This past week, the “Matterhorn Boys” were back in town. This time the mission was to climb “the big one” – Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe (don’t mention Elbrus).
And how hard could it actually be? Having climbed the Matterhorn, off-season peaks in Arolla and various training weekends in the UK, Mont Blanc would surely be a box ticking exercise – a good peak to have bagged before more technical peaks again in the future. It’s just a walk, right?
So, at the beginning of our four day programme we found ourselves at the bottom of the Midi lift in Chamonix. The boys had spent one night already at 2800m, and we had two days to get practiced and acclimatized before the Blanc. The weather was a little average and we wanted technical ground, so with fellow Mountain Guide Matt Stygll the six of us headed across the Midi plateau in the cloud and traversed Pointe Lachenel, with a mixture of snow and rain testing our waterproofs. In the Cosmiques refuge that night we dined and talked of future plans and mountains and swapped stories, with Matt and myself talking about the first time we had met, bivouacking below the north face of the Doites before climbing the Ginat route the following day.
For our following day, we had planned on climbing the super Chamonix classic “Cosmiques Arete”. It dawned as murky as the day before but as we cramponed up the initial slopes the cloud level dropped revealing the mountains for the first time on the trip. We were in front of the crowds from the lift and we took our time, enjoying the exposure and climbing. Three hours flew past and we were on top of the Midi lift again, getting our photos taken by the tourists.
An hour later we were drinking beers and eating burgers whilst talking Mont Blanc plans. Various hut options were discussed, and then the Bivouac option came up. What had sounded completely bizarre the night before was strangely appealing now, perhaps the beer and sunshine had taken a toll on the mental processes down in the valley….
We left the tram the next afternoon with slightly heavier rucksacks than normal, but we had gone pretty light. This was going to be a proper bivi – no sleeping bags or tents for us. A little roll matt to sit on was the only luxury allowed. We were mentally prepared for a sit down bivi out in the open, and we were just curious to check out the small hut an hour from the train. It turned out to have a couple of bunks, a bench and best of all it was empty.
It was a bit lower down the mountain than we could have slept, but the comfort was well worth the extra effort the following day. We fired the stoves up and ate like kings – teas, soup, pasta and a chocolate dessert. Stuffed. Eight o’clock was bed time, and the alarm went off four hours later at midnight for “breakfast”.
The next five hours passed in a blur of scrambling, glaciers, banter and for some, jet-assisted mountaineering. There was even bursts of singing at one point (thanks Rob). A quick stop at the Gouter hut for a drink and extras layers before climbing the slopes of the Dome du Gouter in the strong wind was appreciated, as it was getting quite cold.
We made excellent progress and passed the vallot hut in good time. The altitude and long ascent was taking it’s toll now, and the boys were having to dig very deep to fight the lack of sleep and physical exertion from the ascent. The height gain from the bivouac hut to the summit was 2000m, a very long was in anyone’s book.
Just over seven hours after setting off we stood on the summit, everyone massively chuffed to have arrived! Determination and a team psyche that was impressive, had helped all four to the summit, something that would have been much harder had they been climbing solo….
Now it was time for the long descent. Legs were tired and there was a long way to go. Another quick stop at the gouter hut with an expensive round of cokes revived some energy before the downhill scramble. Having got this out of the way it was a hot walk to the train station and a final sit down.
Thirteen and a half hours round trip, including stops. Definitely not “just a walk” and “miles harder than the Matterhorn”. Nice one lads, and see you next year 🙂
p.s. – Some great photos from Matt above, there’s a mixture of mine as well – but the good ones are Matts 🙂
