Alps Trip report August 2005, or What I Did On My Holidays By Dave

Venue: Argentiere
Participants: David Wright, Mike Pollitt, Kate Webster, Simon Binnie

After deciding that at least somebody in a mountaineering club should know what the summit of a real mountain looks like a group of adventurous souls set off from a grey and very flat Britain for the sunnier climes of the south of France and the heights of the Chamonix valley. Mike intending to spend a couple of weeks walking from refuge to refuge via the high passes of southern France and Switzerland the rest aiming to climb a few of the easier peaks in the region particularly Mont Blanc (hereafter B.W.B.). So after an uneventful journey, during which it was discovered that Vango, through some extraordinary feat of modern design, had produced a 4 man tent that weighed in at a featherweight 12 Kg! Our merry band established a base camp in the village of Argentiere. An afternoon walk along the valley into Chamonix to obtain food and fuel soon proved that a period of acclimatisation was needed for everyone though the views from the woodland path of the Dru and the B.W.B had removed any doubts about there being plenty of good sport to be had in the area. The next day the weather was sunny and so everyone began the process of getting fit. Simon and Kate went up to the Grand Monets cable car station in the company of the convile course guides and had an exciting day being introduced to the varied skills of glacier travel and basic ice craft. Meanwhile Mike and I set off to attempt the ascent of Le Buet a peak of some 3200m on the north side of the valley. The walk in along a pleasant hanging valley (photos) was soon dispatched and the real business, the ascent of the valley’s headwall, begun. However as the gradient steapend the thin air told and our progress slowed. It soon became clear that we would not be able to summit and reach our return train however we continued crossing the last of the winter snows to reach the crest of the main ridge at 2700m where we paused to gaze longingly over the high peaks to our south and at the remaining path as it crossed a small rocky cywm and climbed to the snows of the summit ridge. However we turned back descending quickly over our ascent route to meet our train proving that it was acclimatisation not skill or fitness that was missing. The next day saw the party split again with Kate and Simon going up to the Albert Premier hut to spend sometime jumping into crevasses and from which they ascended the Aiguille du Tour in fine style with a convile course guide. Crossing over the frontier ridge to the Tour glacier and ascending easy snow and rock on the mountains southern side. Meanwhile Mike and me were joined by Simon II (one of Mike’s Cambridge friends) [Actually known as “Drogo, formerly known as Simon” I’m reliably informed…] and headed up to reconnoitre the Argentiere glacier for later in the trip. A long slog up dry piste and then glacial moraine was rewarded with good views of the spectacular Argentiere basin (photos here) and the lower icefall. When the path left the moraine and descended on to the glacier I left Mike and Simon II in order to scout out the route round the upper icefall toward the Argentiere hut and to remind myself what crampons felt like. As events would prove I didn’t go far enough up the glacier before returning to our camp descending via a very nice wooded path. The next day Mike and Simon II set off for a long tramp through Switzerland and the rest of us packed gear for our first serious assault on the high peaks the next morning. However a quick glance out of the tent at the mist recommended a days delay in setting off. So instead of going high we spent the day sports climbing at Le Joux. Basking in the sun while the B.W.B. and the rest of the tops remained in cloud. Next morning with slightly better weather we took an early cable car to the Grand Monets station and then set off for the north face of the petite aiguille verte (3500m) an easy peak near the cable car station. Things did not start well my crampon coming off twice in the first 150m of the approach slope but both slips were stopped quickly giving me confidence that I hadn’t forgotten my axe work! Still we quickly arrived at the base of the face, which we expected to be about 50-60º and to give very straightforward front point work. Instead the ice of the burgschrund was at 85-110º and the slope above at 75-80º giving a much harder proposition. After securing a belay in the burgschrund Simon set off and after much struggle got established on the face. However Kate’s walking axe proved inadequate for the task and we were forced to retreat and traversed under the burgschrund to the base of the north west ridge here the burgschrund was easier to cross and the broken rocks of the lower ridge quickly dealt with. After reaching the base of the main tower we tried to regain the crest of the ridge too soon and had a hard climb (III) up a short gully to gain the crest this was followed in a very exposed position (500m on the left 1500m + on the right) toward the summit. However following this over broken and loose ground moving together proved too much for already frayed nerves and as pitching was going to be far too slow this late in the day we decided to retreat despite being within 50-100m of the summit. A competent descent followed only to be greeted 300m from the cable car station by an announcement that the last car would leave in 2 minutes. This left no option but to continue with our original plan of a descent to the argentere glacier and a bivouac on its right bank (photos). The absolute stillness and pristine beauty of a night in a high alpine valley has to be experienced to be understood. It is however cold so we remained in our bivi bags until the sun began to reach our bivouac site late next morning. Taking stock after breakfast we