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1058 Posts |
Posted - 11/11/2011 : 5:50 PM
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Here's a trip report of a climb we did a few years ago in the late winter/early spring in the French Alps. Like most good plans, this one was half baked, gooey centered, the way it should be.
Three of us flew to Lyon, and did some decent site seeing. No, we didn't. We got cut and ate really good Lyonaisse cuisine. Really cut. Vague recollections of some tiny hotel room. At some point we bought groceries? That night or the next day we met our fourth at the train station, and we all took the rolling rails east to Chamonix.
  
So we arrive in Chamonix, two clear weeks, intent on climbing Mont Blanc. Route? Undecided. Accommodations? Undecided, but we have tents, we can camp, right? As it turns out, we're early for tenting season, but we do manage to find one campsite open year round, a mere 15 minute stumble from Chamonix. Off-season camping in France doesn't mean you don't get fresh baguettes at your tent in the morning! It's a beautiful country, if only for that reason.
Time to figure out a route. We peruse some beta at the local shops and think that the Three Monts Route looks good, not withstanding the fact that the previous August had seen a massive iceslide on the same route kill 8 and injure 7. Hmmmm. Maybe we'll mosey down to the Office de Haute-Montagne and talk to the folks running the show, get some good informed opinion. Annnnnd, they look at us like we're mad. 'Non non non, there's too much snow still, too early'. Of course, we don't get it, we're from Vancouver, where too much snow is the expectation. But we're also humble enough to bow down to expert advice, and we agree to tackle the standard Gouter Route instead. Yes, she still looks at us like we're mad, but she is less concerned now than before, so we all feel better. A breif consultation with the weather forecast has us set our sites on a departure in two days, so we enjoy the warm temps in the valley bottom and spend a couple of days sport climbing at Les Gaillands. Awesome rock, a million billion bolts, close to both the bars and camp, life is good.
But we're here for a purpose, to climb Mont Blanc. We load up our packs and bus down to Les Houches to start our ascent. In a gondola. Why not, eh? When we de-gondola at the ski hill, we pop in to the cafe for one last pint before heading up.
Chatting with a guide outside, we look up at the start of the route and he points out some of the hazards. Now I love this part. He says in his thick French accent, 'Is dangerous, this part' as he points and motions. Says it a couple of times. But he doesn't once say anything like 'you're crazy' or 'don't do it' or anything discouraging. Simply, 'That's the way, it's dangerous right now, fill your boots'. Very respectful, gives us the benefit of the doubt.
Normally from the ski hill, the tourons take the Mont Blanc Train from to the beginning of the route. The tracks sit on a small traversing ledge carved into the mountain face. That's in the summer. In these winter conditions, the train isn't running, and the tracks and ledge are covered in hard snow, replacing a nice flat surface with a 45 degree slope. Lots of protection is available, and required. This also adds a good half day to the climb. About half way across, as I was getting at my camera, my helmet let loose and tumbled down the mountain face. Not much I can do about that one. Toque is warmer anyways. After getting burned all day from the glare of the sun off the snow, we arrive at the Tete Rousse hut, and hunker down for the night. These huts are all locked up, save for the winter rooms, which generally accomodate about a dozen people. We are the only souls on the mountain.
 
The next morning promises a fun ascent of the Gouter face. We strap on the crampons and cross the Grand Couloir. This crossing is a bit of a notorious shooting gallery in the summer when the route is covered with a million guided climbers. We crossed the base of the Grand Couloir. Judging by our 60M rope, the couloir is about 62M wide where you cross. The snow in the couloir is sunbaked and trustworthy. This will be important later. A hundred metres or so below the crossing, the couloir steepens out to a cliff and a long drop down onto the Bionnassay glacier below. Once across the couloir, we ascend about 600M of steep, loose, cliff face. There is some fixed cable, but not very much. Perched at the top of the cliff face is the Refuge du Gouter. Again, we're the only souls on the mountain, and we get settled in to the winter room of the hut, eager for our early start the next morning to bag the peak.
This day is where the fun starts. We got up early, don't remember exactly what time, but it was still dark when we set off, up the ridge to the Dome du Gouter. Pretty basic trudge up to the Dome, and a brief stop in the emergency hut (Refuge du Vallot) before tackiling the final ridge to the summit. This was also the only time we saw other people on the mountain. Two French skiers who had skinned up a different route, but were now turning back because they had cold feet. Hmmm, who's wiser, them or us? I had read plenty of tales of sketchy times on this last ridge, in the summer it gets quite wind polished and narrow, and folks have fallen off (usually down the Italian side). Lucky for us, these wintery conditions provided a nice, wide, soft ramp up. We were on the summit of Mont Blanc, and a look east saw some cloud coming in. Is it time to get down fast, or is it time for the Englishman to take his boots off so we can get a picture of him in his fuzzy slippers?
