20th – Return home

Being the departure day people quickly left in whatever direction which would take them to their planned destination. I had a pick-up early afternoon so I spent the morning in Chamonix where I bumped into Alex with whom I grabbed lunch. Coming back to the chalet to wait for the pick-up I met one of the three who had been taking care of us when we weren’t out. Gill had been given a cake yesterday for her birthday but hadn’t taken the rest with her, so I was offered a generous piece. Who was I to complain?

The pick-up soon arrived, and the drive to the airport and flight back (this time via Frankfurt) was as uneventful as one could imagine.

Despite things not going as planned, and finding out that my fear of heights can be much more crippling when triggered than I thought, I did enjoy myself. Big thanks to Didier and Sara for being such great guides. Big thanks to Gill, Alex and Jon for being such great company and coping with my… limitations without tossing me off a ledge. Extra thanks to Jon for acting as the extra guide on the way down from Goûter in front – that was a big help! And finally thanks to the staff at the chalet who cared for us while we were there; Charlie the chef (great food!), Sam (I think it was, my memory is already fading) and… the Kiwi. I am sorry, I do not recall your name, I don’t even know if I was ever told. Thanks for the extra cake on the day of my departure and I hope you’ll have a great time climbing in Switzerland. And please don’t ever stop smiling.

A small addendum; After returning home I bought a book about Mont Blanc from Bo Belvedere whom I have mentioned earlier (guide on Ararat and Stok Kangri, part of the group on Aconcagua) which I am looking forward to have time to read. He even signed it...

"Mont Blanc - The road to the top of Europe".
 

Translated; "Dear Jakob, Good luck with your own Mont Blanc project - and happy reading. Bo B. Christensen".
With that kind of comment it's hard not to be stubborn enough to want to try and climb Mont Blanc again - hopefully after learning to get my fear of heights under control.

19th – Return to Argentiere

With breakfast at 0700 we got ready to descend and return back to the lodge in Argentiere. What was a surprise was that during the night we had received 20-ish (?) cm of snow. That instantly made me worry about climbing down the rocky ridge as I assumed it would be making it slippery and harder to see the outline of the rocks and therefore where the stable footing would be. It turned out I was wrong; despite several groups had already been down the ridge there was still plenty of snow and easily enough to get a much better grip than when we were climbing.

Climbing down therefore ended up being easier than I had expected. It was still a major technical challenge but the addition of the snow made it easier, and despite the overall challenge the descent was surprisingly unproblematic. What also made it easier was visibility was down to 50-100m so it was impossible to see far down.

Shortly before reaching Tête-Rousse we once again came to the Grand Couloir. Gill and Didier were a couple of minutes ahead of us (Jon, Sara and I) who were taking a short break shortly before the couloir on a plateau that was angled so we couldn’t see the crossing. But we did hear a sudden commotion and shouting from below, but it got quiet again before we started moving.

We reached Tête-Rousse at around 1015, app 2:15 after departure. We met up with Didier and Gill and asked them if they had seen anything. Apparently they had been next in line when a group of 3 were crossing, without having secured themselves on the wire there. Suddenly a ball app. 1-2 meters across consisting of snow, ice and rocks came rolling down towards them. They naturally starting running, the guy in the back slipped off of the path but was caught by the rope between them, got a grip on the slope and continued moving parallel with the path now above him. The ball had started slowing down due to the fresh snow (the snow should statistically have made the crossing safer) and passed by them within arm’s reach. Didier said that when he and Gill crossed he had never seen her most so fast. But who can blame her?

After a couple of minutes break we continued downwards to the train. Instead of following the path we took on the way up we went down on the glaciers instead which meant that we could descend by sitting down and sliding, and only close to the station we were back on the rocky path. This took around an hour before we arrived back at the train. It was also here I witnessed the most painful view on the trip; a guy in another group taking out his camera bag, lifting out the camera and tipping the bag and watching water pour out. There was such a painful expression on his face.

We took the train down, continued down with the cable car and drove back to the chalet in Argentiere where the trip officially ended. We spent a couple of hours in Chamonix and in the evening back at the chalet we celebrated Gill’s 60-year birthday.

On the way up to Tête-Rousse Sara was playing here flute with regular intervals when walking, but we didn't hear it again until this break on the way down again. This was the break where we heard the commotion from the Grand Couloir.

The group back at the train; Didier, Sara, Gill, me and Jon. 

A picture of the Grand Couloir with how it looks and where to cross. Not a happy place if something suddenly wants to move around near the top... 

