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Andy,
Cecilia, Todd, and I caught the 5:40pm TGV train from Paris to Geneva,
and arrived on time at 9:15pm. Andy had arrived earlier in the week
from Iowa, and Todd had arrived earlier that day from Houston. Kirby
flew from Moscow directly to Geneva, and met us at the train station.
We rented a small station wagon and loaded our gear into the trunk and
onto the roof. We were prepared for a variety of climbing conditions
(e.g. ice, snow, rock) and other activities (e.g. rock climbing, biking,
etc.), and had brought far more gear than we could easily carry.
Thank goodness for the rental car. We packed into the loaded car,
headed southeast to Chamonix, and arrived in town about an hour later.
It was raining when we first arrived by train in Geneva, and was still raining when entered the Chamonix valley. We originally intended to camp the first night near town, but the heavy rain and our inability to find a good campsite led us to the Mercure Hotel in the center of town. The hotel is reasonably priced, has a great location (400 meters from the gear rental shops), and our room contained enough beds and/or cots for everyone. We were also walking distance from the local bars, which led to a few pints before retiring to bed at 1am. We hoped that the weather would brighten for the following day, but all previous forecasts called for rain through the entire weekend.
After some discussion we decided that our best option was to climb the
"normal" Gouter route, which followed several rock 
and
snow ridges, and therefore would not have significant avalanche danger.
The route also has several bivy sites at various elevations, which allow
teams to evenly space their ascent rate and ensure better acclimatization.
The only drawback of the route is the number of climbers during this time
of the year. We decided that the route was worth the sacrifice of
the company.
The weather was forecast to brighten on Monday afternoon, which gave us the entire weekend to wait and acclimatize. We decided to spend the afternoon on top of Aiguille de Midi, accessible via a cablecar directly from Chamonix. We planned to spend the day on top of the Aiguille, and then take the cablecar down to the halfway station of Plan d'Aiguille where we would make camp and bivy nearby. We intended to return to Chamonix on Sunday night and start our climb on Monday morning.
We headed back to the hotel, unloaded all of our gear, and began the
process of packing. We arrived at the Aiguille de Midi cablecar station
at 3:30pm, and were on top of Aiguille de Midi by 4:30pm. We walked
around the complex for little over an hour, and watched the storm roar
around the peak (we actually could not see anything except total whiteout).
We found several other climbing parties who had spent the entire day at
the Aiguille, trying to acclimatize and wait for the weather to break.
The weather caused the staff to close the cablecar early, and we took the
last tram down to the deserted Plan d'Aiguille station at 5pm. We
walked about 600 meters from the tram station onto the moss-covered mountainside.
We made camp among a group of sheep grazing in the mountainside,
and spent the night playing cards and listening to the avalanches coming
down from the various peaks around us.
The Three Mont Blancs route starts at the Cosmiques Hut located just an hour climb below the Aiguille de Midi at 11,854 feet or 3613 meters, and traverses the shoulders of Mont Blanc de Tacul (4187 meters) and Mont Maudit (4465 meters) before reaching the summit from Mont Blanc. The climb takes one day round trip, but requires that you are sufficiently acclimatized before the start. We watched as several climbing teams left the Aiguille complex heading down towards the Cosmiques Hut. All but two of the teams turned around within 100 meters and returned to wait for the weather to break.
We returned to Chamonix in the late afternoon, and checked back into the Mercure Hotel. We went to town to buy a few more gear items, and to eat a big fondue dinner. The rain stopped and the clouds began to part in the early evening, which gave us hope for the positive weather forecast for the following morning. We were back at the hotel and asleep before midnight.
for
our approach hike. We drove up the valley to the town of Les Houches,
where we caught the cablecar to Bellevue. The cablecar took us to
5873 feet (1790 meters), where we walked over to the Nid d'Aigle train
station. We waited at the station for 15 minutes, until the small
train arrived. We took the train up to Nid d'Aigle at 7782 feet (2372
meters) elevation. We got off the train, made a few adjustments to
our packs, and set off on the clearly marked trail.
We climbed for about an hour through a rocky valley to an abandoned refuge. We stopped for lunch at the refuge, and spent at least 45 minutes relaxing in the sun. We hiked beyond the refuge, across a small flat section, and then onto a steep set of rocky switchbacks. The switchbacks climbed for an hour, and leveled out at the edge of the glacier. The Tete Rousse Hut is situated on a rock spur along the edge of the glacier, only 500 meters from the top of the rocky switchbacks at an elevation of 10390 feet (3167 meters). We did not stop to don any glacier gear or to rope up for the short crossing the crevasse-free and snow-covered glacier to the hut. We arrived within minutes at the refuge, a little over three hours after leaving the train in the valley.
