Mont Blanc conquers its climbers

 

Attempting Mont Blanc

 

Almost a month ago Bermudian Resident Martin Williamson and his wife Kim, departed the 21-square-mile island to cramp-on his kit for mountain climbing. He had been training all summer. Unfortunately Mont Blanc was not as keen for this team filled with mostly women to make it’s way up the mountain. Avalanches sent the team back down, but not without feeling accomplished. In his second installment of How to Climb a Mountain Martin tells his tale:

The Unsuccessful Continuation

After our arrival at Geneva airport on the 17^th of September our friend was there to meet us and drive back to Combloux just under an hour away. The rest of the team comprising friends Lesley Jane and Helen were due to arrive the next day.

I was in the lucky (?) position of climbing with and all girl team and a female guide, so no testosterone charged posturing necessary but I did need to make sure I wasn’t dragging too far behind. Guide Isabelle called us on Saturday to tell us that she wouldn’t be accompanying us (as she had a filming commitment for the BBC that had overrun) and had delegated the guide job to her husband Rick, this made me feel a little less out numbered.

We all met in the car park at the base of the Aguille de Midi Cable car at 10am. for a kit check, this usually involves the guide throwing out most of the things you thought you needed and reducing pack weights by half then looking at everyone’s footwear and making tut tutting noises. The weight reduction wasn’t considered necessary as we had agreed to make the attempt on the summit from the Cosmiques refuge and return to the same refuge afterwards, this enables even more cheating by dumping overweight kit at the refuge during the summit attempt.

After assuring Rick that all our boots would take some form of crampon we crowded onto the 10:30 Cable car for the Aguille. I have to admit to a feeling of some smugness getting on the cable car full of tourists in jeans, with a team of serious looking climbers with ice axes and ropes dangling from every pack strap. The tourists snapping photos don’t know that I have no more idea about mountain climbing than they do.

 

Martin showing his Bermuda pride (even if it's backwards!)

 

We had already decided to modify our plan to walk to the Torino refuge by taking the Helbronner gondola to the Italian side of the Glacier du Geant and walking to some of the local peaks then staying at the Torino refuge before we walked back to the Cosmiques refuge to rest up before our attempt on the summit. The change in plan was due in some part to the exit from the Aguille de midi on to the glacier. There is a small cave cut through the rock which exits to the North side of the Aguille onto a shoulder that descends for about 100metres to an open plateau. Normally this shoulder is about 2 meters wide and despite sheer drop offs either side it feels quite secure. Due to recent weather the shoulder was barely a foot’s width and Rick decided that going down it was too scary (for us not him!). We of course had to come back up this shoulder after our climb but going up is not as scary as down.

Amazingly in the winter season (when the snow has built up a nice path) this same exit leads onto the famous ‘Valley Blanche’, an off piste glacier ski route that thousands of skiers enjoy every year. I have (with crowds of other skiers) walked down the same shoulder with ski boots on and skis on my shoulder.

The Hellbronner gondola whisked us over the Glacier du Geant and into the Torino station where thick Italian hot chocolate was waiting to welcome us. Even if you are not into mountaineering the cable car system from Chamonix to Courmayeur (Italy) is a great day out, but the Helbronner link across from France to Italy (and back) is only open in the summer, in fact the day (19^th September) we used the Helbronner was the last day it was running in 2010.

After the chocolate stop we ventured onto the glacier (the exit from the Italian side is a doddle), clambered into our harnesses and roped up as a team of 5. I think I mentioned before that the guide ratio for summit attempts is 2 climbers per guide but for glacier walking one guide is happy to take 4 guests. In fact given that the main danger on the glacier is disappearing down a crevasse 5 per team is better than 3.

We tried out our crampons and ice axes by climbing the gentle slopes around the Petit Flambeau a minor peak at 3440mts on the glacier du Geant. Crampons are fantastic inventions that enable slide free walking on ice and snow; amazingly they also work well on granite and crystalline rocks offering purchase in the most unbelievable tiny nicks in the rock. The downside is that you have to walk like John Wayne in order to avoid snagging the inside of your pants or the straps of your gaiters with the inner blades of the crampon.

We were well under 1000mts below the summit height for Mont Blanc but the altitude was telling and we all we huffing and puffing like the big bad wolf. The weather was perfect with a clear blue sky and temperatures well into the teens centigrade in the sun.

After an enjoyable day messing about on the glacier we trekked off to the Torino refuge. Because it was late in the season the newer (but colder and draftier) large building was closed and we had to descend a huge underground stair well to get to the old refuge. This refuge is attached to the arrival station of the Courmayeur cable car.