Source: http://www.summitpost.org/grand-view-of-the-grand-couloir-bowling-alley/320199

18th – Refuge de Goûter, 3835m and Dôme du Goûter, 4304m

Breakfast was at 0130 which didn’t really go as planned as I had been feeling sick during the night so I was feeling quite off when getting out of bed. The result was me barely eating anything, which isn’t really optimal before a summit day. Half an hour after having breakfast we left the lodge and started our ascent. We started off on snow and ice but soon reached a steep path which brought us to the Grand Couloir, probably the most dangerous part of the trip. If you hear of deaths on the climb of Month Blanc on this route, it is very likely this is where they died. From then on the snowy path turned into rocks. And more rocks. And steepness. We were climbing a steep, steep rock ridge which was the only way up from Tête-Rousse. Luckily it was still dark so it was relatively easy to focus on the rock face and where to put your feet while ignoring the million-mile chasm that seemed to surround us.

With still a bit to go night turned into morning and focusing on the rocks and feet became an even higher priority. After every break Sara said “Ok, it will get a bit steeper from now”. And she wasn’t lying. With not much technical experience there was a point where it wasn’t much fun anymore and it turned into just trying to get to Goûter.

We finally made it to the end and walked across to the refuge and reached it at around 0600.  This place is amazing; from the outside it looks like a circular spaceship that has landed, and the interior is so well-made it could have been any house with an amazing view.

We were two guides and three tourists (Alex stayed behind in Argentiere due to his knees and hips) and on arrival at the lodge Didier took hold of Jon, who has years of rock climbing experience, and within minutes the two were off towards the summit. After a short break the rest of us agreed on going upwards and seeing how far we would get. Gill didn’t seem to be interested due to exhaustion and decided to stay behind (which we later realized hadn’t been the case; on return we found out that due to miscommunication and lost in translation she didn’t feel she had been given the option to go for the summit (seeing how far one could get is not the same), which resulted in some – understandable – heartbreak and bitterness), so we started a steady ascent at around 0700. The weather was amazing with just a few clouds in the distance. It was quite windy, though, when getting higher and several groups had apparently turned around before the summit due to the winds. We made it to the Dôme du Goûter before I decided that I had had enough. If we had a rest day tomorrow before going down I would have wanted to give it a go, but knowing we were descending the same we were came up I decided to prioritize conserving my energy. The view from the dome was fantastic.

After having enjoyed the view for a while we turned back and returned to the refuge where we arrived at 1000. We were then checked in and assigned beds in one of the dorms.

After that it was just a matter of relaxing and taking it easy, hoping to get some appetite back while waiting for Didier and Jon to return. Now, at 1140 it feels great to have nothing to do and have such a great view when sitting inside looking out. Well, the view was 15 minutes ago, now the clouds have come in and it’s completely grey/white outside.

And also try not to think too much of the descent tomorrow. And it doesn’t help overhearing a couple talking about that they are expecting heavy snow tonight.  Sara has also mentioned that tourists sometimes fake injuries to get a chance to be airlifted down instead of having to do the climb themselves. Apparently I am not the only one struggling.

Edit;

Didier and Jon returned at 1200 after having reached the summit, 6 hours up and down. Jon, despite having plenty of climbing experience said it was the hardest he had ever done and even Didier seemed impressed. The winds further up had been horrible and had brought the temps down to -20 – -30 degrees. On the way down Didier had been walking in the back and admitted that while walking along the ridge he had been ready to jump to the opposite side of the one that he was sure Jon would fall to due to the winds. Fun!

Photo taken on the way up towards Refuge du Goûter. Photo taken by Sara.

Shot of the Refuge de Goûter. Photo taken by Sara.

View of the Chamonix valley down to the left. Photo taken by Sara.

Walking along the ridge having passed the old Goûter hut which has been closed due to instability (due to the moving glaciers) which has now been replaced by the new one we are on the way to. Photo taken by Sara.

Mont Blanc seen from Dôme du Goûter.

Panoramic view from Dôme du Goûter.

Looking down from Dôme du Goûter with Mont Blanc behind you.

The view from the window closest to our beds in the dorm.

View from the common area. The old Refuge de Goûter seen to the upper right, Tête-Rousse in the bottom left, with the rock ridge in the middle we ascended. The Grand Couloir can not be seen from here.

