For years I have wanted to ski down Mont Blanc but it has not been that easy to time good weather, time off work, climbing partner, fitness and being acclimatised - a lot of factors that must be there. I sat in the Chamex office working Tuesday morning and looked at the weather forecast. A bad weather front was forecasted to come in on Thursday but Wednesday was looking perfect. I phoned up my friend Mel and we decided to meet by the Aiguille du Midi lift at 16.45 to go up to the Cosmiques refuge for the night to get an early start the next morning.
We got up at one o’clock in the morning and set off from the refuge at two. There were a few more parties making their way over the Col de l’Aiguille du Midi and up the Tacul face in the dark. I was thinking to myself, “How on earth would you find your way up here in the dark if you did not have a track to follow?” It is a huge face and you certainly can not go up just anywhere. I must have been up there about 10 times before but it is constantly changing. By the time we reached Mont Maudit we were met by the most amazing sunrise.
We could not have had a better day to climb Mont Blanc in terms of weather: not too cold, no wind and a clear, beautiful view from the summit. The last bit of the climb from Col de La Brenva to the summit is a real slog. It feels like it never ends… eventually it did and what a rewarding feeling! It is even better when you know the best part is still to come - the ski down. We were so excited!
We were kind of hoping to ski the “Face Nord” but there were no tracks down that way…. All other skiers had gone down to the right hand shoulder, the way we came up, and then cut in left…. When there are no tracks in the Chamonix valley there is normally a very good reason for that…… Hmm….but it was actually looking quite ski-able from above….. We decided to give it a go with the possibility of traversing out towards the shoulder if we got stuck……..
….and it was fine. This ski descent is definitely one of the most memorable ones I have ever done. We both agreed on this being the most impressive landscape we have ever skied through and at the same time the most terrifying!!! You ski, and not only once, under GIANT serac walls and you are crossing over 100m wide serac debris. I have never seen anything like it! WOW! Luckily we were skiing down and not skinning up under all that.
The last bit of excitement is the traverse of Les Bossons glacier. We actually decided to ski roped up across this labyrinth of holes, which in itself is quite an amusing exercise. Arriving back down in Chamonix it was 22 degrees and people were wandering around in shorts. I think I am ready to pack the skis away now but what a great end to the winter season!
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photo-blog
Martina Palm
18 May 2008
