30th July to 3rd August.
It had been a while since Sandra had been with me on the
Mont Blanc and the Eiger, and she wanted to complete the Big Three with me this year.
Warming up on the Crochures Traverse, I sensed a certain lack of pre-training by her? Now working as a policewoman, she explained she had recently been in an accident on her moped and was still recovering from the shoulder injury. She was however very keen to come out and join me. The weather forecast however, didn’t look too good for the end of the week and I was aware of the lack of ascents by anyone currently on the Hornli Ridge. Persevering in our training programme, we traversed the Pointe Lachenal and the Cosmiques in one day, spent a dubious weather day on the Vallorcine slabs, and it became clearer neither the weather or Sandra’s form would suggest we should go to the Matterhorn. So unfortunately, the course ended in Annecy site-seeing and preparing for our next great project together next January (
Aconcagua). Bill and David are also on this trip so Sandra and I made good plans and bought special food for the expedition to come.4th August.
The rest day before the start of my 6-day
Mont Blanc courses. This one would continue with Richard to try and complete the Big Three!August 5th to 18th5th - This may sound like an extraordinary long course but in fact there was a reason. The six day Mont Blanc Express was to be followed straight after by Richard continuing to complete The Big Three. After some initial training on snowcraft last winter, Richard had travelled all the way back to Europe from Tortola, a small island in the
Caribbean. He was an early climber but with his military training background, had had no trouble with the routes in the
Highlands. His companions were equally ready for their course. Dan had also been with me last winter, performing well on his also first experience at climbing and the others, Dave and Peter, were young, strong and very keen. I had Henri, one of my two best French guides, working with me. After my usual
Chamonix tour, we travelled to the Guides Crag where several had their first experience at rock climbing, ropework and crevasse rescue techniques. Much practice took place and by the end of the day, experience had grown tremendously.6th - The weather wasn’t looking too good. With Henri guiding David and Peter alongside me, Dan, Richard and myself climbed up to the col on the Tour des Crochures on a gloomy morning and, easily ascended the couloir which was now clear of the lingering winter snow. We reached the
high point of the ridge in good time and sped along the Crochures Traverse in good style and timing. There was also the opportunity to continue along the thin winding ridge towards the Aiguille Belvedere. Descending past some snow, resisting the need to melt away, we soon reached the Lac Blanc where the usual coffee and cakes followed. The team were soon back in the mid station and down to the cars and a welcome refreshing drink at Le Office. A first alpine peak for everyone in the team so spirits were high, even though the drizzle had somewhat dampened our descent.
7th - With the shortened style of the Mt Blanc Express course, there could be no time for the great short routes of the Aiguilles, and we made the necessary trek up to the Albert Premier Hut, spending the afternoon practicing on the glacier below the building. Everyone was enjoying the new experience and sliding with a little unexpected help from me, into a deep crevasse, was a unique experience to everyone. Getting promptly and effortlessly pulled out again was a thrilling climax to the drama. Back at the refuge, tales of dark surroundings abounded until the conversation at meal time drowned even our exuberant voices. A great day.
8th - In very good weather, the ascent of the Aiguille du Tour proved straightforward, with good snow conditions.
High point records were broken by all and the whole team descended the snow to the Col Superior du Tour and took a break in the last of the sunshine, before dropping on the north side to the wind scoop.
Dan, Richard and I later stumbled back over the rocks to the hut, to greet Peter and David, the young ones, who had coerced Henri into a race down the glacier back to the hut.. We were not far behind at our more sedate pace. Hut finance sorted, we dropped back down the ridge and along to the cable car station at the Col du Balme. Once again, we were soon quenching our thirst at the Office. 9th - The forecasted poor weather arrived in the early hours and washed out any hopes of our planned climb up to the Gouter Hut for Mont Blanc today. In torrential rain, a trip to the Guides Office and the tourist Office was all we could do, getting valuable information for any subsequent visits, was followed by visiting Sport Technique Extreme, where bargains galore are available on clothing and climbing equipment. We retired to Argentiere, damper and poorer.