17th – Refuge de Tête-Rousse, 3167m

We had a late departure at 1030 where we also got to meet our second guide, Sara (a confirmation of my theory that non-casual female climbers are beautiful).  We were to take the Bellevue cable car (which, I realized, was the same place we started our Tour du Mont Blanc back in 2012!), and from there take the Mont Blanc Tramway to its end. The ride is a steep one following the side of the mountain, but assisted by a cogwheel underneath there were no issues that a normal train might have had.

From there we started our ascent on foot which was a rocky path. It started gentle but soon got much steeper while it felt we were zig-zagging up a rock wall. The path was mostly quite narrow but with only a drop on one side it wasn’t much of an issue.

After having crossed a glacier we arrived at Refuge de Tête-Rousse around 1400. Afterwards we relaxed as much as possible. Dinner was at 1930, breakfast will be at 0130 after which we will start our ascent, pass another lodge where we will leave anything we won’t need for the summit, continue to the top and return to the lodge and stay there until the next day.

The Mont Blanc tramway.

Alpine ibex which weren't too shy around humans.

Clear weather one moment, the next... not so much.

16th – Rest day

Gil and Jon were taken out on a walk today while Alex and I had a rest day. We have been given tickets so we can travel free with all public transportation in the Chamonix Valley while we’re here so we took the train into Chamonix to have a walk around. The ride there was nothing short of beautiful. When walking I realized that my calves were totally shot but otherwise I felt fine.

The weather was quite cloudy but we luckily didn’t get any rain. Due to the clouds we gave up on going up to Aiguille du Midi so after lunch we had a bit of trotting around before returning to Argentiere. The moment we stepped out of the train it started pouring down and coming back to the chalet we found the two others had also just returned. They had had a great walk above the clouds mostly, but it had been hard on the calves and spent a lot of the time on narrow ledges.

We watched the GoPro recording from the summit yesterday; the footage was great, beautiful views – but those ledges and steep slopes…

15th – Gran Paradiso, 4061m (minus a few)

We had breakfast at 0400 and at around 0445 we started our walk upwards towards the summit. The weather was surprisingly fair; a bit cloudy, no wind at all and temperatures like yesterday afternoon.

The ascent was overall pretty rough. We started by crossing a rock field and it wasn’t long before we reached the snow. Not long after this we stopped to put on our crampons and get tied together. From then on the ascent was steep. Even when we zig-zagged up the angles were big so the steepness was still very much present. Some of the slopes were quite steep; 50+ degrees. The steepness reminded me of summit day on Stok Kangri, but here the zig-zagging was still steeper and it lasted much longer than the relative short steep segment in India.

App. 137m from the summit we put away our poles and took out our ice axes instead. We started crossing a crevice before traversing a very steep slope on a very narrow path made by those previously passing by. After a bit we reached an exposed area – still steep to the left, but now with an at least 500m drop to the right. From there you continue up among rocks, but when we arrived there was a queue from the groups arriving before us. Didier had no interest in waiting (he estimated being stuck for up to an hour) so he briskly went off the path and took us below along an icy slope, bypassed them all and brought us back up in front of them ready for the final push.

I am not too happy with heights – especially when standing at a ledge with a large drop, almost no matter the security. So imagine an app. 50m long ledge, maybe 2-ish meters wide at the widest, ½ at the narrowest, riddled with large rocks you had to scamper around with very little to put your feet on and little to hold on to or plant your axe – with massive drops on both sides. We were 4 tourists with Didier in front tied together with me in the back. We walked around one rock, we narrowly passed by a second, had to do some awkward leg movements to get around and over another. To say I was nervous then would be an understatement. From there we had to cross over a rock – the only thing I could manage after plenty encouragement from Didier and the rest of the group was to crawl across on all fours (hold on – earthquake? No, just me shaking) and moving into a sitting position before sliding down from there back onto the ground. Then there was an exposed 4 meters less than half a meter wide (don’t look down look at your feet don’t look down) and almost stumbling across ending up almost hugging the next big rock in my way. Looking over it to where we were going I saw that afterwards you would be getting down from the rock and onto a small ledge (half a foot’s length wide), hook into fixed rope before going along the cliff, around and up less than a meter to arrive at the final summit. It looked beautiful; 2x2 meters – there was plenty room for a complete ballet! But the view of the small ledge was the last straw for me, unfortunately; with everything up to that point and what I was looking at I do not think I have ever felt so terrified before in my life. Without knowing exactly how such a thing feels I was sure I was building myself up to a full-blown panic attack. When Didier realized that I was beyond taking in any reason from either of them he ordered us back. The look of the others, one within arm’s reach of the summit, their look of disappointment was heartbreaking. I felt horrible. But… just…. No. No more. I had to go in front as we couldn’t turn the entire line around, but a bit back we reached a small spot, less than one square meter (and it felt huge!), where we rearranged the line so Didier was in the back with me close and the rest lined up in front. The narrow path we walked before which was very narrow now felt like a 6-lane highway.

