Monday: Meet Jez and Andy in Chamonix. With the help of a few beers, the final logistic preparations are settled.
Tuesday and Wednesday: Acclimatizing at ref. du Cosmiques and La Vallee Blanche producing lots of red blood cells!
Thursday: Departure on the first morning cable car up to Plan de l’Aiguille. From there, four pleasant hours crossing glaciars to the magnificent refuge des Grands Mulets at 3000m.
Friday, 24 April 2009: A long day ahead of us with a perfect weather forecast, only a strong wind could ruin our experience! Set off at 2:20 a.m. with skinned skis. Other 40 alpinists are moving in the same direction, but this is not a race! We follow the route to the Dôme du Goûter, the one to Gran Plateau is exclusively for the descent, given the dangerous seracs! We continue climbing until 4:30 a.m. when we exchange skis for crampons, cursing our frozen hands and feet. It’s -16º, but at least there is no wind, yet... |
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...and can enjoy the fantastic alpine sunrise with a timid heatless sun to the refuge Vallot. There we abandon our skis and begin the slow procession toward the summit, now accompanied by a super strong wind. A helicopter even manages to rescue of an exhausted alpinist found vagabonding around the Vallot!
A few more hours of exhausting bitter cold climbing, as the ridge leads us to the solitary mountain peak… We've made it! Olé, Olé and Olé!! Only a few words, two photos, more cold and lots and lots of happiness... well done, Jez and Andy!
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