Mont Blanc 2010
We arrived into Geneva Airport to be greeted by low cloud and grey skies for the start of our Mont Blanc Adventure. The long hours and days of training on the steepest hills that we could find in Wicklow were behind us. Ahead of us lay a week of climbing in the Alps and an attempt at the Summit of the highest mountain in Europe, Mont Blanc. The fifth day would be the return trek to the Valley on the Friday. That’s if everything went to plan. But when you mix high mountains, unpredictable weather and the ever-present threat of altitude sickness, things rarely go to plan.
Mont Blanc at 4810 metres (15,700 ft) is the highest mountain in Western Europe. The summer climbing season runs from June to September with the chances of bad weather about the same. While June and September can sometimes be too cold and snowy, July and August are more prone to heat generated thunderstorms.
We hoped that the Weather would be kind to us during the week but as we drove from Geneva Airport that Saturday afternoon, it was anything but nice. Frequent heavy rain showers interrupted our journey and the cloud base remained low. We arrived at our accommodation and met the rest of our climbing party, comprised of Men and Women from the UK and Germany. The ages of our climbing partners ranged from the mid twenties to 69 years of age and the most senior of the party was local man and Founding member of the 4As Hill walking Club, Jimmy Cullen.
Just before dinner we met our Head Guide for the week, Graham, and with the aid of a slide show, he outlined the plans for the coming week. Basically, we would be climbing increasingly higher for three days to aid with acclimatisation and then making a bid for the Summit over the next three days. Our enthusiasm was some what dented when Graham told us that the Success rate this year so far was only 25% due mostly to bad weather events. This was their worst success ratio in almost 10 years of guiding. Also, one of our companions on this trip was back to try again after an unsuccessful attempt last year. All we could do is hope for the best.
Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny and lifted our spirits. From the chalet, I got my first uninterrupted view of the Mont Blanc Massif and it took my breath away as I craned my neck to see the tops of the snowy ridges. The Bossons Glacier with its huge seracs dominates the view from the Valley and looks as if it’s going to crash down on the town at any time.
We had an equipment check from our guides to make sure that we had all the necessary clothing and equipment. We had hired the specialist mountaineering boots, crampons, ice axe, climbing harness and helmets locally and after a brief stop in Chamonix Town Centre to grab some last minute food and equipment, it was on to Le Tour Village. A quick cable car ride deposited us at the beginning of a trail. We climbed this trail, which then developed into a rocky moraine that runs alongside the Le Tour Glacier to the Albert Premier Refuge Hut.
Hut etiquette means that all sharp items such as trekking poles, ice axes and crampons are left in the storage porch of the hut. Boots also remain here but crocs and slippers are provided for wearing inside. Some huts have running water, some do not. The bathrooms are unisex and very basic as is the dormitory style bedrooms accommodating from 12 to 24 climbers sleeping side by side in upper and lower bunks. Believe me when I say that earplugs are an essential piece of kit. Very little if any lighting is provided in the rooms so a call of nature during the night requires a head torch and careful maneuvering.
I suppose that it is fair to say that refuge hut accommodation high in the mountains is basic but their purpose is to shelter and feed mountaineers who stay there and the food provided should be regarded as fuel for climbing rather than an attempt at culinary excellence.
An interesting thing that we noticed in the huts is that the guides assist the staff to set the tables and also to do the washing up. At mealtime, each person gets a knife, fork and spoon plus a bowl. The food is placed on the table in large pots or dishes and you help yourself. You retain the bowl throughout the meal so when you finish your soup you refill it with the main course, finish mains and use it for dessert, finish that and use it for your tea or coffee. It’s a surprisingly effective system as it cuts down on labour and washing up and that means less food waste and less water needed for washing etc which makes the huts waste production less stressful on this fragile mountain environment.
Monday morning starts with a 6 am breakfast of Tea/Coffee, bread and muesli with powdered milk. Getting kitted up with the correct amount of layers for the conditions and putting on boots, crampons, gaiters, harness, helmet etc takes a surprising amount of time. The time we were aiming for was 45 minutes for getting breakfast and being kitted up ready to go. Needless to say, we failed miserably this morning but it was the only morning we were outside the time.