Alex had mounted a GoPro on his helmet and filmed the entire up and down of the summit from and to where we left our poles. The video he compiled from the trip can be found on https://youtu.be/R5RPqcQyx6Y and the part with Gran Paradiso starts around 1:20.

We returned to our poles, I took the only photos of the day and it was app 1045 as we started descending. The nice soft snow had started getting chunky after the sun had come up and significantly raised the temperature, and getting closer to the lodge the snow had turned into slush.

We were back at around 1345 and shortly thereafter we continued down back to the car. I arrived at around 1600, Gill and Jon had been waiting for almost half an hour, and Alex arrived half an hour later.

We were back at the lodge in Argentiere at around 1800 and on the drive back Didier gave his assessment on summit chances on Mont Blanc. He dished out a 100% ok, a couple of maybes and me? “The summit day is longer [OK], harder [OK….] and much more technical difficult [yeah….]”. So I seem to be off the summit attempt – and right now, after that experience, I feel fine with that.

It will likely be a rest day tomorrow.

The look up towards the summit from where we left our poles. Followed the path up and the narrow summit ridge is where people are lined up, with the final summit where the few people are standing to the left. The rock to the right is NOT taller than the one to the left, the angle makes it look like it.

Looking down from the same position.

14th – Rifugio Vittorio Emanuele II, 2732m

We had breakfast at 0730 and after having all the equipment sorted in piles of “take with us” and “leave behind” and generally got everything in order, we left around 0930. We drove app. 1½ hours where we went through the Mont Blanc tunnel going to Italy. It might have a recognizable name but in the end it’s just a tunnel like the rest of them.

Ending up at the parking lot at around 1900m we got all our stuff and started our first ascent. The weather was not impressive: cloudy and almost constant rain. There is not much to say about the climb; we ascended slowly but steady on a decent path. The view was nice with the clouds setting the mood but I am imagining the great views we could have had if the weather had been clear. Due to the weather we didn’t really take any breaks on the way up and around 2 hours after leaving the parking lot we arrived at the refuge at around 1330. We had our packed lunches and due to the weather we didn’t do much during the afternoon. The original plan was to do some ice axe/crampon practice but our guide didn’t want to do so as it would have ended up getting way too wet.

In the late afternoon we were introduced to techniques how to rescue someone having dropped through a crevice. We will be crossing a glacier tomorrow on the way to the summit of Gran Paradiso, and despite Didier saying the risk of something unexpected happening is very small I am still able to stress myself about it. Awesome.

Dinner here at 1900 and we will probably go to bed early as we will be getting up at around 0400 with departure at 0500. On return we will pass by the refuge, pick up whatever we left behind, have lunch and then continue all the way back down to the parking lot and return to Argentiere.

The view from the refuge, in the direction from where we arrived.

They're doing it old-school!

Later during the day it cleared a bit up, this is looking left of the previous photo.

12th – 13th – Arrival

I went directly from the office to the airport to catch my flight to Geneva and all in all it was an uneventful trip. My pickup had to delay the departure from the airport as two of his clients were on a delayed flight. An hour later they arrived and we were off.

I arrived at the lodge in Argentiere around 2300 where dinner was ready for me (for some time – a quick ride in the microwave handled that). And that was it for the first day.

On the Saturday I trotted around in the lodge for a while until deciding going down to the town to have a look around. The planned 1-hour walk suddenly turned into a 5 hour walk through Le Planet to Le Tour, and from there taking a path up alongside the lifts. Having only planned for a 1 hour walk I had only brought a little water, no sunscreen and nothing to eat. And the sky was clear and temps were in the mid-20s. So around 2100m, app. 1000m above Le Tour, I turned around and went down, had lunch in Le Tour and returned to the lodge.

Met with my roommate Alex and Gill on my return to the lodge and shortly after Jon showed up. At around 1830 we were briefed on the following days by our guide-to-be Didier, had an amazing dinner and packed our bags for the next 2 days in Italy.

The view from app. 1000m above Le Tour with Chamonix in the distance.