So as I mentioned I was on my way to Chamonix yesterday where I arrived at roughly 2:30 in the afternoon. The train ride in was spectacular as we entered the mountain valley with the domineering Mount Blanc looming over us. At this point I was seriously questioning my decision to enroll in a course to try to summit it. In any case I arrived in Chamonix to extremely warm temperatures and because it is situated at over 1000 km I could instantly tell that the sun was beating down on me much stronger than it does in California. I couldn't check-in until 4:30 so I had an hour and half to meander the streets of Chamonix, which is very much an upscale ski resort/ outdoor adventure town.
I recently read Eiger Dreams by Jon Krakuer so to give you some idea of the area from almost 25 years ago I give you some passages that I found interesting, "…Chamonix, though populated by fewer than eleven thousand year-round residents, has for two centuries been the hippest mountain community on the continent, maybe the entire planet, and not merely in the minds of those who live there. Chamonix, understand is considerably more than the Aspen of the Alps; it's the very birthplace of haute chic. [pg 86 -87]" and "It's this unlikely juxtaposition of radical topography and rarefied continental culture that, for better and worse, begat modern Chamonix. What's different about Cham - as the village is termed in the local patois - is that fully half the people walking past will be clomping along in climbing boots and have a coil of 8.8 millimeter person slung over a shoulder [pg 89-90]." Although from a few years back this remains very much true today all visible within the first hour I was here.
I checked into my room and then set about town to buy the remaining articles I needed for the summit kit. That evening through talking with the rest of my Mont Blanc summit group I learned there majority of them had little to none mountaineering experience and were have similar nerves to me as well. This let me sleep much easier.
This morning I met with my group of five and one guide, Fred, at the train station to head up further into the mountains. I should give some explanation of the group. The company I booked my course online through a British company so a large majority of the other participants in all the courses (not just the Mont Blanc course) are British. To be honest they have some strange slang words so at times it doesn't even seem like they're speaking the same language as me. Jolly good, anyways though. Specifically in my group there is 1 British, 1 Irish, 1 other American, and my roommate is from Hong Kong, but lives in London. He kind of looks like Jackson Felde (for all you Decorah folks), but a bit more chubby. By no means is anyone in the group a hardcore mountain climber, which is very good. Fred, is French.
At the top of the train we had a fantastic view of some major French Alps peaks (I can't remember their names) and the Mer de Glace glacier where we would be spending our day. First, we had a 10 minute hike down to these steep ladders that took us down maybe 900 vertical feet (thats a total guess; I have no idea but it was a lot). In all there were 6 ladders we had to descend mixed with some rock scrambling. At the bottom we had another bit of a hike up to the glacier. Here we proceeded to put on our crampons which seemed to add 2 lbs to the bottom of each foot. It was like I was walking with deadly snow boots all day. The crampons themselves were a bit hard to get used to and did a number on my ankles. Initially it was difficult to trust them as I kicked them into an ice wall. Basically, the entire day was spent walking the glacier and doing some ice climbing. Fred was a quiet guide, patient, but definitely very knowledgeable. Fortunately, the weather was fantastic and I didn't wear much more than a long sleeve and pants on the glacier. Hiking it was almost too hot. Hopefully it stays this way as we get to higher elevations. By the end of the day during the walk back up the ladders to the train I was pretty tired, but fortunately no blisters so the forecast for success for the next few days is promising.
At the top is a photo of the back drop for our hiking all day. Below is the Mer de Glace glacier (the longest glacier in all of France). The grey, dirty looking stuff at the bottom of the photo is the actual glacier itself. When you're actually one it it looks a bit more like ice and not so cruddy.
I didn't have anyone take pictures of me today on my camrea because we have a former photographer in our group so hopefully she took some good ones of me that I hope to get in the coming days. Here's one of the some of the group on the ladders returning from the glacier.
No comments:
Post a Comment