The dining room is tiny and we crammed in with about 20 other climbers. The toilet facilities in all refuges leave something to be desired but the Torino refuge takes the biscuit. From the communal dorm on the second floor you have to walk down two flights of stairs through the dining area, outside past the cable car arrival area and into the toilets. When you get there it’s a hole in the ground! So lots of incentive not to drink too much before bed.

At 3,300mts altitude sleeping is fitful at best but despite a full dorm which usually means lots of noise, we

 

The Team!

 

managed a few hours rest.

The next day (Monday) we set off for the Cosmiques refuges back across the glacier du Geant towards France. We were beginning to acclimatise and get the hang of walking John Wayne style to avoid crampon snags.

En route our second guide (Stuart Macdonald) joined us on the glacier and Stuart and Rick started plotting an exciting route back to the refuge. The Cosmiques is perched on a granite ridge affectionately named after the lady who runs the refuge, ‘L’arrette de Lolo’. It’s a sinch for a real climber to scramble up to the spine along the ridge and arrive dramatically at the refuge climbing over the open sun terrace. However I’m not a real climber. I still don’t know why I didn’t opt for the easy route up the snow field to the front door. All three of my companions had more climbing experience than me and they happily scrambled along the rocks apparently oblivious to the 1,000mt drop to our left.

Of course the guides had us securely roped and I tested the integrity of the rope when my crampons didn’t stay in the tiny crack in the granite that everyone promised they would. Fortunately I was dangling over a mere 50mt drop on the glacier side not the sheer face I mentioned earlier. After all my more dexterous companions had made it effortlessly over the same section we arrived at the refuge in time for hot soup and, in my case a shot of genepi. The local herbal (alcoholic) cure-all.

The Cosmiques refuge is comparative luxury, a veritable 5star refuge with flushing toilets and running (though not hot) water. I thought that this was because it was close to the Aguille de Midi cable car, but guide Rick assured us that most refuges are now supplied by helicopter as the speed of supply enables them to charge just 1€ per kilo delivered.

We didn’t need a helicopter as Stuart had kindly dragged a huge pic-nic up the cable car (and down the scary shoulder from the Aguille) which we all dived into with gusto. In addition to the picnic Stuart had brought a light weight back pack for Lesley (as her frame pack was deemed too heavy) plus an assortment of fleeces and gear that various members of our team had forgotten.

We managed a few hours of fitful napping during the afternoon woken later by a team of paragliders who were hoping to fly off the top of Mont Blanc tomorrow morning.

Dinner at 7:00 pm was hastily dispatched followed by ‘Happy Birthday’ to Rick and wonderful cake that Stuart had brought in his bottomless back pack. I think the candles were easier to blow out at this altitude!

By 8:30 we were all in bed and fortunately our paragliding dorm companions were too, so a few hours rest was on the cards. We planned to have breakfast at 1:00am and be under way by 2:00 but the paragliders were up at midnight and so were we.

The refuge staff are either angels or insomniacs, they provide breakfasts at 1:00, 4:00 and 7:00 am., in addition to lunch and dinner. Amazingly they all seem to stick with the job for years and some of them transfer from one refuge to another.

After a high calorie breakfast we started to panic with packs, clothes, head lights and crampons.

Fortunately our guides had insisted that we had everything packed the night before and we only needed to put on extra clothes (you sleep with most of your clothes on in the refuge) boots and crampons (outside).

We were in such a flap by the time we ventured out that the chill air at 2:00am didn’t seem too cold, crampons were duly cramped, straps checked and we were off.

We could see the faint glow of head lights from a couple of parties ahead of us and one other party was starting about the same time as us. It was a perfect night, not a cloud in the sky, and not too cold, the lights of Chamonix twinkled 3 kilometers beneath us.

As I mentioned the guide ratio for the summit is 2 climbers per guide and we had already decided that our teams would be Jane and Helen with Rick and Lesley and I with Stuart.

The key to making it to the top of Mont Blanc is to set a pace that you can maintain all the way (5 to 6 hrs.), that is quite difficult because there is an overwhelming desire to set off at a trot which would end exhaustion after a couple of hours. Once again our guides made sure that we were pacing ourselves and this was helped by the fact that we soon reached the steep face that climbs towards Mont Blanc du Tacul (a lower rocky peak that we pass to the west en route).

 

Trying to scramble up the mountain!