With that silliness out of the way, we descend back down, and by the time we get to the Dome, we're socked in a cloud, I can only see one guy ahead of me on the rope, not three. So we stumble around, intent on going up over the Dome, and back down the ridge to the Refuge du Gouter.
I wasn't on the front of the rope, so I won't take any blame, but we head up over the Dome, and down the ridge. A skinny ridge. A windy ridge. An unfamiliar ridge. The wind is growing, you need to yell to be heard, and the doubt is starting to set in. We have zero visability for reference, and we aren't using GPS, just a map and compass. Rather than do something (else) stupid, we dig a cave to get out of the howling wind, and hunker down, hoping for the weather to clear. About an hour later, we get a quick glimpse of a prominent ridge, and that gives us all the reference we need to pinpoint our location. And we're in the wrong country. Oops. We should be in France, we're in Italy. Minor details. We head back up the ridge, still no visibilty, and now the light of day is failing. Once we get to the top of the ridge, we need to traverse left, get onto our ridge, and descend. The front of the rope described his view like this; 'I couldn't tell if there was a wall in front of me or a drop off. So I walked. It was a drop off, luckily only five feet, could have been 500 feet for all I could tell'. After getting onto our ridge, we start walking down and all of the sudden, the ground gives way. Falling into a crevasse really isn't that bad when you're the last guy on the rope and the other three are down hill, but I'd still prefer not to do that. Oh well, we're pretty much home free. For today.
Back in the comfort of the Refuge du Gouter, we laugh and drink and talk about all of the things we could have done to have a safer day, thinking the worst of it was behind us. We slept well, and woke the next morning. To a fresh metre of snow. And it's still snowing. I like snow, but our descent down the Gouter face is steep. And covered in loose rock. With a lot of fresh snow on it. Did I say loose and steep? This is worrisome. We debate what to do, and then try descending. The footing is treacherous, nothing for the hands, and protection is tedious. Very tedious. And it's still snowing.
Realizing that we don't have time to do this for 600M, we come up with a plan B. Really only one option if we want down, and that's to hop in the couloir. We had six pickets between the four of us, and we knew the snow in the base of the couloir was good. What was sketchy was all of the fresh snow on top of the good snow, and it was still snowing, and the wind was howling. The couloir is around 60-70 degrees for most of the 600M. If we go in, we're going to get avalanched on. But only small avalanches, right? We plant some pickets and start down. When the first avalanche hit us, I was at the lower anchor, two pickets. My cowtail tensioned, and if those pickets blew, we would have been toast. Luckily, we got a good feel for the snow on our way up, and were confident in the picket placements. But it's still scary to get taken off your feet again and again, knowing it's nothing but cliff and air at the bottom. At the same time, with every big sluff, you know that it's that much less snow above you.
Anyway, I can't describe how it feels to be on the edge like that for 600M straight. My softshell was frozen solid, the wind was blowing the snow up the couloir, so when you look down to see where you're going, you can't see anything, and you get a facefull of snow. Time has no place, and you don't really think uneccesary thoughts, just action after action. After 6 hours of that, we finally saw the bolt at the exit point of the couloir, probably the happiest biner to bolt of any climb I've done. We got down to the Refuge du Tete Rousse and collapsed into our sleeping bags.
The rest of the descent was unremarkable. Chamonix is an amazing, beautiful place. I can't wait to go back.
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 Trail running, bike hucking, fast packing, beer drinking collector of pine cones on a day pass
AKA
Dances with Trees
Forest Gnome Cabin
Canada
13048 Posts |
Posted - 11/11/2011 : 6:50 PM
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| Nice report, KC, you've got a real knack for telling the story. Finishing off in that couloir must have been an experience you'll remember for a long time |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
1111 Posts |
Posted - 11/11/2011 : 6:59 PM
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| I'm thinking you should post more reports. A good tale. |
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Hope, BC
Canada
7098 Posts |
Posted - 11/12/2011 : 11:08 AM
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| LOL, nice report, a mixture of adventure, humor, and a bit scary. I have to admit the fuzzy slippers photo is hilarious. I kind of wished to see more photos as it is a really cool place, but I somehow pictured it quite well through your descriptions, good writeup! Funny being in the wrong country on a mountain I must add. |
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3022 Posts |
Posted - 11/12/2011 : 11:48 AM
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| What prompted you to post such a late TR? |
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north vancouver, british columbia
Canada
605 Posts |
Posted - 11/12/2011 : 12:13 PM
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Yes Chamonix is a beautiful place....Thanks for sharing! |
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253 Posts |
Posted - 11/13/2011 : 7:31 PM
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| I love reading this kind of TR. I like the humor on baguettes. Thanks for sharing |
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Burnaby, BC
Canada
345 Posts |
Posted - 11/13/2011 : 8:02 PM
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Very sweet trip report! Finally we get to read some of your stuff!
---> I hate this part so much, so much.... |
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Mont Blanc - Early Season
