backcountry journal
April 06
This is a particularly long and detailed trip report that focuses on the moment by moment experience of climbing Mont Blanc and then snowboarding back down. To many it is over the top in detail. To experienced mountaineers it will seem ridiculous that I found it so hard. To an everyday person like me it was quite an event.
The first ascent of Mont Blanc was in 1786. The flood of interest that this generated for the high mountains was the conception of modern alpinism. Over the next 100 years there were 3000 summit attempts. On his honeymoon in 1886, the then not yet President Theodore Roosevelt led a successful summit team. The modern record for running in summer from the town of Chamonix (1000m) to the summit (4810m) and back is a ridiculously fast 5 hours and 10 minutes. In recent years there are between 200 and 300 departures for the summit every day in summer. It looks like it is easy, and in some conditions and on some approaches it is indeed a relatively easy summit to reach. At the time of year we attempted it and given the route we took, I personally did not think it was easy at all. Yet it most certainly opened the door to mountaineering and the arts of alpinism. For a mountain that endures so much human abuse, I suspect it changes many who spend a lot of time in the area.
The first ascent of Mont Blanc was in 1786. The flood of interest that this generated for the high mountains was the conception of modern alpinism. Over the next 100 years there were 3000 summit attempts. On his honeymoon in 1886, the then not yet President Theodore Roosevelt led a successful summit team. The modern record for running in summer from the town of Chamonix (1000m) to the summit (4810m) and back is a ridiculously fast 5 hours and 10 minutes. In recent years there are between 200 and 300 departures for the summit every day in summer. It looks like it is easy, and in some conditions and on some approaches it is indeed a relatively easy summit to reach. At the time of year we attempted it and given the route we took, I personally did not think it was easy at all. Yet it most certainly opened the door to mountaineering and the arts of alpinism. For a mountain that endures so much human abuse, I suspect it changes many who spend a lot of time in the area.
Here is a crumby old picture from a few seasons ago looking up at the summit from the streets of Chamonix. I chose this image as it is not a framed shot of the summit, rather a snap taken from any old street just like you would see each day when you went out to buy bread. I bet most people would be understandably wrong in their guess as to which spot is the actual summit. It is the least obvious and lowest looking of the 4 main peaks in this picture. The distant peak in the middle
Looking back I think I was partially motivated by the boyish appeal of climbing and then riding down the highest mountain in the European Alps. But the bulk of my motivation was that itchy hunger for continual progression and experience. In late winter I got in contact with a guiding company that was offering a group snowboard ascent and descent in spring. I had been a client of theirs in the past and knew that each spring they attempted the summit but over the last few years had only made it up once (in the one week time window that they make available). The plans came together in a rather non-committal manner in that I didn't know if they would even have enough other people interested in joining the team and nor did I know if I was going to be in the region at the time. This all resulted in me doing way less research and preparation than is typical. In fact, I really didn't think much of it. When the arrangements fell into place I just turned up, met the other guys on the team and we went touring.
To become personally acquainted and to test our capacity for effort we spent a few days touring around the Chamonix valley. The idea was to warm up to the summit attempt, which is exactly what we did. By the time the day of the summit came we had put in 4 days of good honest touring, ending in the long 5 hour climb of the Aiguille de Argentiere. We were warmed up and had benefited from some valuable acclimatisation, but we were also a little worn out. I personally had been touring for several days prior to that with my girlfriend and was living in a camper van and in need of a decent shower after a week of daily exercise.
There are many ways to reach the summit of Mont Blanc. The most popular in summer is the Gouter route. It is short and technically easy, however prone to rock falls in one area. Overall, this is an unsatisfying route from a mountaineers perspective, so in retrospect, I am glad that we did not take it. However, there was talk of taking a helicopter to the Italian side and hiking the last 1000m with the single objective of riding from the summit. This would have achieved the goal, but would have been a terrible way to go about it. I am really glad that idea did not transpire. The final plan was to take an approach that I had previously not researched, but have read plenty about it since. The aim was to take the 'three summits' route. It means literally that you have to traverse two summits before getting first sight of the Mont Blanc summit. So really, it is three +4000m peaks in one long effort.
We had that afternoon returned from a big two days of touring and I received a phone call from one of the guides to let me know that the weather was good and an attempt was on for the very next day! I was properly worn out and wasted valuable sleeping time driving the campervan to a caravan park 1 hour away just so that I could have a shower. The next morning I drove all the way back to Chamonix and met with the guides who told me the plan with the punch line: "if conditions are good and we are fit then we might reach the summit in 8 hours. Normal is 10 hours, it may take us longer." It was starting to dawn on me that I needed to have a big breakfast. Thank god I didn't have any blisters from the previous days of effort.