 

Since the last snow about 5 days ago teams had already forged a path on this face but they had climbed straight up it rather than forming a less tiring zigzag route, in parts we were making full use of our ice axe and the toe spikes of our crampons. This area is prone to crevasses and one had already been bridged using a normal aluminium ladder. Fortunately we couldn’t see much of the gaping hole by the head lights feeble glow.

As we reached the ‘Epaule (the shoulder) du Mont Blanc du Tacul’ the terrain flattened out relative to what we had just climbed and we trudged over towards the Col Maudit. At this point we had the first inkling that something was wrong as we saw the lights of teams ahead of us coming back from the Mont Maudit towards the col.

As we arrived in the slight depression of the col we met up with out paragliding friends who had followed a rather high route under the west face of Mont Maudit. They had triggered a small avalanche which had not caused a major slide but had indicated potential for a slab avalanche in this area. By now several teams had turned back and we had a discussion group of about 30 people on the col. Our guides chopped at the snow, recreated a large slab, estimated it’s thickness and debated the situation, after much deliberation they decided it was prudent to turn back. The consolation prize was a quick conquest of Mont Blanc du Tacul en route.

It was about 5am and still dark thank goodness when Lesley Stuart and I climbed the peak. Thank goodness because the rocky top is quite exposed and I realized that I was once again out of my climbing league. A quick photo on the top and we scurried down before the queue of other disappointed climbers arrived.

On the way back to the refuge Rick and Stuart decided to forge a new zigzag route on the steep face below the Epaule. Forging a route in new snow is quite tiring so doing it going down is easier that going up. The decent added some excitement to the day as we had to jump a couple of crevasses after Stuart had made sure we were securely belayed from a buried ice axe.

We arrived in brilliant sunshine under the refuge at about 7am, Stuart and Rick kindly trudged up to the refuge to recover the stash of equipment we left behind to lighten out load, while we munched on cereal bars and cursed the mountain.

Our ordeal was not over yet as we still had to get back to the Aguille de Midi Cable car and we had all but forgotten the knife edge ridge to get back to civilization. By now there was a stream of climbers coming down from the cable car to take advantage of the perfect weather. This lulled me into a false sense of security about the state of the ridge.

Once again my companions’ superior climbing experience paid off as they all trotted happily up the two boot wide snowy shoulder while I crept along in a permanent stoop with my ice axe permanently stabbed into the snow and my eyes fixed on Lesley’s boots in front of me.

Finally after the longest 10 terrifying minutes of my life we made it to the cave entrance of the cable car and safety.

During a hearty lunch in Chamonix we all embellished the story of our defeat so that by the time we got home the whole party had been swept away in an avalanche and we were lucky to be alive.

Thanks to my excellent companions Lesley Jane and Helen and of course our guides without whom none of this would have been possible.

If you fancy an attempt at Mont Blanc you can contact Rick here and Stuart here.

How to climb a mountain

It’s not easy. It’s not a walk in the park, but Martin Williamson can’t quite stop climbing. His next attempt? Mont Blanc! The Bermudian resident has been trying to find ways to train on an Island that just does not have mountains….how does he do it? How does he climb a mountain?

Martin:

I thought it was a near death experience, but the tunnel of kaleidoscopic light was the afternoon sun reflecting on the poser mirrors in the gym, refracted by the sweat dripping into my eyes. I vaguely remember when I was a lot younger that running up the down escalator seemed like fun but this torturous stair machine (which is a mini down escalator) is about as much fun as being beaten with a cactus.

However in the absence of any local mountains it appeared to be the best preparatory training for climbing Mont Blanc available in Bermuda. Perhaps South Shore to Gibbs Hill lighthouse would be a close second but you can’t watch the ‘Food Network’ there.

Planning to arrive in France on the 17^th of September and going to 3,500mts altitude on the 19^th wasn’t one of my better decisions. I have climbed Mont Blanc before but never with such little local preparation.

A previous ascent of Mont Blanc

At 4,810 Meters above sea level Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in the European Union, although Russia’s Mount Elbrus at 5,642mts is now acknowledged as the highest in Europe. Two routes on Mont Blanc are not ‘technical’ meaning they don’t require any real climbing ability. However it’s better if you don’t suffer from vertigo and can trudge uphill for 6hrs without much of a break.

In the area of Haute Savoie surrounding Mont Blanc there are plenty of smaller peaks in the area that offer safe training routes, thought to experience the thin air over 3000mts you really need to get above the summer snow line. Unfortunately my schedule this year won’t allow for that so going up the down escalator is the answer.

The altitude is the real challenge on Mont Blanc trudging up 2,000mts of vertical ascent over 10km is relatively easy if you start at sea level, but at 3,000mts the thin air provides only 71% of the oxygen available at sea level and at 4800mts that falls to 57%.

