Summiting Mont Blanc for the first time

From Chamonix we (my Dad and I) drove to Saint Gervais, left the car there and took the Tramway du Mont Blanc up to Nid D’aigle (2362 m). The tramway was a beautiful hour long trip up the side of the valley, with fantastic views across meadows up the Chamonix valley and up the Glacier de Bionnassay.

From Nid D’aigle we walked 3 hours up to the Te’te Rousse Hut (3167 m), where we had dinner and an early night. The hut was ok, but didn’t have any running water, although you were able to buy bottled water and we treated ourselves to some cake!

We had a 2am breakfast and set off with our head torches across the Grand Couloir, which is notorious for rock fall, but with the recent fresh snow it was held in place better, hence the early start to avoid the snow melt. Then up the ridge to the right of the couloir to the Gouter Hut, where we left some of our kit which we wouldn’t need for the rest of the day, this lessened the weight in our sacks and we were staying at the Gouter Hut that night in descent anyway.

From the Gouter Hut we followed a snow ridge and field with crevasses (a deep crack in an ice sheet or glacier) and seracs (a block or column of ice) towards the Dome du Gouter, which we went around on the NE (left) side, then across the Col du Dome onto the Vallot Hut (this is used as a bivouac refuge in bad weather). From there the snow slope narrows into the Bosses ridge, which had some very steep exposed sections, keeping left of the Rochers de la Tournette onto another narrow ridge leading to the summit!

Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in Europe at 4810m and what a wonderful feeling having made it to the summit for my first time with my Dad, who has climbed it many times before! The weather was absolutely perfect and the views were spectacular! We spent about half an hour sitting on the summit, we took some photos and had a bite to eat, just enjoying the moment and the total peace and quiet! This was my third attempt, previously bad weather and fitness were to blame, but not this time.

The descent to the Gouter Hut was very hot with the sun beating down on us and reflecting off the snow, but the photo opportunities were massive, so we made the most of it. We arrived back at the new Gouter Hut (3835 m) which just opened in July 2013, replacing the old hut. There were two floors of dorms filled with bunk beds and a floor for the dining area. We had a nice dinner, then went to bed and slept a solid 12 hours!

We had a late breakfast at 7am, and after we successfully crossed the Grand Couloir in the cool of the morning, we headed back down to Chamonix for some rest and relaxation in the sun!

UCPA Chamonix 2013 day 7 – last day

A very wet day in Chamonix. I packed up my bags and went for a walk round town and the market, which was as good as ever, it is split into two sections gifts and textiles on one side of the plaza and food on the other.  I bought a few gifts.

Back to UCPA to clean out the room, we had to strip our beds and make them for the next group, take out the rubbish and hoover the room, then downstairs to have some lunch, steak and chips!

My transfer to Geneva airport wasn’t till 5:45pm so I did some more window shopping and went for coffee at Le-Gouthé with my room-mate.

My transfer was quick and my my flight was early, so I got back to Edinburgh in good time.

UCPA Chamonix 2013 day 6 – Grands-Montets

It had stopped snowing during the night, but when we got to Grand Montets at 9, they weren’t open yet, they were blasting the snow to help avoid avalanches, you could hear the explosives going off and echoing down the valley.

We eventually got moving and headed up the chairlift, visibility wasn’t great and it was snowing again. We spent the morning doing some off piste runs beside the piste. Which was good because I had hurt my knee in the wipe out I took yesterday and I wanted to stay on piste as much ass possible.

We took a short late lunch. Then a couple more runs before I decided to finish early and head down because of my knee.

We had our debrief with our instructor in the UCPA bar before dinner. Then I headed to SoulFood to listen to a live band with my room mates and some other guys who had been on courses this week.

UCPA Chamonix 2013 day 5 – Flegere and Brevent

As forecast, it had clouded over again and, as forecast it tipped with heavy snow all day!

We went to Flegere in the morning and worked on technique for skiing in deep power, we pretty much had no other choice! It was heavy going and I began to feel the heavy day I had yesterday. We were all quite wet come lunch so we broke for an hour.