We assembled eventually outside the hut a little after 7 am and were greeted by wind and snow. This was not going to be a nice day. We walked across icy rocks for about a half hour to the edge of the glacier where we roped up at a ratio of one guide to four climbers. We made our way across the glacier crossing the smaller crevasses on little snow bridges and zig zagging snake like around the bigger ones. Concentration is needed to make sure that you follow in the footsteps of the person in front of you on the rope as if you glance away to admire the view you might just miss that he has walked around a crevasse but still appears to be directly in front of you. You then tend to walk straight to him and fall into the crevasse. It’s not what you want to be doing at this altitude in this weather at minus 10 degrees C.
Onwards and upwards we walked on ever increasing gradients before stopping for a drink and snack just below an extremely steep snow filled chimney. Break over, we started into this snow slope in what was up to now the hardest walking I had done. We emerged just under an hour later in to Switzerland and the beautiful Trient Plateau.
One thing I learned during my Mountain Leader training is that to be an efficient mountaineer, you must not waste time. Every thing that you do should flow in a methodical fashion but should never be rushed.
Get up, get breakfast, get kitted up, go climb a mountain, stop for a break, check safety, do not bunch up, rucksack off, drink, eat, rucksack on, continue climbing that mountain.
We continued across the Plateau to the Trient Hut. The Trient is a newer hut with better than average facilities. We eat, rest and its lights out at 9:30 pm. I awake several times during the night with a pounding headache and a sore throat, the headache being a typical symptom of the effect of altitude as we are now at 3200 metres. I take some painkillers and just hope that it doesn’t get any worse.
Next morning, I still have a bit of a headache and a very sore throat and as we make our way up to the dining hall at 4:50 am we notice that there is already a queue. After breakfast, we assemble outside fully kitted up at 5:40 and make our way down a short stretch of rocks to the snow where we rope up and start out back across the plateau. It is still dark but as I look out across the mountains to the East, a grey blue hue can be seen and I know it wont be long before the sun comes up. I feel that the pace today has definitely picked up and my feeling is confirmed as we catch up and pass a group that only a little earlier seemed to be a kilometre in front of us. We climb a steep snow slope and stop at the bottom of an even steeper snow slope above which there is a rocky peak.
Graham, our guide tells us that we are going to climb up the snow to the rocks and then scramble to the top of the Aguille de Tour which although it looks high from here, it certainly seems doable and doesn’t look at all like its height of 3544 metres. As we are going to descend back to this, our starting point, we could take off our backpacks for the climb, but Graham says that this a training climb and we wont have the luxury of dispensing with the backpacks in a couple of days time when we are climbing Mont Blanc. Fair Comment.
Backpacks firmly strapped on, and harnesses checked, we start up the slope, which requires us to kick hard into the snow with our metal pointed crampons to ensure a good foot hold and prevent a slip. Where the snow meets the rocks, which at 7:15 this morning are still very icy, we leave our ice axes behind as its all hand on rocks now. We have already gained some serious height and there is only one other group in front of us, but I notice a good few groups assembling on the snow below. We scramble across a rocky ramp and at the edge of a spine of rock; I turn 180 degrees to follow Graham up the spine. When I turn and carefully place my foot on the little rock shelf I noticed Graham use moments before, I glanced down and out to my right and whoa, from where Im standing now, Aguille de Tour looks every bit its full height of 3544 mtrs. We make our way up the spine over a couple of tricky steps and on to the summit that consists of a small pointy rock with a slightly larger pointy rock a couple of metres away. The four of us assemble on this rock for Graham to take a quick photo and then its gloves on and start back down the rocks. Now it gets a bit trickier. All those groups I saw on the snow below earlier are now climbing up towards us. So narrow and all as the rocks are, we now have to pass them on the way down. As I was last on the rope coming up, I am first going down. To make matters a little more interesting, when I get to the airy rock step described earlier, there is a Woman who is second in a group of five and refusing to go any further. Her Guide is encouraging her from above and as I somehow make my way around her, I assure that the worst is now over. A bit more encouragement from her companions behind and she goes on. The sun is well and truly up now and after a quick drink and snack beside a huge crevasse, we make our way across a small col and down the snow chimney we came up yesterday. From here it is a relatively straightforward five-hour walk across the glacier and after a brief stop outside the Albert Premier Hut, we continue down the rocky paths to catch the short cable car ride back to the Valley.
We are back in time for dinner in our chalet in the little village of Les Houches near Chamonix.