Interestingly the cabin pressure of a commercial airliner is about the same as 2000mts above sea level which provides only 80% of the normal oxygen level and explains why you feel so bad after a long flight, or perhaps it’s the alcohol!

There are two ‘tourist’ routes up Mont Blanc, so called because they are relatively easy, but there are serious ‘technical routes too. The tourist routes involve some cheating either by taking the ‘Tramway de Mont Blanc’ from St Gervais  which takes you to the Nid d’aigle (the eagles nest) at 2,500mts and walking from there via the Gouter route (the west face of the mountain).  Or by taking the cable car from Chamonix to the Aguille du Midi at 3,800mts. As you will have calculated the second route provides more cheating (in terms of altitude) than the first. Fortunately our trip in September is up via the Aguille du Midi, (although this route does present more technical challenges) and down via the Gouter.

A few years ago you could pick up your guide in either town hop on your chosen method of transport to base

Martin (on the left) is training to be back in this position...on a Mountain.

camp and have a shot at the summit early the next morning. Usually with an attempt at sleep in a refuge from 2pm to 2am the next day. These days under guise of acclimatization the guides are insisting on 2 days (above 3000mts) before the attempt on the summit. It all smacks of a money spinning ruse to me. However they do call the shots, because I wouldn’t want to be up there without a guide.

The mountain refuges are quite remarkable with the highest (Refuge du Gouter) supplied only by helicopter. The idea of refuges arose in the 19^th century when wealthy Victorians became addicted to Alpine activities. The Alpine clubs that formed in the major villages started to construct refuges as base camps for summit attempts and as a bolt hole in the event of bad weather.

The refuges vary in comfort level usually depending on height or proximity to a cable car. In general the lower the refuge the more comfortable and the better the food, with the exception of high refuges like ‘Le Cosmiques’ which despite being at 3,600mts it is comfortable and has good food because it’s about 15minutes walk from the top of the Aguille de Midi cable car.

So our plan is to take the Aguille de Midi cable car from Chamonix in the morning of Sunday the 19^th of September, from the top of the cable car we will walk across the Glacier du Geant (the Giant’s glacier) to the ‘Torino’ refuge just over the Italian border. This is only 5 or 6 km but all on glacier at about 3,500mts altitude so we will all be roped together to make sure no one disappears down a crevasse. We stay a night at the ‘Torino’ refuge then walk back to the ‘Cosmiques’ for the second night, then off to the summit at 2am the next morning.

Glaciers are rivers of ice and snow and they ‘flow’ downhill very slowly (speeds vary from 1 metre per day up to 30mts per day). Crevasses form due to differing speeds of ice flow and variations in the underlying topography. They are often covered with a snow bridge that can sometimes give way, so preventing members of the party going down the hole is a major consideration when walking on glaciers.

The equipment check list is another important part of tackling any mountain however modest; you don’t want to have to go back down because you forgot your sunglasses!

The clothing doesn’t have to be expensive but it does have to be layered and synthetic. Temperatures can vary from well below freezing to 60 to 70^oF in the sun and trudging uphill always means sweating, all the clothes have wick moisture away from your body and stay dry.

I have a mish mash of gear that I have put together which I find works for me, it doesn’t look very fashionable but it is comfortable.

How to get here!

Of course the most important part of the kit list is footwear, including socks, boots and crampons. It’s amazing how painful one tiny blister can be. I even apply preventative band aids (plasters) to my heels to stop the blisters before they start. Proper climbing boots have a rigid sole to take a non flexible crampon, which is crucial for climbing sheer faces or ice walls. However I find rigid soled boots very uncomfortable. Fortunately there is a hybrid solution which involves a semi rigid sole and a flexible crampon. This combination wouldn’t work for ice climbing but our route doesn’t involve any sheer faces (thank goodness)

Other unusual items of kit include a harness to tie the rope to, an ice axe which has a multitude of uses, including walking stick, step cutting tool and braking system in the event of a slide. The helmet provides protection against falling rocks or ice and toping it off a flashlight on the helmet enables you to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. The flashlight does have another job which is lighting your way at 3am in the morning. In the summer months conditions become more dangerous as the day progresses and the snow starts to melt so most guides start the climb to the summit at 2 or 3am to maximize the amount of time spent on frozen snow. This also means that you reach the summit around dawn which is spectacular.

Well that’s about all for now on the preparation side of things, I’d better get back to the treadmill, I wonder how many steps there are in 1500metres?

To be continued………………………………………………..