North Wales rock and snow

The idea to climb Mont Blanc came about after Dave and I met up one evening in Ye Old Murrenger House in my home town of Newport. Having lost touch and not climbed together in over fifteen years it was a quick decision. After reminiscing over a few beers, we came up with a plan, which was agreed to take place in seven months. Prior to this, Dave would head north to Snowdonia most weekends, in which we would scramble and climb together on some of the famous classic rock routes in North Wales, to gain the necessary alpine skills. We planned the route and necessary acclimatisation stages to give us the best chance of summiting and booked the mountain refuges before we left for Chamonix, our base for the trip.

Italy and back again…

We arrived at our chalet in Cham in the early hours of the morning due to a delay at the airport. Not the best start to the trip. After a few hours sleep, we are up, out and on our way into the town centre, heading to the Italian side of the Alps to acclimatise overnight. We take the early morning cable car from Chamonix town centre up to the Aiguille du Midi top station at 3842 metres, the thermometer at the top station registers minus nineteen degrees Celsius; it’s bitterly cold with the additional wind chill as we exit the cable car. Twenty minutes later we walk out through the ice tunnel, roped together, passing the photographers into a glorious sunshine filled blue sky and exit through the gate onto the magnificent snow arête, which makes up the Midi East ridge.

Ice axe gripped and crampons fitted we head slowly down the exposed ridge – the Crib Goch traverse we did back in North Wales in full winter conditions is no match for this. From here it’s approximately five hours of walking across the glacial valley (Valle Blanche) towards Italy avoiding the crevasses and passing under seracs. This is easier said than done, as we both have our moments stumbling waist deep into small crevasses.

When we eventually arrive at the Refuge Torino, sunburned and dehydrated we are told there is no reservation! but can stay at the old refuge, this means descending a further 228 steps. The accommodation at the hut is fine, but we have a disturbed night’s sleep due to thunderstorms and the effects of altitude at 3375 metres (1.2kms directly above the MB tunnel). The following morning we ascend the 228 steps for the fourth and final time and head north back towards France and our start point from yesterday, the views are spectacular, but the snow is deeper following last night’s storm and the going is tough. We get back to the snow arête just gone midday and the sun is feeling warm on our backs and the snow is starting to melt, not the best conditions for our ascent. As we start the climb back up we can hear a woman screaming on the descent, obviously not enjoying here first experience on the snow arête; we stand to one side as she passes with her guide holding her tightly on the rope. We head back up & take the cable back down to Cham where we spend the night at a low level of 1000 metres.

On Route to the Refuge de Tete Rousse

The following morning we head out early again, grabbing some freshly baked croissants from our chalet and take the free bus service to Les Houches, and then cable car to Bellevue Station. From here we take the Tramway du Mont Blanc up to the Nid d’Aigle (the eagle’s nest) at 2372 metres, we then head south on foot and pick up a rough rocky path, up the ridge of the Aiguille du Gouter. We pass mountaineers coming back down who have not summited due to bad weather conditions. As the rocky ridge line separating the Griaz and Tete Rousse Glaciers gains height the scenery just gets better and better. After a few hours of scrambling the refuge comes into sight, including several tents that are pitched nearby – we briefly stop to put crampons on to cross the glacier, we are now above the snowline and head in for the night at 3167 metres. Up above in the distance we can just make out the silhouette of the Gouter hut perched high on the cliffs.

Next stop Gouter Hut

The following morning we take a leisurely breakfast whilst we watch the snow storm conditions outside. We weren’t going anywhere until it eases… Four hours later after a conversation with the hut guardian and a phone call to the Gouter hut to ensure there are still beds available for us, we’re off again and heading through the snow, which continues to fall. We scramble up the ridge towards the Grand Couloir and arrive to find a Swiss guide with two clients negotiating their way across. A quick assessment of the amount of snow above suggests that the rock-fall should be minimal so we clip into the metal wire and head across quickly – we don’t stop to Pass Go or collect £200, just unclip, take in coils and continue scrambling up the south side of the ridge to the Aiguille du Gouter. As we gain height the snow underfoot turns to ice, so as a safety precaution we clip into the pre-installed cables, which leads us to the old Gouter hut. The view from here is fantastic, or so we have been told… As we are not blessed with an opportunity for photos today, so push on up a short snow slope to a flattening and then a few minutes later the impressive design of the Gouter hut comes into view at 3815 metres. It looks like it’s bolted to the side of the cliff and should be in a Bond film, the first question that springs to mind: How the f..k did they build that up here ?!