The refuge was full of climbers, and we had already planned to make
a bivy camp on the glacier nearby. There was a large flat area just
above the hut. There was already a large party bivied in this area,
with at least a dozen tents. We dug two tent spots into the new (and
thick) snow, and made camp on the edge of the flat area. We also
erected a small kitchen, complete with a horseshoe bench and island table
in the middle.
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We made dinner in the kitchen, and spent the remainder of the evening relaxing, chatting with our various neighbors, and admiring the incredible view of the mountain and horizon. The skies remained clear, and the sunset was gorgeous over the horizon. We could see the entire next day's route ahead and above us, as it climbed about 2000 feet of a rocky ridge to the Gouter Hut at 12,523 feet (3817 meters). We could see the metal sides of the Gouter Hut glistening in the sunset.
We were in the tents by 9pm, and played a few games of cards before
going to sleep. It was a fairly quiet night. We thought that
we would be woken by climbing groups leaving for the summit at 1am.
But, evidently most groups had decided to do the same sequence as us, and
would only climb to the Gouter Hut the following day. Images from
the day:
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not
rope up for the rocky ascent. Most groups had left earlier in the
morning, in an attempt to climb the rocky ridge before the sun hit the
north-facing slope and the rockfall danger increased. There is one
snow gully that must be crossed before ascending the ridge, and the rockfall
is very frequent and severe - many climbers have died in this location
from being hit with a rock or from falling while trying to get out of the
way of a rock. There is often a fixed wire placed across the gully,
but this year the wire was laid far below the actual crossing location,
and was not being used. The wire will merely ensure that you do not
fall if you are hit or trip while avoiding a rock. We climbed for
45 minutes to the edge of the gully, and contemplated the various methods
of crossing the 100 meter wide stretch. The debate focused on whether
or not to rope up for the crossing. We decided that I would short-rope
to Cecilia, and that everyone else would go solo. Cecilia and I went
first. Within the first 10 seconds a rock whizzed by our heads -
it was going so fast that I could not actually see it, but could only hear
the bug-like whistling sound that it made as it passed. This motivated
us to pick up the pace, and we quickly and safely crossed to the other
side. Within minutes everyone was across, and we continued to ascend
the ridge. I recommend using an ice axe during the gully crossing,
to arrest in case of a fall.
We spent the next two hours climbing the ridge, which required much more intense effort than first anticipated. The ridge required both hands for most of the climb, and often warranted a quick belay on the tricky sections. Fixed wires had been placed along many stretches, and were necessary in all locations. I had carried my ice axe after the gully crossing, but found it useless during the rock scrambling. There were many climbers both ascending and descending the route, which created a few logjams and waiting lines before some of the trickier sections. We made it to the top of the ridge in the early afternoon, three hours after leaving our bivy at Tete Rousse. The Gouter Hut is situated directly at the top of the ridge, and the last few feet of the climb are on the metal grating steps of the hut walkway.
We were greeted by throngs of climbers in and around the hut, and we
were happy to have chosen to bivy outside. We climbed above the hut
and about 200 meters to the west, where we found another flat bivy area
already filled with over a dozen tents. We dug in two tent spots
on the edge of the bivy location, and set up our camp. We had lunch
in the mid-afternoon, and spent the rest of the day discussing our strategy
for the following summit day. We made dinner early at 6pm, and were
in the tents ready to sleep by 8pm. More climbers arrived in the
early evening, and were very noisy while building their tent sites nearby.
Even so, we were able to get a few hours of sleep before our wakeup time
at 1:45am. Images from the day:
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waking
up. We were out of the tents and prepared to start at 2:30am, with
clear skies overhead and crisp hard snow on the glacier. We left
camp roped together, and climbed a ridge above the camp for the next hour.
The ridge led to the side of the Dome de Gouter, which we ascended for
another hour. There are several large crevasses to the east of the
route below the Dome, but the fall danger is very low. We arrived
at the top of the Dome de Gouter at 4:30am, about two hours after leaving
camp. We descended for about 15 minutes onto the Col de Dome at 13901
feet (4237 meters), and then spent the next 30 minutes re-ascending back
to the Vallot Hut. The Vallot hut is perched above the Col at 14,311
feet (4362 meters) elevation, and has a large flat area for resting or
emergency bivy in a storm. The Vallot Hut represents the halfway
point of the summit climb, and is often the turnaround point for many teams
who are not able to make the summit.
Daylight began to break as we ascended the slopes above the Vallot hut, and full daylight was available as we reached the beginning of the Bosses ridge. We were tired, but the summit looked to be just ahead.