decided we were too tiered/sunburnt/dehydrated/scared to try another peak next day and so packed up the kit and set off for the trek down the glacier to the valley. The first part of this went smoothly crossing the glacier easily to reach its left bank just above the upper icefall. This we reached a little too low and therefore missed the exit on to the rocks of the left bank. I then made this mistake worse by trying to descend further in the hope of finding either a way past the ice fall on its left bank or a way though the crevasses in the centre having seen parties appear to follow this line earlier in the trip. It was at this point that Kate slipped and suffered a minor graze the scar from which she now shows off with great aplomb. While Simon was scouting a possible route down the left bank Kate managed to dislodge a fridge sized bolder and hugging it for company headed for the burgschrund at the edge of the glacier. Once the fall had been held and we had regrouped I decided we could no longer justify continuing in this line. As we were preparing to head back up the glacier I spotted a broken gully coming down from the ledges above, a short traverse across an exposed slab, a scramble up the gully and we were back on “safe” ground. A quick trip along the glacier led to the final disappointment of having missed the last cable car (again) and thus had a long slog down the ski slopes back into Argentiere. Arriving back worn out, hungry and dejected we were glad to find a takeaway pizza van at the campsite! Though the rain on the tent as we woke next morning confirmed that the decision to come down was the right one. The next two days saw a lot of rain and Mike’s return from wandering around Switzerland. Given the fresh snow the Thursday saw us unable to attempt any high routes despite good weather. So me, Kate and Simon head off up the Index chair lift to climb the Aiguille d’Index (what else?) and Mike head off to walk along the Plan Praz to the base of the Brevant. The rest of the Chamonix seemed to have decided to go walking on that side of the valley and it took over an hour to get on the cable car. Once at the top and across the building site to the base of the Index (photos) we geared up and set off only to get 5m before finding that progress was blocked by a party of Geordie’s one of whom couldn’t get up the only hard move on the climb (IV at worst) and didn’t know what to do about it. Eventually as I was climbing past the stuck climber the fun was enhanced by having another group decide to abseil down the pitch at the same time. At this point another long walk down to the valley seamed to loom before us. However once past this party rapid progress was possible up the next 2 pitches until we ran into their friends who were then going very slowly up the last two pitches. This bunch managed to miss the top stance (on the summit!) and took one slightly lower with another party joining from another route and a slone ranger in exile coming along behind me and clipping to my gear the rope work got quite complex but we did reach the abseil point to find the Geordie’s using both fixed chains to very sloooowly descend and still further enhance the reputation that British alpinists have for competence. However following Chamonix’s slone ranger down 2 quick abseils (showing she had picked up all the local customs) soon got us down to the chair lift and another long wait (1 ½ hours) for the cable car to the valley and more pizza.

The next day saw the group split once more Mike and Kate to wander through the valleys and passes south of Chamonix. By all accounts this wander through alpine meadows had Kate in the mood for a Sound of Music revival though Mike wasn’t so enthused. Simon and me, pausing only long enough to be sexually harassed by a bunch of chavettes on a hen weekend, set off up to the cosmiques hut via the wonderland that is the midi station to attempt Mont Blanc du Tacul as a final acclimatisation for the B.W.B it’s self. The route was approached with a certain degree of trepidation, as the week before a serac fall had killed a member of a British army team climbing it and the fresh snowfall was unlikely to have improved its condition. Looking at the route from the midi station however showed a good track in place that avoided the serac fall lines as far as possible. If the route was tackled at the right time and the snow had consolidated well then the avalanche danger looked minimal. So the next morning we set off from the hut at 3am aiming to be on the top soon after dawn. However the weather had closed in and the mountain appeared determined to welcome us by giving us a good taste of typical “Scottish” conditions (cold, high wind, mist and poorly consolidated powder snow). We were glad of the track as we ascended the face at night in whiteout conditions. At the top the area under the seracs added to the impression of Scotland at 4000m by as a thin crust of windslab wouldn’t support our weight and left little pieces to slip off down the slope bellow us. In the end it was a relief to emerge on to the summit ridge in the early dawn light to find a gap in the cloud and solid snow despite the high wind. The summit rocks were quickly dispatched and the summit cross reached (photos). The summit was cold and the clouds had returned so we quickly set off down and reached the top of the valley blanche an hour ahead of guidebook time despite the poor conditions. Returning to the hut very tired we recovered while waiting for the weather to improve and still worn out ascended back to the midi station. The descent left you with a truly surreal feeling. At one point you are cramponing up a snow ridge perhaps 2m wide with a 150m drop on one side and 1500m drop on the other. Half an hour latter you are sitting in a Chamonix restaurant having lunch and the high mountain slopes seem a barely real half remembered dream.

