August 3rd to 15th
Client bookings for my 9-day Beginners course including the ascent of Mont Blanc proved sparse this year. The credit-crunch effect? Who knows? This year I welcomed Paul, whose friend Dan would join us later, and both of them had climbed in the Highland winter with me. Martine, a client of Henri’s was to join the course but she cancelled as she had no fire in her now Henri was gone. With it being too late to cancel Paul, we climbed as a 1:1, arguably a little less hectic than with the bigger groups. We did have a lot of fun though. Doing most of the set course routes and also
The real summit Gran Paradiso
doing the Gran Paradiso. Dan joined us for the Mont Blanc ascent and it was a splendid affair. We left the Nid d’Aigle station and reached the Gouter Hut at 1pm. The
Mont Blanc Paul and Dan
weather was splendid and a very good forecast so at 2pm, we carried on. We reached the summit at 6.30pm and were back in the hut by 9.30pm.
A great day and we were now able to turn over in our bunks when the crowds woke and then left for their summit at 3am.
The descent was superb at 7am, cold, clear and stonefall free. A better end to a period dominated by a bitter experience, lurking in the background throughout