Wednesday is a beautiful sunny day and after a final gear check we catch the Bellevue cable car to hook up with the Nid de Aigle train that will take us a bit higher in the Mountain from where we walk to our final hut, Tete Rousse that will be our base for the attempt at the Summit.
However, there are problems on the Tete Rousse Glacier, which prevents the train from going any further up the mountain.
Recently, a lake containing an estimated 63 million litres of water was discovered under the glacier and it was decided that it posed a real threat to the village of St Gervais and it inhabitants in the valley below. The authorities assembled a specialist crew and all through the summer months, they have been drilling the glacier and pumping out water in a controlled fashion to decrease the pressure on the glacier cap in an effort to prevent a disaster. As a result of this activity on the glacier, the train station far below is closed and after what seemed like a few seconds on the train, we disembark and start walking up the train tracks toward the path for the Glacier.
We have three additional Guides with us today because the Guide/Climber ratio from now on is going to be 2:1 rather than the 4:1 that we had for the acclimatisation and training days.
Our guides now comprised of one Welshman – Graham, two Americans, Dylan and Joe and two French men, Stephan and Yannic. Rather than walk the now unused train tracks to the glacier, Stephan tells us that he knows a more interesting way. He wasn’t joking. Im not sure if I would call it interesting but it was definitely exciting. One hour of walking was followed by two hours of scrambling over loose rock scree to arrive at the base of the glacier. We then skirted the glacier for another hour and a half up a steep rocky path and crossed the glacier to arrive at the Tete Rousse Hut, which although only built about five years ago does not have any running water, and therefore, chemical toilets of which most were out of order.
The Hut was busy and although it was sunny, at just under 3200 metres it got quite cold as evening approached. Later that evening we were paired off with our guides for next mornings attempt at the summit. My Father and myself were assigned to Dylan and we went outside for a briefing on the plan for the next day. Dylan was just coming back to work after a three-week layoff due to injury and he explained to us that tomorrow would be much like our training day. Get up, get breakfast and go climb a mountain, albeit a much higher and bigger one. He said that his aim was to climb the mountain as efficiently as possible. When I questioned him as to what he meant by this, he said that his intention was to adjust the pace so as we would not have to stop for a breather; we would only stop briefly to eat and take a drink. The day starts with having to cross a rock chute from where even now we could see rocks of varying sizes hurtling down. We would then scramble a steep and exposed stretch of rock to the Gouter Hut and the start of the deep snow. After a short break here, it was on up the snow to the summit. All told, the day would be about ten to twelve hours he reckoned.
Next morning, I noted that although my throat was a little sore, I felt in really good form. Jimmy also professed to feeling good. Adrenaline is brilliant stuff! We met Dylan at 4:45 am outside the hut and ready to go. As we made our way up to the rock chute known as the Grand Couloir, I could see the procession of head torches ahead of us making their way up the rocks towards the Gouter Hut and it was an awesome sight. We got to the edge of the Grand Couloir and after listening carefully for the sound of rock fall, we made our way swiftly and purposefully to the other side. Then it was two solid hours of scrambling to the Gouter Hut at a little over 3800 metres. We arrived exhausted at the hut at 7:15. It was crowded with climbers having a quick rest before the main climb. We recovered quickly and after what seemed like seconds, we were roped up and out on the snow. Leaving the hut, the terrain is deceptively flat and gives a slightly false sense of security for what lies ahead. As we snake up the steepening slope crossing through 4000 metres, the effects of altitude are making themselves known. Breathing is laborious and deep and a slight headache arrives. After over two hours of steep snow plodding up and over the Dome de Gouter, we stop for a drink and snack at the Col du Dome at 4255 mtrs. We take the gloves off and although there are sandwiches down in the rucksack, I feel so tired that I just eat the snack food that’s in the top of the bag. Its reckoned that summit day burns 5000 calories and I must have consumed about 2000 calories in chocolate covered muesli bars at this stop. Rucksacks back on and away we go again up an even steeper slope to the emergency shelter hut known as the Vallot hut. The hut is little more than some sheets of Galvanise attached to a frame of sorts, although Im sure it is sturdier than it looks to be able to withstand the winter storms.
This steep climb only takes a little under 45 minutes but with air getting thinner with every step, we arrived here breathing deeply and feeling exhausted. Just as we near the top of the slope under the Vallot Hut, I accidentally dropped my trekking pole and watched helplessly as it slides away down the icy slope. I still had my ice axe so I wasn’t too concerned with the loss of the pole, but it would have been a “nice to have” item for the climb to come.