10th - A dilemma over climbing Mont Blanc had occurred but Henri had been kind enough to offer David and Peter a lifeline to
Mont Blanc. He had offered to postpone the final two days to Saturday and Sunday, when the weather was forecasted to be good. This was no good for Dan, as he had to fly out on the Sunday anyway. Richard and I had three spare days booked for our remaining Big Three, so with Dan unable to postpone his flight home, I took Richard and Dan to the Guides Crag, in somewhat better and dryer weather. Peter and David came along for an extra day’s tuition prior to their
Mont Blanc days, and everyone had a great time climbing, falling off, on a top rope, and generally getting better and better at rock climbing.
11th - Theoretically the last day of the course, but with Henri off to the Gouter Hut with the lads, and Dan packing for home, I took Richard on an expedition to test his movement on snowy rock, something it looked like we would be encompassing on our Swiss climbs the following week. The ascent of the Petite Verte was a good experience for Richard, with the added section at the summit, which I always try to complete. Richard was superb on the descent, bypassing slower climbers with ease, and we were soon back at the Col du Montet and Argentiere, wondering how the boys were getting along, on their Gouter Hut climb. In fact, with the enthusiasm of the lads, Henri had had no problem in offering the lads a straight ascent of
Mont Blanc from the valley. They’d proved they were fit enough and were definitely ready for it. In the event, nobody held anyone up and a rapid ascent was achieved, the trio being back in the Gouter Hut in the late evening. They’d had the summit to themselves.12th - Richard and I, now the remainder of the Mont Blanc team, were busy preparing for the
Matterhorn and Eiger. The past week’s weather had dumped two metres of snow on the high peaks, and I sincerely hoped the
Matterhorn would be clear of snow by the time we needed an ascent day. But we needed days of hot sun to achieve the conditions we needed. Optimistically, we left Argentiere for Grindelwald, only to receive our first set of bad news. The Eiger south ridge had not been climbed since the start of the storms, with a metre of untracked and unstable snow on the ridge. The local guides were not going and advised against any attempt for a few days of sun at least. The prospects of this happening were not good, so we stayed down in town for the night. Next morning, with a plan to do the Monch and go to the Monchjoch Hut afterwards, and be in position for the south ridge, we took the early train through the Eiger to the Jungfraujoch and took the well travelled ski road, turning off towards the bottom of the ridge. The ridge was in superb condition. Thanks to the snow, a winding but steep track had been climbed most days, and today was no exception. Being a ridge, the usual stonefall danger was not there, and some great climbing was possible, all the way to the superb knife edge snow arête to the summit. Richard has slowed and I wondered what was wrong? Near the top he admitted having a problem but would not say what it was, so determined was he to succeed on this, his best alpine route to date. I sensed he was also hoping to bypass his problem and continue on his quest for the Big Three. The summit provided a great panorama and a splendid vista of the great peaks of the Oberland. The Finsterarrhorn, the Fiescherhorn, The Morgangorn, The Aletschorn, and of course the Eiger. From where we looked, it was definitely unclimbable, deep snow overhanging as cornices all the way along. Several days sun would be needed and sun of the intensity we needed was not forecast. The descent was uneventful but Richard, on reaching the ski track admitted to his problem. He had had since military training an ailment which was now giving him problems in his legs. He was really concerned for me because, if he had an attack of this ailment, his ability to climb up or down a route might be in jeopardy. We took the ski road back to the train station and slowly it dawned on me that Richards dream was over for this season. We stayed together in a hotel that night and next morning the inevitable occurred. Richard announced he was going home. We were a very sad pair of climbers as we said goodbye to each other and I was soon heading back to Argentiere. Richard was adamant he would get rid of his problems and return as soon as possible and complete his Big Three. I assured him I would be there for him. A few unexpected days off were taken before the next and final course of the season began.
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