19th – KK -> Kudat

The plan was to leave at 0830 so setting the alarm to 0700 would give me enough time to have a relaxing and stress free morning. Guess who fell asleep after the alarm went off and didn’t wake up again until a bit after 0800?

Oh, well, we were off as planned and during the drive we went to see various locations before we arrived at Marina Resort a bit past 1900.

The first stop we had was at a place where they were making honey. While it wasn’t much different from how you make it all other places on the globe I believe it was the first time seeing it up close in person – and also having a taste directly from the hive. As an added bonus we got to see a rubber tree which they were in the process of milking, and it surprised me how rubbery the material actually is the moment it comes out of the tree.

Honey.

Pulling the rubber from the tree.

Raw rubber treated to be stacked as shown. It's dense and quite heavy.

Shortly thereafter we visited a village which made gongs. Unfortunately tradition dictates that no one is to play any gongs no matter the reason within 15 days after a death, and as this was the case when we were there, there wasn’t much activity. There is no exception to this at all which means that if 26 people die in 2 week intervals they will have an entire year they won’t be able to play or make gongs.

Lunch was had short after, 12,5 ringgit (app. 3,8 MYR (Malaysian ringgit) to 1 USD)) for a filling and tasty lunch was impressive. I’ll miss those prices when coming home again.

We visited a longhouse – it’s a traditional method of building a house that houses entire families and basically a long building, in this case on stilts. The one we saw was newly built but done so with old techniques and used as a lodge.

Yes, she is playing a flute. With her nose. This is how they attract the attention from the men.

The last stop was the Northern tip of mainland Borneo. The visit was combined by a bit of bathing in the sea, something a few of us decided to skip as we wouldn’t be able to shower until we reached the resort, 45 minutes away.

The northern point.

It's not official until you have a rock that says it's the northern point!

17th - 18th – Arrival

Singapore Airlines are fine and the flight from Copenhagen to Kota Kinabalu went without a hitch and as planned I met up with Elaine (EBC and Romania) during the layover in Singapore. Unfortunately, even an airline as good as Singapore, can’t make a 12+2½ hour flight feel short and comfortable and it didn’t help that the selection of movies in the entertainment system was sub-par.

Oh, well, we arrived in Kota Kinabalu on schedule and after a fairly long wait in the customs queue we came out on the other side and were picked up by the G Adventures driver. He gave us a short tour of KK before leaving us at the hotel which quickly made us realize that there wouldn’t be much to do while waiting for the meeting with the rest of the group in the evening. And rightly so; a walk around the area brought us to an overpriced restaurant at the waterfront and the realization that due to AC the malls were our best friends.

View from the restaurant.

The introduction meeting went well. We are an Aussie (originally from Barbados), American, Canadian, Dutch, German and 4(!) Danes. The split is 7 girls and 2 guys, and as the other guy is travelling with his girlfriend means that I will be having my own room on the trip. Nice!

Dinner was had at a restaurant at a fraction of the price we paid for lunch and at least as good. After dinner we more or less went to our own rooms to catch up on sleep from travelling. Despite a noise AC in the room I doubt I will have any problems sleeping tonight.

Due to a 6,0 earthquake in Sabah (the region we are in) the 5^th of June 18 people were killed on the mountain. The quake’s epicenter was 10km deep and app. 15km from the summit. This means that the mountain is closed until further notice and we will therefore be following an alternative itinerary the first couple of days where we should have been climbing the mountain. 

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…