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Friday 11th September Day 4

This knot is most amusing!
Islands in the clouds
It’s ok, in this facility you can pee on the straight



The start of the big one. All our luggage packed up and in the luggage room again. All set for 2 nights away with the absolute minimum of kit. All bags checked by Stephane, more stuff chucked out. Despite S’s small frame, he is immensely strong which is just as well as he has to carry lots of rope and clanking metal.

We have a later start but eventually get going in 2 cars to the supermarket. The boys (guides) amble round and then emerge with melons, grapes and chocolate biccies which is not quite what I would take but hey ho these guys know what they’re doing.
Take the cable car to Les Houches. A short walk to a small train station and then another rack and pinion train for quite a long way up to Le Nid d’Aigle. No aigle in sight just then but I did see one during the week.
The walk begins, a nice mountain walk and quite warm, up to the Tete Rousse refuge. We stop on the way for lunch (all supplied up to this point by the hotel). We are trading food as and when which is nice.
The last part of the 3 hour walk crosses a bit of a glacier. There is a crazy angled outside loo which looks scary but turns out to be a loo of great comfort compared with what comes later.
The refuge is fine and mostly clean but the inside loos are a bit lacking, well there is one. After making a deposit, you press a foot pump which literally takes what you have left along a conveyor belt and out of sight but sadly not out of odour range.
There is electricity (solar) and bottled water at $3.50 for 1.5l. From this point onwards lavatorial matters become an almost constant topic of conversation.
We make our beds, these are all bunks in about 3 or 4 bunk rooms. Ours has about 20 bunks. Duvets, pillows and plastic croc type slippers are provided. There are lockers for kit at $1 returnable.
We get a nice meal, cheese, real refuge made soup, veal casserole, bread plus moussey thing for pudding, all washed down with beer.
Early to bed at 9. Probably a good idea as it’s quite hard to sleep. The other occupants seem to spend the night going in and out, letting the door bang to. Each time the door opens, the stench from the loos wafts in and is enough to make you pass out. It’s quite cold but I soon warm up in the silk sleeping bag and eventually get hot enough to throw everything off. In a waking moment, I design a modification to the sleeping bag so that it will actually hold a pillow in place rather than just cover one which means it moves the moment you do. I feel it’s important not to have any part of my body in contact with sheets and pillow that other people have been in contact with. Not wanting to catch anything if at all possible.
Quite early on I risked a loo break and bumped into Liz, prompting giggles.
I form an attachment to the anti bacterial lotion and the wet wipes!

[googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Refuge+de+T%C3%AAte+Rousse,+Saint-Gervais-les-Bains,+France&aq=0&oq=tete+rou&sll=45.845749,6.931905&sspn=0.009417,0.026157&g=helbronner+chamonix&ie=UTF8&hq=Refuge+de+T%C3%AAte+Rousse,+Saint-Gervais-les-Bains,+France&t=m&ll=45.855168,6.817789&spn=0.008967,0.012875&z=15&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=300&h=300]

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Thursday 10th September Day 3

Both my heritages, left for pater, right for mater!
This is a rocket, right!
Cooee!

We did this earlier on, aaargh!


Having recovered from the ladder experience, this day was to present a different challenge. Before setting out all our bags were carefully inspected by Stephane, much got chucked out and packs were much lighter. I also chucked out my heel lifts and was instantly more comfortable and able to balance properly.

We set off on a big cable car up to the Aiguille du Midi. This station is at 3842m and you change cable cars half way up. The station has a rocket on top. Not a very good or beautiful rocket, more of a Thunderbirds type. We got out and cramponed up with axes at the ready.
Straight away, the first thing we had to negotiate was an arete (ridge) of mind numbing terror. My mind did go numb and I just stopped. Being roped to Ann and Stephane, I guess this was not a very bright thing to do but I did nearly lose it. However, on looking ahead, the actual ridge was not very long. I had seen people coming up it when we got out of the cable car and had taken a photo, as you do, thinking “blimey, some people do mad things!” little dreaming that I was about to be one of them.
But once done, soon forgotten and then it was across the Vallee Blanche which was just as described. We crossed crevasses, wending our way for about 5km in lovely weather, and consolidating the skills, crampon wise of the day before. Whilst roped up I got a phone call from the manager at the residential home where my aunt lives, I’m not sure he believed me when I said I was crossing a crevasse! A short stop for lunch, so short I didn’t get any in my mouth and then a short walk to the Helbronner cable station. This station is on the border of France and Italy so I celebrated my dual heritages by spreading myself across the border whilst Ann took photos of me under the flag signs.
The return journey from Helbronner involved a very small cable car which I shared with Annie and Caroline. They started jigging about to Leona Lewis and Steps and it got a bit worrisome for me. Annie stopped when I mentioned my fears were similar to hers of being stuck in the big cable car with lots of people. Fantastic views of where we’d walked. Then all the way down from the Aiguille du Midi to Chamonix and refreshments in a cafe. Walked back to the hotel and evening meal followed by seriously sad and quite weird film about a creepy young guy and his girlfriend Lucille, who he clearly thought was not really human, and their attempt to climb Everest. The attempt resulted in both their deaths. She falling down a crevasse and him just dying hopelessly. The film was strangely edited and the subtitles stopped even before L went down the hole. Just what you want to watch before climbing your first very big mountain!

[googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=helbronner+chamonix&aq=&sll=45.922329,6.874545&sspn=0.018808,0.052314&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Pointe+Helbronner&t=m&ll=45.845722,6.931944&spn=0.017937,0.025749&z=14&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=300&h=300]

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Wednesday 9th September Day 2

Mer de Glace

Lots of continental breakfast to sustain us for the day ahead. Into town in Mario’s minibus to a little station to take a little train to Montenvers railway station which gives access to the Mer de Glace. We set off walking in our full winter gear (well I did), plus ice axes, helmets and crampons. After a short walk we came to a sheer cliff face which we descended via about 7 or 8 long ladders. My estimate was that the distance covered by the ladders was about 100m. When I read an article from the Independent (22/08/09) which has a photo of the ladders, the writer reckoned it was 200m. Go to More Photos and scroll through to see the wretched ladders! For me, going down, I quite enjoyed the ladders, it was only later on that I felt differently about them.

A few boulders and then straight onto the glacier. My only previous experience of a glacier was the Jostedal in Norway, which Chris and I just walked on very briefly in our ordinary shoes before a stampede of Japanese tourists arrived. I hope that is the right one!
Getting used to the crampons by tackling shallow slopes and then steeper ones. I do like crampons and feel very secure in them, I had really enjoyed the weekend in the Cairngorms with Chris Conley and Chris H learning to use them.
We moved onto some rope work – this means climbing up a slope using crampons and axe whilst attached to the rope which was attached to a fixed point. Again, this was made gradually steeper until finally we climbed a vertical wall of ice. I just about managed to do this, although did not make a very pretty picture! However the abseiling down was just fab, loved it!
We walked around and into sections of the glacier, wonderful ice formations.
Eventually it was time to return to ascend the cliff. I was very hot, and my pack was full, I also was having a problem balancing as my heel lifts had slipped to the middle of my boots so was pretty much totally out of kilter. Getting up those wretched ladders became a major challenge and there seemed to be many more of them than there had been going down. Both Pierrot and Stephane said my pack was too heavy.
We went back down on the little train and got picked up by Mario after a refreshment stop! A bit later we had our evening meal and then a bit of an old 50s climbing film where men wore corduroys but still dangled upside down from terribly high places.

Going down into the glacier
Going down into the glacier
Ice climbing
Ice climbing
Alpinism oh yes!
Alpinism oh yes!

 

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And finally …. Mont Blanc

Big mountain from hotel window

Tuesday 8th September Day 1

Somewhat frustrating pre-flight irritations after being ready for days in advance! First of all a traffic jam at Yeadon, then my pre-paid car park entry wouldn’t let me in and lastly had to pay extra for my luggage. And all of this meant I missed my airport coffee!
Met up with Ann and we had a smooth, easy flight. Jet2, being budget, make you pay for refreshments so I was glad of my home made sandwich.
On arrival in Geneva, we were met by Mel plus Annie and Caroline. Straight off to Chamonix with me navigating Mel out of the airport and onto the right motorway, fairly straightforward, just followed the signs to France!
After an hour or so, we got to our hotel, La Chaumiere and met up with Liz who had been out for a run. Warming up for the big one! Lovely to see her (and Mel of course!) again.
Ann and I got a nice room with a balcony looking straight up at Mont Blanc. I whizzed into the town and bought a couple of pairs of cheap but warm trousers as had managed not to bring the right ones, grrr! I brought quite a lot of things I didn’t need at all but the trousers were the only thing I really missed. Still the $5 (keyboard needs a Euro symbol) ones did very well and now I’ve repaired them, I’ve passed them on!
On returning to the hotel, we met the guides for the trip, Pierrot Fiorucci who works in the Mercantour with Mel and Liz, and Stephane Benoist, who hails from Nice, and about whom, more later.
We ate a 3 course dinner which was very good.

[googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Chamonix,+France&aq=0&oq=chamonix&sll=54.527028,-3.017583&sspn=0.06276,0.209255&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Chamonix,+Haute-Savoie,+Rhone-Alpes,+France&t=m&ll=45.923931,6.869202&spn=0.143292,0.205994&z=11&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=300&h=300]

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Helvellyn 060909

Wythburn church


Left nice and early so managed to get to Wythburn car park at 10.00. The car park would have cost me £5 but the ticket machine was “Not in use”. Great.

A group of Polish (I think) people were smoking in the car park and set off before me. A short time later I overtook them, to say they were inappropriately dressed just doesn’t cover it, ready to go clubbing more like it!
Lovely walk through pine woods, rising steeply onto the fell with a few craggy bits and water chasing down. I’m starting to see what Wainwright means, it’s more interesting in terms of variety of landscape.
Fairly got up quickly. Had a chat with a bloke on the way and even patted his dog. Turned right at the junction and whizzed up to Nethermost Pike. Windy and some hard drizzle on the tops. Short whizz up to Helvellyn having looked across at large quantities of mad people doing Striding Edge despite the great wind and cold. I was told it was only 5 degrees on the top, but in my new Paramo I didn’t feel cold at all.
There was a tent on the summit which may have been connected with a triathlon (swim, “run” [not when I saw them!], bike). Also saw another tent down by the tarn and another one on my way down.N
Quick look round the top, had my sandwich in the rather grim shelter, sharing it with a couple and 2 small dogs with coats on. Wretched dogs far too close to my sandwich for comfort so had to eat it fast. I did feel cold in the windiest section of the shelter so didn’t hang about. Then more whizzing back down. A little rain on the way down but got down very quickly.
I never saw the Poles again so think they must have given up quite early on.
Great to have a walk with actual views for a change and not loads of rain.

[googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=helvellyn&aq=&sll=54.541601,-2.988281&sspn=0.125474,0.41851&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Helvellyn&t=m&ll=54.527059,-3.017635&spn=0.029885,0.051498&z=13&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=300&h=300]

Please visit Map and Compass and learn how to interpret a map with me and my navigation partner, Cath.

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