The Waiting Game

When we finally remove our outdoor gear and enter the hut we’re given a warm welcome by the handful of mountaineers already there, we get ourselves squared away in our dorm and head back for an evening meal of soup & pasta. At this point the hut guardian hits us with the bad news that the summit is out of the question tomorrow due to further snow and thunderstorms. So, we just have to wait and pass time by playing cards and working our way through the library of mountaineering literature left behind by previous climbers. The snow storms still do not ease and we are now concerned that we may not have enough time to go on any further and may have to go back down. Eventually twenty four hours later the guardian announces “breakfast will be served at 2 am”. A joyful cheer erupts, the waiting game is over, the summit is game on! The atmosphere in the hut immediately changes to one of excitement, and then urgency, as people begin organising and packing their kit ready for the off.

Monte Bianco (4807m)

It’s nearly half one in the morning when the first person in our dorm starts getting dressed by torch light, clearly trying to be quiet but not succeeding – I’ve not slept a wink due to altitude – within minutes the whole dorm is up and rushing to get ready. We grab something quick for breakfast and kit up in the outer building. It’s a clear night sky, with good visibility and temperatures are below minus twenty as we move out into the darkness up towards the Dome du Gouter.

We soon warm up on the steep slopes as we commence a slow but steady pace, the snow is deep from the recent snow storms making it leg sapping work. As we gain height the wind chill kicks in dropping the temperature further, it’s bitterly cold and my hands are freezing as I only have liners on but we decide not to stop until we reach the emergency Vallot hut. We enter the hut after climbing up a steep snow slope about two and a half hours later, the temperature is minus thirty something, my hands are so cold I struggle to add extra layers and over gloves. Dave helps and then attempts to drink from his water bottle but its frozen solid, my hot drink satisfies our requirements instead. A quick protein bar down the hatch and it’s time to get back outside and head up the exposed snow ridge for the summit. It’s still a tough long slog, in which we are battered constantly by the near gale force winds on the infamous Boissons ridge. At one point we stop and contemplate turning back, thankfully, the dawn sun makes its appearance and immediately the sun has a warming effect making it bearable again. We continue to push on up the exposed ridge to eventually arrive at the summit approximately three and a half hours later. We’re behind our scheduled time so have to cut short our summit celebrations and settle for a hand shake. As we stand on the roof top to Europe and take in the view, reality kicks in, we’re only half way and we have to get back down to the valley before the last tram leaves, as we fly home first thing tomorrow.

It’s all downhill from here

The next few hours involve us moving downhill at a rapid rate of knots, its warmer now as the sun is high above. We pass the Vallot hut and continue towards the Gouter, passing other mountaineers heading up towards the summit, no time to stop we have a train to catch. As we approach the old hut I catch one of my crampons on my goretex trousers sending me flying, face first down a snow slope, I make good use of my ice axe to brake my fall and I lie there laughing hysterically. I struggle to my feet, my legs are feeling heavy now, we’ve been going for about ten hours, it’s a perfect opportunity to remove layers and eat before continuing our descent towards the grand couloir. The ridge is still icy so we clip to the steel ropes and continue downwards carefully heading towards the grand couloir, when we arrive its almost midday and the risk from rockfall is much higher than on the way up as the snow above is already melting. We decide to leg it across this time and do not bother clipping to the cable, this proves to be a good choice as we shave minutes off the return crossing. On the other side the descent it’s mostly rock and scree scrambling so we remove crampons and push on until we arrive at the Tete Rousse. We’ve made good time, from here it’s about another  two hours to the tramway, we should make it before the last tram departs…..