Jo had some how persuaded me doing a route at the top of the Midi was a good idea. So we set our alarms and got on the first lift up, I was absolutely bricking it and neither of us said much in the cable car up so I assume Jo was too!
In June Jo and I headed out to Chamonix to go ‘alpine climbing’. This trip had been in the pipe line for many months, ever since I found out I was working at the Arc’teryx Alpine Academy in Chamonix.
It was one of those plans we came up with in the pub! The plan was for Jo to come and meet me after I had finished working out there. As the date crept closer and closer we realised we had absolutely no idea what we doing! Jo had been to Chamonix once as a kid and I didn’t know anything about it. So we asked around a lot of friends if they thought we would be okay being alpine newbies, plus having no idea about Chamonix and we quite deservingly got laughed at a reasonable amount of times!
It is quite desperate trying to plan a trip to an area you know nothing about and especially when it involves a style of climbing you are pretty clueless about. Anyway after some research we got the general gist of the areas/mountains/rock faces in Chamonix and after taking peoples ‘you will be fiiiiine’ on this route advice with a pinch of salt we made a vague plan. The plan involved me stipulating that there was absolutely no way we would be going to the top of the Augille d’midi and walking down the scary snow ridge – I told Jo we weren’t ready for that!!
We borrowed a ton of kit and guide books off various people and had a fast track crevasse rescue course in Rob’s front room a few days before leaving. By the time Jo arrived in Chamonix I was absolutely knackered after working at the Arc’teryx Alpine Academy. It was an amazing event but I was working long hours and not getting much sleep. Jo insisted we would take it easy at least for the first day so after an epic morning (that involved missing the bus, hitch hiking into town, forgetting gas and suncream, realising all the shops closed at lunch time and not having enough money on my card to pay for the train) we finally got on the train, relaxed, and headed up to the Mer de Glace. I can safely say that the first day was not “taking it easy” and was probably the hardest day we had all trip. We headed up to the Envers hut with full camping kit, climbing gear and food for three days. It took us 6 hours and was a massive slog but we were psyched out our minds to be walking up a glacier and climbing the big metal ladders that lead us up the mountainside.
Jo and I on the Mer de Glace.
Jo climbing down the initial set of ladders to reach the Mer de Glace
Leaving the Mer de Glace and heading up the ladders towards the hut
Once we had arrived and pitched the tent it then proceeded to snow, rain and be pretty dam cloudy and chilly for the rest of the night! We crossed our fingers for a beautiful alpine morning and set the alarm for 5am. It was not beautiful! I think we were both secretly quite pleased that we could turn the alarm off and go back to sleep though. After a bit of a lie in and realising the drizzle was not going to relent we sacked it off and bailed back down the mountain into sunny Chamonix.
The view from our soggy tent in the cloud, looking across at the Envers hut
A brief clearing in the clouds
The next day we climbed on the Aiguille Rouge side as the weather look dodgy, we very quickly learnt some lessons:
- 1) We are ridiculously slow at climbing
- 2) The last chair lift down is at 4.30pm – so you either have to be fast at climbing or bail off the route!
- 3) You have to climb with a backpack and it is heavy, especially when the person seconding is trying to carry everything in one bag and can barely move.
- 4) Some snow slopes sometimes more like ice and are very, very slippy.
- 5) Don’t carry the guide book in your mouth and try to talk at the same time (kinda obvious!)
Beautiful view from the Aiguille Rouge side looking over to the Aiguille du Midi and the Dru
So after what felt like three failed days due to weather, our inexperience and slowness we packed our bags once again, this time for two days in the mountains. We headed up to the Plan de L’Aiguille (the half way station on the Aiguille du midi) and set up camp. I suggested we should do a longer but easier route that would be in the sun called ‘Arete des Papillons’. It was a really cool route that had lots varied climbing and absolutely amazing views. It took us ages again but we made it down just in time to cook our tea under the truly impressive Aiguille du Midi that was bathed in red light from the beautiful sunset.
Camping spot
Arete des Papillons. Photo by Stefen Heiligensetzer
Beautiful sunset over the Aiguille du Midi. Photo by Stefen Heiligensetzer
Over the past few days Jo had some how persuaded me doing a route at the top of the Midi was a good idea. So we set our alarms and got on the first lift up, I was absolutely bricking it and neither of us said much in the cable car up so I assume Jo was too!
Once you get off the lift at the top of the midi you walk through some concrete tunnels and across various viewing platforms and finally stop to ‘get ready’ in a small ice tunnel full of people who appear to know what they are doing. I don’t think I have ever felt so out of my depth!
The decent down the ridge. Photo by Stefen Heiligensetzer
We roped together and stepped out of the tunnel to the most amazing view. It was a clear, crisp, blue bird morning with views over the mountains for miles. As you walk onto the ridge the left drops straight down into Chamonix and the right drops down to the Vallee Blanche. It begins as a pleasant enough walk along the ridge but then it just drops and gets flippin’ steep (I am sure to most competent people it feels like a stroll). It was only the second time I had worn crampons and I felt clumsy in them, I slowed to a snails pace and a big queue grew behind me on the ridge – everyone waiting for me! Anyway I made it down ALIVE, which I was pretty pleased about. We trooped round underneath the south face and then walked up to Eperon des Cosmiques to climb ‘Voie Rebuffat’.
The crux pitch ended up being Jo’s lead, she was a total hero though and cruised through the roof making it look pretty easy compared with some of the men up there who were aiding it! We arrived at the top in record time (for us!) at 11.30am and then with the help of some kind friends (we met the day before) descended the end of the Cosmique Ridge going against the busy Saturday traffic. This again probably should have been a relatively simple task but I had visions of myself tumbling down the snow slope and bouncing off all the rocks on the way down – bad times. Anyway we slowly made it down and then trudged back around and up the snow ridge.
Climbing across to reach Jo at the first belay. Photo by Stefen Heiligensetzer
Jo happy to have crushed the crux. Photo by Stefen Heiligensetzer
Photo by Stefen Heiligensetzer
The best belay spot. Photo by Stefen Heiligensetzer
The start of the decent down the Cosmique ridge. Photo by Stefen Heiligensetzer
Feeling pretty gripped on the down climb. Photo by Stefen Heiligensetzer
Photo by Stefen Heiligensetzer
I have to say we were in a pretty sorry state waiting for the lift down, a mixture of altitude, no food, a few sips of water between us and running on a ridiculous amount of adrenaline all day had taken its toll!! I thought I was going to puke and Jo was struggling to stand up. We missioned it back to our tent then melted and drank snow until we felt human again. We had had a totally amazing day and one of the best experiences of my life so far.
AMAZING end to the day. Photo by Stefen Heiligensetzer
On our last day we thought we would take it easy with a multi pitch sport climb at the Brevent, we decided to climb the classic Poeme a Lou. As usual we ended up having a slight epic getting to the route and traversing across a steep death gully. The climbing was pretty dam good and the rock quality really solid. We were pretty exhausted and I don’t think I have ever tried so hard on a 6b pitch, we spent a lot of the climb talking about some bounty bars and sweets we were going to eat at the top. Only to top out and realise we left all of our packed lunch at the apartment, all we had was 2 tins of tuna and a bag of nuts – bad times.
Jo admiring the view one last time
Anyway we had an amazing trip and learnt a lot. It was a good taster of alpine climbing and I would love to go back and do more at some point. Certainly couldn’t have done it without Jo, we made a good team – thanks buddy!