| JTrogar6. 09. 2016 18:02:36 |
My friend Andrej has been persuading me for a while to go to Mont Blanc. So the tour started last week on Wednesday, when we barely fitted all the stuff for the trip into the car. We traveled there through Mont Blanc Tunnel (tolls 104.7€). In Chamonix we parked at the parking lot by Route Blanche where they have quite decent toilets too. After a walk through Chamonix, after an abundant dinner we slept in sleeping bags by the car. Breakfast on Thursday morning we also prepared very varied and abundant. With the gondola (58.50€) we then went up to the famous Aiguille du Midi (3842m). It was the first time for my friend, so the sightseeing of this wonder lasted and lasted. Then we geared up and, roped, descended to the plateau below, crossed it and climbed to the Cosmiques hut (3613m), where we slept (42€ with breakfast, 65€ with dinner and breakfast). For breakfast at one o'clock there were nine of us, but only four started. Us two and two Germans. I mostly stayed awake the night, as altitude hit me harder than usual. Andrej slept all night like a baby. The night was cold so the snow froze just right for pleasant walking. Descent to the plateau and walk to the foot of Mont Blanc du Tacul (4248m) warmed us just right for the attack on it. We managed the flank on Tacul quite well, and the night helped a bit. Towards the summit it started blowing quite strongly so my toes and fingers started freezing. I was thinking if it gets worse it won't be much good. Andrej later told me the cold had bitten into his bones properly there too. Followed descent to the col between Tacul and Mont Maudit. There in the dark we almost tripped over someone in a sleeping bag. Then the hardest and most dangerous part of the tour awaited us, ascent to Mont Maudit (4465m). In the evening the local guide in the hut warned us about huge seracs above the foot of Mont Maudit, which have already claimed lives this year. Just as we approached the foot, something big broke off and crashed down with a loud roar. If we had been a few minutes faster it could have been fatal. We were in a dilemma what to do. Now the mountain will surely give peace for a while and with accelerated steps I started crossing under the threatening seracs. The trail was still visible to the avalanche debris, across big lumps of ice and snow we continued by instinct. On the other side in the dark I didn't find the trail right away. Luckily at the end of the headlamp beam I spotted windblown footprints that nicely led us back to the trail and safer terrain by the seracs. Meanwhile a wonderful morning dawned. Just below the summit of Maudit we had to tackle a completely vertical ice flank, where fixed ropes were a great help. From Maudit we spotted the slope to the Mont Blanc summit. The summit didn't look far at all, but there were still many steps and stops to it. Andrej had no altitude problems, but it forced me to more frequent stops. It's all in the head, I told myself and stubbornly crawled to the top of the White Mountain (4810m). Congratulations and a hug were the first things we, all excited, did on top. Then Andrej stuck the Slovenian flag, which he had hidden as a surprise in his backpack. We enjoyed a long time, all excited, in the magical panorama from the top. Followed descent. Already on the ascent we agreed not to tempt fate again by crossing under seracs, so we descended the other side. Descent to the Goutier hut seemed like a real walk compared to the ascent. In the hut, shock. Since we were a bit late for the train, we decided to overnight there (night 80.75€, dinner 30€, breakfast 15€, water 1.5l 6€). I didn't dine as my stomach was still not working properly. But for breakfast I had a wolf's appetite and ate for three. Surprisingly the altitude hit Andrej only here and he could barely eat anything. In the morning we descended to the upper station of Tramway du Mont Blanc, where chamois entertained us during the walk. While waiting for the train we sunned ourselves and enjoyed the view. Ride with the rack railway (31.80€) to Le Fayet in the valley is also a special experience. From there still by train (5.60€) back to Chamonix. There we showered and treated ourselves to a proper feast prepared by ourselves. Parking cost us 43€ for 69 hours. Home we returned through the Swiss wine canton Valais and there almost got stuck in some wine cellar. Over the mountain pass Simplon (2006m) we then crossed to Italy and past Milan home. Through Switzerland we drove on regional roads, in Italy again on the AC and spent almost 70€ less on tolls back.
Demanding, very nice long tour, full of wonderful impressions that awaken a bit different view on mountains and world in a person.
Best regards and safe steps to all from under beautiful Golts, Janez
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