Any ideas what I did wrong here?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euFhmLI ... e=youtu.be

The above vid shows my 2nd and 3rd days of acclimatisation for an ambitious late season attempt on Mont Blanc on days 6 & 7 of the week. On day 1 I simply spent the entire day in the Aguille du Midi complex after taking the first car up and the last one down. I did a bit of jogging around up there, in between cups of coffee! I felt good, it was a great start. Then this mini expedition, spending one night at the hut before coming back down again seemed a next logical step. However, the storm came in and I got no sleep whatsoever, warm enough for safety but not enough to sleep. The next day I suffered exhaustion trying to get back up to the station, and only just made it. It seems I have not cracked this acclimatisation business yet. As a result I cancelled Mont Blanc, in view of the amount of snow around, crevasses everywhere (a monster of one even 20 metres from Cosmiques), and the implication that I would not have been able to look after myself in a solo attempt, if I had such trouble so 'low down' (relatively speaking). Frustrating, because there was a great window of clear weather forecast for later in the week, and unbelievably I felt recovered very quickly once I was down in the valley. However, I reckoned the Gouter Dome (the summit route i intended) would have been lethal for crevasses, and the danger of exhaustion from deep snow once again. Instead I went home, removed myself from the temptation, preferring to have my family see me alive again. I was badly spooked to be honest, at one point thinking I could not get back up to the Aguille, but nor did I want to backtrack and spend another night at the hut with no sleep again and getting even weaker, not to mention lack of food. I was damned near utterly trapped there, and would have had to beg for the ignominy of a helicopter rescue.

It sounds like you increased your sleeping elevation too rapidly. I've never been on Mont Blanc but I gather there is a refuge du plan de l'Aiguille at a lower elevation than the one you stayed at. If you were to one or two nights there before trying to sleep at the higher refuge, you would probably be fine.

I'm interested in what elevation you're experienced with? Some folks just don't do well and sometimes it can hit out of nowhere. Seems to me like spending the day on the du Midi and sleeping back in town then heading back up should have been enough for that elevation.

unbelievably I felt recovered very quickly once I was down in the valley

Au contraire..completely believable.

i would be spending 3-4 nights not days at 3,500 m before trying to climb to 4,800 m

spending the day on the du Midi and sleeping back in town then heading back up should have been enough for that elevation.

I thought so too. I've come to the conclusion sleep is not to be underestimated, at least to get an hour or two. The muscles and brain just do not recover otherwise. Also, I think the energy the body spends keeping warm (even though you may not be aware of it) is significant. I was warm enough for comfort in the night, but not enough to sleep. Also, as Norris says, it was probably a bit soon for a night out there. Nevertheless, I would have been okay if the snow wasn't so deep, and the cold night factor. I probably should have dusted myself down and got back out there, in a day or two. The original plan was a good one. I could have been on top of Mont Blanc this very day having done a 'stunning' October ascent solo, on the other hand I could be laying dead in the snow or in a crevasse. It just goes to show it's all about details and decisions, and you have to make the call that feels right at the time.

@ Norris, there is indeed a hit at Plan de l'Aiguille at 2500 metres. I decided that was a waste of time, as altitude has barely kicked in there so no different to sleeping in the hotel in town.

Going solo, I think you did the right decision. A section of the ridge going down from Auguille Midi had collaped while we were on the glacier this summer. You can still see some of the gap from the video.

The saying goes "climb high, sleep low". This was our first training/altitude climb for the season, and we walked over the glacier and did the Pointe Lachenal traverse. On our way back up to Aiguille du Midi I felt completely knackered - I was fine for the whole traverse, but I guess it was the total physical strain and the time spent at altitude. Quite happy to get up to the station and down to Chamonix for a good nights sleep. We slept down in Chamonix most nights, and spent our days up from 3500-4000. Allready on climb#2 i felt much better.

I am sorry to hear that you had such a rough experience on Mont Blanc. I was there last year (2016) and can attest to how wonderful it is (when weather, route, conditions, & one's fitness are lined up). That gets me to my comment... how physically fit were you before you went down to France? There is very little one can do in England or Oregon to simulate 4500m but I believe that boosting one's general fitness is a great first step. I climbed Mont Blanc via the Italian Normal Route and found that marathon/running training and triathlon training did help with the entire experience. If a climber is at their physical/muscular/cardio-vascular limit, the added stress of altitude on the body can simply be too much.
Cardio-vascular fitness isn't a cure for altitude issues but at least it takes one major problem off the table. And I can commiserate with you, I was hurting as we reached the summit. I was climbing with German friends who were not only in great shape but also well acclimated. They liked to push the pace. I, on the other hand, had only spent one day at the Rifugio Gonella. That was a sufferfest to be sure. But I think the Ironman and marathon training did help me survive that summit day (we needed 6.5 hours to the summit and 4.5 hours back to Gonella).

p.s. I think you were very smart to not push a solo attempt if you weren't feeling well. That is a recipe for disaster, especially if you are climbing the mountain out of season.