and to look around us. We were able to see back across to Mont Maudit where we had come from, with the Matterhorn behind it in the distance. We then headed off down the Gouter ridge fairly promptly since the guide book had warned about rock falls on our descent route later in the day. As we descended we saw large numbers of groups on the way up the snowy ridge, and decided we had chosen a more enjoyable route, particulary with the pools of vomit at the side of the main track. We descended the ridge to the bivouac hut, and from here we passed to the right of the Dome du Gouter. We stopped to look back across to the Aiguille du Midi and the route we had started the day before.

The guide book had warned of rock falls on the descent from the hut in the afternoon, and so we were enthusiastic to make our way down as soon as possible. The weather was still good, however we could see cloud starting to make its way in for the rain which the weather forecast had pronmised us for later in the day. The route from the hut heads down steeply and consists of fixed ropes and so we descided to un-rope ourselves since we believed this would speed us up, and we thought it was safer on that ground since we would not be using belays. The rope could have meant that if Al fell I would surely have followed. We thought back to a book by Tom Patey which I had just finished where he described the perception of a solo climber as a man falling on his own, and a roped party as two climbers falling together. It seemed quite apt!

The rest of the day was overcast, although we did drop out of the cloud and had some good views of the Glacier de Bionnassay. We also saw some Ibex as we descended. Anyone who thinks it is just a short walk from the Gouter Hut to the tramway is mistaken and it took us until 5:30 p.m to reach the tramway. There were large queues when we reached the train station so we stopped for Coke whilst we waited. The French travel system again worked well. You are given a ticket with a time on it, similar to the cable car and wait for that. We got our train followed by a cable car to Les Houches. The organisation is so good that the cable cars are timed to connect with the trains. Finally there was a bus back to Chamonix.

We arrived back in Chamonix at around 8:30 p.m. both tired, however having had an excellent couple of days out. We celebrated with a fondu at a local restaurant, however the eating of that would be another story only to be told by Al to certain friends! The weather for the next two days was poor, however that didn't matter much. I was quite happy to rest having achieved what I had wanted, and Al was also pleased with his first ascent of Mont Blanc.