After lunch we headed to Brevent via Liaison and played in the off piste forest beside Tetras, it was hard going and I totally wiped out at one point (twisting my knee…), but it was fun! Then we headed to the very icy black La Breche that I did last thing yesterday, it wasn’t icy any more! But covered in knee deep powder, which was hard going with it being so steep. When we were going down it, the avalanche safety guys were out setting off little avalanches and looking for bigger ones that might go off. A small one went off at the side of the traverse we were going along. It ended up being our last run of the day, we were all wet and some were getting cold.

I went to the swimming pool with a couple of girls from my group. It was really nice to get totally warmed up. I hadn’t been to the pool since I was a child on holiday, it hasn’t changed that much.

Back to UCPA for another lovely dinner and an early night.

It was still snowing hard when I went to bed! Tomorrow is going to be a physical day!

UCPA Chamonix 2013 day 4 – Flegere and Brevent

The forecast was spot on, a clear crisp morning turned into a fantastic sunny day!

We didn’t have an instructor today, so I took myself off to Flegere and Brevent. I skied Flegere for the morning, practicing what our instructor (Antoine) had been telling us the past couple of days, feet apart, feet apart! Knees into the turns and use your “hedges” (his pronunciation of “edges”). Found a new red that had been closed off last season.

I took the liaison over to Brevent for the afternoon. Bumped into a friend from home and skied with them for a few runs. Then I took myself off down a couple more runs that had been closed last year due to avalanche.

The lower slopes were getting quite slushy in the afternoon, so I took the cable car right to the top of Brevent and did the black on the face, I had boarded it last year, so wanted to ski it this year, it was very icy… I made the most of the sunny day an skied till the lifts closed.

Amazing day, absolutely exhausted, early bed!

UCPA Chamonix 2013 day 3 – Les Houches

It was still snowing when I got up. We met at 8:45 and piled onto the UCPA bus to Les Houches. The visibility was a little better, we were skiing in the forest which helped. Red and black runs in the morning working on our carving technique and where we place our body weight.

In the afternoon we skied on black runs, one called Kandahar which had been used for world cup downhill racing in the past, the thought of reaching speeds of 100km an hour flying down the piste is scary… We had a go doing ski cross which was great fun! The snow was really heavy at one point then cleared to blue skies for a short time. We worked on weight transfer some more, skiing with only one ski on, balancing with the other foot in the air. The funniest part was taking the poma lift back up on just one ski!

Changing my boots for a smaller pair was a great move, my feet were snug in the boot now and not moving about giving me blisters!

I felt the burn on my thighs today, which is always a good sign and means I’d been working hard!

Dinner was great again, my room mate and I had gotten a bottle of red wine, to go with the cheeses, very good call! But the dessert was not to be missed, coffee ice cream, I think Chamonix is the the only place I have ever had it!

We went into town for a couple of beers to Chambre Neuf.

Day off for the instructors tomorrow, so we are left to out own devices. The forecast is for a clear sunny day!

UCPA Chamonix 2013 day 2 – Le Tour

Less of a faff this morning as I knew the score. I made my packed lunch before I got my breakfast, so things hadn’t run out, it was a good plan as there was dark chocolate sweets that had all gone the previous morning!

I met my group at the number six sign out front. There were two English girls in the group and 9 others (French, Swedish and Dutch). We took the UCPA bus up to Le Tour and spent the morning sorting out the groups to make sure we were equally matched level wise. I had booked onto the advanced on piste week as I wanted to push my skiing to another level. I didn’t feel the group I was in would be doing that, but as the instructor said, the first day was a bit slower so he could assess each of our levels.

We spent the morning skiing the front of Le Tour and stopped for lunch about 12 for 45mins. Then we went over to Vallorcine for the afternoon and skied red and blue runs. Our instructor was critiquing our skiing technique and we were doing skills and drills. His main point for me was that I skied with my feet too close together, which he said was “old school”, and the style of skiing had now changed. We also tried a small mogul field, which was fun. (I had hire boots which were a bit too big for me and I felt it was affecting how well I skied, aside from the fact they had given my boney feet blisters already…)

It was a complete white out for most of the day with light snow showers (great that fresh snow was falling, as there were a few icy patches still), so the visibility was about 10 meters or so, which made things interesting. We skied till 3:30 when we all got the UCPA bus back to Chamonix. We had a cup of tea and a meeting with our instructor to go over the weeks plans and chat about what we each (we were 9 now) wanted to get out of the week.

