Mera Peak News & Events
Mont Blanc Training and Ascent
Training Diary | June 2007
A week of Ice Climbing, Abseiling, Belaying, Rope work and General Altitude Training
Well, what an interesting week that was!
Arrived in Chamonix at the Hotel Du L'Arve pretty much in the centre of town on Saturday 16th. Met up with Denis Crabiere and two further members of the team, Mike Jones from Somerset and Raj Gupta from Essex. After a quiet evening of organizing we met the following morning to go to Le Tour and up to the Albert Premiere Hut for Sunday night, this is approximately 2900m and gave us a good insight into the way that altitude effects you.
Below is a view from the top of Tete Blanche at approximately 3400m.
As we were walking up I found myself always tempted to walk faster rather than the heel to toe pace we had assumed, but, Denis "Mountain Goat" Crabiere soon reeled us in and we maintained the H2T pace! Good job we had a guide too - see below - "Which way guys?"
| Chamonix Statue | Mike | Raj | Denis (The Guide!) |
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As for altitude see what it does to the crisps!
| Hotel Du L'Arve | Tete Blanche |
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The same bag of crisps and I must admit I did feel a little fatter at the top.
After a night at the Albert Premiere Hut we descended to the Hotel and then prepared for our main trip up to Tete Rousse and The Gouter Hut and then on to Mont Blanc itself.
| This was the view of Mont Blanc from our Hotel room. From left to right Mont Blanc with a cloud cap on going down to the Bosses Ridge then up to the Gouter Dome and midway down the next slope the Gouter Hut behind the rock outcrop. |  |
| This was en-route to the Tete Rousse Hut at 3000m or so. |  |
| Eh Voilá - the Tete Rousse - very welcome at this stage after walking for about four hours! |  |
| The "Grand Couloir" - accounts for 10-12 deaths per year - if you look carefully you can see several climbers on the ridge on their way up. |  |
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Our mountain goat! - doing some homework! Denis Crabiere An excellent guide. |
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Once we got to the Gouter Hut the climate changed quite dramatically as within an hour of us arriving a thunderstorm rolled over us and the winds picked up considerably. The forecast for the summit was a SW wind at 70kmh @ 4000m so the summit attempt looked bleak.
The following morning our fears were confirmed and there would be no smmit attempt. So we prepared for our descent to the Tete Rousse. The first teams departed only to arrive back 15 minutes later with concerned looks on their faces! The wind was considered a little dangerous for a descent at this time. So we waited for an hour or so and the conditions actually got worse!
But still time a for a few pictures.
| The guides looking a little concerned with the descent! |  |
| Mike with his T-Shirt |  |
| Lee with the MND Flag |  |
| Erm, shall we go? |  |
We eventually left and took some 2.5-3 hours to get down and eventually made it back to Chamonix and a few beers!
This photo is for Mike as he seemed to take a distinct liking to this creature - amazing what altitude will do!
Top Tips to date.
1. Ear Plugs - these are an absolute must if you are to sleep at all in the huts. They block out snoring, farting, people getting up for a wee every 3o minutes, thunderstorms, rucksacks falling over, amazing little creations and well worth their weigh in gold!
2. Vasaline - place on the eyebrows to stop sweat dripping off onto the inside of your glasses which can be very disturbing if you are relying on your vision to place your next footstep whilst crossing the Grand Couloir!
3. Get over your fear of heights before you go! Grand Couloir - enough said really!
Here is a link to a clip of us crossing the Couloir - pretty fierce!