To become personally acquainted and to test our capacity for effort we spent a few days touring around the Chamonix valley. The idea was to warm up to the summit attempt, which is exactly what we did. By the time the day of the summit came we had put in 4 days of good honest touring, ending in the long 5 hour climb of the Aiguille de Argentiere. We were warmed up and had benefited from some valuable acclimatisation, but we were also a little worn out. I personally had been touring for several days prior to that with my girlfriend and was living in a camper van and in need of a decent shower after a week of daily exercise.
There are many ways to reach the summit of Mont Blanc. The most popular in summer is the Gouter route. It is short and technically easy, however prone to rock falls in one area. Overall, this is an unsatisfying route from a mountaineers perspective, so in retrospect, I am glad that we did not take it. However, there was talk of taking a helicopter to the Italian side and hiking the last 1000m with the single objective of riding from the summit. This would have achieved the goal, but would have been a terrible way to go about it. I am really glad that idea did not transpire. The final plan was to take an approach that I had previously not researched, but have read plenty about it since. The aim was to take the 'three summits' route. It means literally that you have to traverse two summits before getting first sight of the Mont Blanc summit. So really, it is three +4000m peaks in one long effort.
We had that afternoon returned from a big two days of touring and I received a phone call from one of the guides to let me know that the weather was good and an attempt was on for the very next day! I was properly worn out and wasted valuable sleeping time driving the campervan to a caravan park 1 hour away just so that I could have a shower. The next morning I drove all the way back to Chamonix and met with the guides who told me the plan with the punch line: "if conditions are good and we are fit then we might reach the summit in 8 hours. Normal is 10 hours, it may take us longer." It was starting to dawn on me that I needed to have a big breakfast. Thank god I didn't have any blisters from the previous days of effort.
Route plan and description
Day 1: Rest and relaxation. Take the cable car to the Aiguille de Midi and spend the morning snowboarding a rare nice part of the Vallee Blanche back down to Chamonix for a big lunch. Take the cable car back up to the Midi in the afternoon and spend the night in the Cosmiques hut at 3600m.
Day 2:
Day 2:
- Wake at 1am for breakfast and a 2am departure.
- Climb Mont Blanc du Tacul (4200m),
- Descend to col Maudit at 4000m,
- Climb Mont Maudit (4400m)
- Descend to col de la Brenva (4300m)
- Climb the Mont Blanc summit (4810m)
- Snowboard down the summit's north face to Chamonix
- Descend to col Maudit at 4000m,
- Climb Mont Maudit (4400m)
- Descend to col de la Brenva (4300m)
- Climb the Mont Blanc summit (4810m)
- Snowboard down the summit's north face to Chamonix
The three summits route is like a giant staircase that covers a horizontal 5km and gives a net vertical ascent of only 1300m. Taking into account the descents down the back side of the first two summits you enjoy about 1600m of cumulative vertical ascent. Using my considerable non-IT geek abilities, I made this profile chart in Excel. We started on the left and ended on the right.
Another way of looking at it is using a picture taken of my favourite possession, a large plastic 3D topographic map of the entire Mont Blanc massif on a 1:50,000 scale. It shows the route of ascent in green and descent in blue. The route of descent ends at the entrance to the Mont Blanc Tunnel, with the road in red. On this 'summer' map the permanently glaciated areas are in white. That is not the snow line.
This picture has the route drawn in green (ascent) and very feint blue for descent
Finally, another representation of the ascent and descent. This time up in blue and down in green. Unlike the above picture, this shot was taken in the same week as the actual ascent.
The story
On day 1 we enjoyed a nice bit of early off-piste snowboarding and I ate two bowls of big pasta in Chamonix for lunch. One guy had partially snapped his board that morning and went off to get another one. It was a warm spring afternoon and we sat around with our gear piled up drinking a few beers whilst looking directly up at the summit. From town, the summit looks like a big white dome, like a mellow hill. Many visitors don't even realise that they are looking at the summit. It looks very easy and benign.
We re-grouped later in the afternoon at the Midi cable car station and up we went. I know everyone in the group felt strange when we arrived at the top. It was approaching closing time and what was a busy and sunny Aiguille du Midi that morning was now empty, quiet and cold. We traversed off to the Cosmiques hut and we all complained about the miniscule 100m ascent you have to walk to reach the hut. It is a nice new almost luxury hut that in recent years has made the ascent of Mont Blanc from the three summit approach more popular.
We re-grouped later in the afternoon at the Midi cable car station and up we went. I know everyone in the group felt strange when we arrived at the top. It was approaching closing time and what was a busy and sunny Aiguille du Midi that morning was now empty, quiet and cold. We traversed off to the Cosmiques hut and we all complained about the miniscule 100m ascent you have to walk to reach the hut. It is a nice new almost luxury hut that in recent years has made the ascent of Mont Blanc from the three summit approach more popular.
The amazing Cosmiques Hut (3600m).
continued on the next page