I took a walk to the pharmacy for blister plasters… and got a bottle of wine to go with the cheese at dinner time. It was nice walking around Chamonix town again, it has such good memories for me of many happy family trips! I bumped into my roommate Ann-Sophie and we went for a beer before heading back to UCPA for dinner.

Dinner was another buffet feast! The main course was a melt in your mouth lamb, with cous cous and vegetables. The wine went wry well with dinner and the cheese!

It was still snowing when I went to bed! A good sign for tomorrow.

UCPA Chamonix 2013 day 1 – Le Tour

EasyJet flight direct from Edinburgh to Geneva, with a transfer to Chamonix in an hour or so with ChamVan.  Arrived at UCPA to an envelope on the door like at Calluna for late arrivals.  I booked this trip through Action Outdoors.

Two other girls were already in the room, so I got a top bunk, but I have a shelf and light so all is good. Unpacked my stuff into a tall wardrobe (should have taken a padlock…) and put my toiletries into the bathroom, which has two sinks and a shower, toilets across the hall, all clean and tidy. Off to bed.

Day 1: Up at 8am for breakfast, self service in a big dining room downstairs, cereal, yoghurt, fruit, tea/coffee/juice and bread and jam. Next room along was where you made your packed lunch for the day, bread, cheese, cold meat, salad, fruit.

(Have to say, not very well sign posted, I just followed the crowd) Filled out a form at reception to collect ski and bus pass for the week 100€ deposit (don’t remember reading or being told about that). Then it was downstairs for quite a long queue to get my ski equipment. All organised and ready to leave at 10am.

UCPA is very central in Chamonix, so we walked to the bus stop and took the bus to Le Tour, so easy!

It was a cloudy day and the light was flat, good snow coverage with a few icy patches. We (Ann-Sofe a girl from my room who boarded) skied some blue and red runs on the front, then went over to Vallorcine and skied Belle Place (red) for the rest of the day, which was the best run we found. Last run at 4:30 we skied all the way to the bottom station, then jumped straight on the bus back to Chamonix. (Very good bus service in the Chamonix valley).

Good storage rooms for equipment. Way more skiers than boarders (and not very many Brits, haven’t met one yet). Welcome talk at 6pm. Wednesday is our day of no instructor. I looked up my group on the notice board, #6 meeting at 8:30 tomorrow morning. There is entertainment in the bar every night, quiz, karaoke, live music.

Time for a shower (powerful and warm!) then downstairs for dinner in the big dinning room, self service buffet style, loads to choose from and the food was great, starters, mains, cheeses and desserts! Clean up your own plates and wipe down tables after use. We sat in the bar for a bit after dinner, till they started playing a pub quiz, then it was off to bed for me.

Clocher-Clocheton Traverse

Another good mid altitude climbing location is accessed via the Planpraz-Brevent cableway system. Our objective was the traverse of the Clocher Clocheton. Unfortunately a black sky and large thundery raindrops, sent us scuttling off before the Tyrolean pitch. As usual these last few days, the sun reappeared once we had reach terra-firma! Better safe than sorry.

Conditions on the high glacial summits have been poor and windy with some fresh snow underfoot.

Aiguille Rouge Rock

A poor forecast, cloud and winds aloft led to an enjoyable day rock climbing in the Aiguille Rouge. Easily accessed from La Praz via the Flegere/Index cableway system, this area provides an ideal location for an easier day or escape from poor weather.

The obvious climbing is on Aiguille L’Index but a quick look through any local guide book reveals many more possibilities. We climbed on La Grande Floria – Contrefort de droite, which gives a host of sunny bolted climbing in the lower grades (4a – 6a) and the view over the Chamonix valley to the more serious, higher peaks is unrivalled anywhere in the Alps. The climbs can be crowded though!

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