We
slowly climbed over the Grande Bosse (14,806 feet or 4513 meters) and Petit
Bosse (14,885 feet or 4537 meters) for the next hour, and passed
over several false summits. Finally, 4 hours and 30 minutes after
leaving camp, we reached the top at 15771 feet (4807 meters). We
were greeted by several other parties who were already on the summit, and
by wonderful views in all directions. We were exhausted from struggling
with the elevation, but were very happy to have made it together.
We quickly took several pictures and video, and then started our descent.
There
were many parties still ascending the ridges, which made our initial descent
difficult as we passed many groups along the thin snow trail on the top
of the ridge. We were back at the base of the ridges within an hour,
and we stopped to have a quick snack and drink. We descended another
30 minutes back to the Vallot hut, where we were free of most hazards and
crowded trail crossings. We spent the next hour rapidly descending
from the Vallot Hut down to camp, and were back at our tents at 9am - two
and a half hours after leaving the summit.
We spent the next 90 minutes relaxing in the tent, and trying to regain
energy for the long climb down to the car. Everyone felt pretty lousy
after the morning's climb. We packed up camp, tried to eat and drink
as much as possible to get rid of our 
excessive
weight, and started down the ridge towards the Tete Rousse hut. The
rocky ridge did not seem as bad on the descent, possibly because of the
reduced climber traffic going opposite our direction. I recommend
using a ski pole (not an ice axe) during the descent. We slowly and
carefully descended, and were back at the Tete Rousse Hut within two hours
of leaving the Gouter Hut. We stopped at the edge of the glacier
to remove our crampons and as much clothing as possible, since it was now
very hot and sunny.
We started down the rocky ridge below the Tete Rousse, and arrived back
at the abandoned hut within an hour of leaving the glacier. The ski
pole was still very useful during this stretch. We stopped for a
brief lunch and snack, and then hiked the final hour of trail down to the
Nid d'Aigle train. There were many tourists spending the day hiking
around the area, and we had to wait 90 minutes to catch the next available
train. We spent the free time relaxing, watching other climbers arrive
behind us, and enjoying a few brews from the train stop cantina.
We stuffed into the train with 100's of other tourists and climbers, and
descended back down to the cablecar. Twenty minutes later we were
back at the car, completely exhausted from the descent. We drove
directly to town, and checked back into the Mercure Hotel. Cecilia
and Kirby returned their rental gear just before the stores closed at 7pm.
After a hot shower we walked into town and ate a huge dinner at a local
sandwich shop. We tried to enjoy a few beers, but we were too exhausted
to celebrate, and were back asleep by midnight. What a day!
Images from the day:
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We
woke up late in the Mercure Hotel, with fatigued bodies and sore legs.
Cecilia's two big toes had swollen drastically over the night, and we were
required to perform a bit of surgery in the hotel to relieve the pressure
under the toenails (not a pretty procedure). We packed up our gear,
checked out of the hotel, and walked (slowly) into Chamonix. We had
breakfast at a local brasserie, then spent the next few hours shopping
for gear, browsing the climbing center, and enjoying the clear views of
the surrounding mountains. The majority of Mont Blanc was clearly
visible from the city center, but seemed very very far away.
By
mid-afternoon we had eaten and browsed to our satisfaction, and we decided
to cross the Italian border and investigate life on the other side of the
Mont Blanc tunnel. After a 32 euro tunnel toll, we crossed to the
town of Cormayeur, about 5 km beyond the tunnel exit in Italy. We
parked the car, and found the small town crawling with tourists.
We intended to spend the night in a hotel in town, but found absolutely
nothing available. After an hour of searching and debate, we decided
to drive down the valley until we found another small town. We drove
to Aosta, and finally found a campground in a small town just outside Aosta.
The campsite also had a pizza restaurant, which we were told was the best
in town. We checked into the campground, and spent the night eating
pizza and drinking Italian wine at the restaurant. They finally closed
at 1am, and we retired to our tents just next door. Our bodies were
still tired from the previous day, and we had stomachs full of pizza, so
we had no problem sleeping that night.
We arrived on the southern shore of Lake Geneva around 5pm. We
expected to find quaint lakeside towns with respectable beaches, but instead
found small grass strips packed with local tourists along the lakeside,
and unimpressive restaurants/carnival-type shops in town. Not what
we expected. We made the decision to leave and drive back to Geneva,
and spend the night in the city. It was a good decision. By
8pm we were in Geneva, where we checked into a hotel near center city,
and found a restaurant in the old city near the St. Petersburg Cathedral.
We enjoyed dinner and a few beers, and were back in the hotel by midnight.
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Amazingly, our legs were still somewhat sore, fours days after completing
the climb. I had not been that sore since the Austin marathon several
years ago. But, it was well worth the sacrifice (even Cecilia's toes)
for the incredible views and time spent with a great group of people.
I look forward to the next trip!
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