Looking at the weather forecast we decided to spend the next day in the valley and go up to bivouac near the gouter hut on the following day. So on the Monday morning we set off to join the crowds heading up to the aiguille d’ gouter via Les Houches and Nig d’aiguille. After longer walks than expected due to making the unwarranted assumption that Les Houches station was actually in Les Houches rather than 3 miles away on the other side of the valley! Up a quite little cable car that appeared to run when there were more than 6 people wanting to go one way and then over a little alpine meadow not too spoilt by the ski lifts overhead to the tramway. There we got our first glimpse of the crowds that attempt this route on every good day as we sat waiting for the tram. Standing holding on to a strap attached to the roof bar with an almost frictionless ring we were then hauled another 500m up the mountain along with a bunch of tourists all piled up in a heap at the bottom of the car. The end of the tramway is odd; it just stops for no obvious reason. The next 100m or so of path are obviously graded and widened to take tram track though one bridge is not (yet?) in place. It feels like the workers were called away to a war that would “be over by Christmas” and never came back. We got away from the station quickly and soon left the tourists behind as the path climbed quickly up a rocky valley with more chamois than people. This soon levelled out to a broad plateaux above which a good path climbed up to the edge of the tete rouge glacier and the inevitable sign saying effectively “you are on a mountain, if you fall over and brake both your legs don’t come running to us”. A short glacier crossing lead to the notorious couloir, where the best advice for a safe crossing is look, listen and run, though its reputation has more to do with the number of people crossing it than the actual degree of objective danger. After that we had a steep scramble up the right hand arête of the couloir to the gouter hut and then along the snow slopes behind to reach our bivi site (photos) most defiantly a room with a view. The stove was soon on for some very welcome hot drinks and dinner as soon as we had melted enough snow. After dinner we got into our bivi bags and tried to sleep. Getting up at midnight proved very easy, as my sleeping bag was too thin to cope with the temperature of –10 or less even though our bivi site was on the leeward side of the ridge. After sitting on the bivi site with our hands around a gas cylinder we decided that hot chocolate wasn’t worth the wait and set of on the first leg of the long slow haul up the BWB. We quickly crossed the bivi site and set of up the face of the Dome du Gouter, It was soon obvious that we were one of the faster parties on the route but even so we were finding the going quite tough. I could just about get into a steady pace but Simon could only get a 50 yards, rest, 50 yards, rest pattern. [In my defence we still hacked about an hour out of guidebook time… Ed] In the rest pauses looking back I could see the great chain of headlamps winding up the ridge and face from the Gouter hut looking brighter and more populous than the lights of the Chamonix valley bellow. As we rose higher we could begin to see across the Aguille Rouge and into the Rhone valley and the plain of southern France beyond. Crossing the col we set off up the slopes bellow the Bosses ridge and quickly reached the Vallot hut at the base of the ridge in fast guidebook time. Stopping here for some much needed water and chocolate, we switched leaders and set of again up an unending steep slope to the fore-summit across this and then started to wind our way through the cornices of the main ridge. At about this time it started to get light allowing you to fully appreciate the exposure of the position with a steep drop on one side down to Chamonix a good 3km drop bellow us and with the Italian side looking slightly closer at 2-2.5km down to the plateaux we could see. This was followed by the summit ridge with a nice wide 1/2m of flat pieste to put your feet on and then 40° slopes on either side. It was also foreshortened so it looked only about 1/3 as long as it was. Luckily there was a howling gale blowing up it so life felt easier. We reached the summit just as the sun did so our view over the Alps was bathed in a lovely pink glow (photos). We stayed on top for about 10 minutes to admire the view before deciding that impending frostbite and the oncoming crowds made a descent advisable. So we headed off down staying in the trench at first and stepping out only to wait and allow ascending parties to pass. However as the waits grew longer, our confidence better and noses colder in the wind-chill (-10-15C air temp in a 60-70kph wind) we started to walk down the Chamonix side of the path stopping only when we reached the vallot hut. Our descent was enlightened by two things, first wondering what made somebody choose to climb the BWB in jeans (mind you they were moving quickly and confidently so couldn’t complain) and Simons cheer as one of a group slowing us down dropped a walking pole down toward Italy. A short yomp down good snow and we soon descended what had taken 2 hours hard slog in the early hours and reached the bivi site. Then the real fun began, descending 500m of loose rock to the coulior while avoiding a large Russian party that insisted on clipping the “fixed” ropes as if they were via-ferata with static slings. Which led to a debate over what would brake first if they fell, the sling, the harness or the anchors, given the truly solid nature of the rock my money was on the latter. Then yet more fun as a group of German school kids demonstrated how not to cross the coulior standing in the middle transfixed as the rocks/Russians came skitting down. 30 seconds after they finished we were both across and felt like we were once again on safe ground. Having crossed the glacier we then started on the “easy” walk out. Well it was easy enough on the way in. However tired, dehydrated and hungry crossing long dry plateaux of loose rock and scree was just what we didn’t need. In the end it took us longer to get down than to get up. As the afternoon wore on the valleys just seemed to get longer and longer. Eventually we reached the overpriced drinks and sandwiches of the tramway terminus with great satisfaction. Somehow we found the energy to drag our exhausted frames back to Argentiere and the campsite before sleeping for the rest of the afternoon and most of the next day waiting for Mike and Kate to return. All that remained was a long slog back to Geneva airport, a long wait in the departure lounge and a return to London in time for curry.