Maybe its because we could now actually see the summit in the distance 500 mtrs higher but we recover remarkably quick and it surprising how the fleeting thoughts in your head about maybe, just maybe giving up, change, to picturing yourself standing on the summit and thinking, we can do this, lets push on.
Rucksacks and gloves back on and its only then I realise that despite the sunny conditions, how cold it actually is, (minus 18 degrees C we later find out) and the tips of my fingers go through the pain barrier as they come back up to temperature.
From here, the summit is only about 500 metres higher but it takes about 2 hours along the Bosses Ridge, and as we reach the top of the first steep slope I can see why. We cross a high hump before the route drops down sharply and then rises steeply again to cross another hump before narrowing to a ridge only the width of a kitchen table in places with drops either side that offer the careless climber unrestricted passage to either France or Italy depending which side you choose to fall from. Slipping off the mountain here is not on the agenda.
Climbing these undulating ridges is done at the pace that on a normal day out in the Irish Hills would be regarded as painfully slow. I call on physical and mental reserves that I didn’t know I had. I keep telling myself that its just a case of putting one foot in front of the other. I started myself counting my steps. I would count to twenty and then concentrate putting one breath to every two steps for the next twenty then repeating the process all over again rarely looking up from Jimmy’s feet on the ridge in front of me. I keep telling myself that if I can walk twenty steps, then I can walk another twenty steps and so on.
Several times during this last push towards the summit, I ask myself, what on earth I was thinking last year when I came up with the idea of climbing this mountain. A couple of times I ask myself what on earth I was DRINKING when I came up with the idea and also what my Dad Jimmy was thinking/drinking when he agreed to accompany me on the trip. When I did think about doing the trip, I ran it past Jimmy and suggested that we should have a crack at it in 2011 which would give us lots of time to plan and train for the climb. He quickly agreed in principle but said that he would rather attempt it in 2010, as he would like to have it done before his 70th Birthday in March 2011. After that conversation, the wheels were set in motion and now 12 months later, with months of training in the Irish Hills behind us, the hours of mental juggling are nearly over.
Suddenly the Ridge levels off and widens a little and we are standing on the roof of Western Europe at 4810 Metres. Its 1:15 pm.
Because we started our summit day at what would be regarded in Alpine terms a bit late in the day, most of the early climbers are well on their way down and the only people on the summit are the other members of our group along with their guides. After photos and congratulatory handshakes, it is time to start the descent. With the elation of reaching any summit, but especially one as unforgettable as this, it is easy to forget that most accidents on the mountains happen on the way down rather than the ascent. As I now am on the front of the rope, I am mindful of this as I pick my way down that snow that has softened slightly under the afternoon sun. As the saying goes, Getting to the Summit is optional. Getting down safely is essential”.
Despite a few stumbles and a couple of hairy moments when we had to step to the side of the ridge to allow up coming climbers to pass, we made it back down to the Gouter Hut where we again met with the rest of our group and their Guides. I had also picked up my walking pole, which was surprisingly left sticking up in the snow at the bottom of the slope under the Vallot hut.
Another quick drink of water here and it was down the rocks we had climbed in darkness earlier in the day. Coming down the rocks can be fun for some and a nightmare for others. It was fun for us as we enjoy this kind of climbing. We even remarked to the guide that apart from the summit, it was the most enjoyable part of the day. We were back in the comfort of the Tete Rousse hut around 7 O Clock just in time for dinner. The rest of our group who were already seated applauded Jimmy as he came in, and rightly so. Spirits were high and Graham, our Head Guide told us that although he knew that several people over 70 had summitted Mont Blanc, they were people that had a lifetime of technical Mountaineering experience behind them, Jimmy was certainly the oldest person that his company had guided to the Summit.
We enjoyed our meal and when tiredness took over, we retired and slept soundly before setting out the next morning at 7 am on the last leg of our adventure. Meeting up with our Wives at the Cable car station was a special moment for both of us. The sense of what we had achieved only sunk home in the following days and it is a trip that is undoubtedly our “career” highlight so far.
The journey and the people that we met along the way will live long in our memories.
Job done and home safely.
We couldn’t ask for any more than that.
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