Mont Blanc?

Well sadly after getting back from our via ferrata adventure it was becoming apparent that the weather was not coming to the party for our Mont Blanc summit attempt. High winds and thunderstorms were predicted for the next week in the high mountains surrounding Chamonix so our guides advised even going to the mountain refuge where we’d planned to start our summit attempt from would be pointless as the weather would definitely permit us to go no further.

Onwards and upwards though and the guides were working hard to find us a new objective to focus on, somewhere away from the current bad weather surrounding the Chamonix valley that would still be a step up from our initial acclimatisation mission of Gran Paradiso.

After much deliberation amongst themselves, the guides agreed that The Aphubel in Switzerland would be our best bet for bagging another 4000+ summit in the current weather conditions as it was suitably far away from Chamonix. The weather report wasn’t exactly favourable with high winds forecast, but we would go and give it a try and if we would need to turn around during our ascent due to bad weather well then that was just a part and parcel of life in the mountains.

We set off early the next morning as we had a long five and a half our drive over to the region of Switzerland where The Alphubel lies. Upon arriving near the mountain, after a quick bite to eat and a relatively short hike we made it to the mountain refuge we would spend the night in before our summit attempt. Whilst being a fair bit more expensive than the Italian refugio, the Swiss one was never the less very modern and clean. It also had an incredible backdrop of the beautiful (and quite intimidating) Weisshorn across the valley.

The next morning it was an early start up the rocky path in the dark to arrive at the foot of the glacier in time for first light. The glacier was a fair bit steeper and much more icey than the semi snow covered glacier of Gran Paradiso. After about five minutes of walking up it in our crampons it dawned on me that falling over would mean sliding very quickly down a steep sheet of hard ice, quite a long way straight onto the rocks below almost definitely resulting in broken bones or far worse. The guides must have been thinking the same thing, as almost just as the thought had entered my mind they insisted we rope together for safety.

Climbing the Alphubel is a longer undertaking as I believe it’s a 1600m climb from the refuge, we definitely spent more time on the glacier than we had on Gran Paradiso. After a couple of hours on the glacier the mountain flattened out to an open plain and the wind started to hit us. Some parties were continuing on via the ridge line but our guides decided it would be better to continue around the back of the mountain out of the wind.

We continued on for some time out of the wind, where it got surprisingly warm, gingerly treading over crevasses and up a final steep section towards the summit. We were a bit out of breath but kept pushing on until the steep ascent flattened out and the summit lay ahead. It was pretty windy up top, but not so windy that we couldn’t get a few victory photos before heading back down again.

Once again the way down went by a lot quicker than the way up and after carefully descending off the glacier, with sore legs we all hobbled back down to the refuge where Vit and I proceeded in polishing off a few beers in celebration of climbing our second summit in a few days.

Naturally there was a bit of disappointment in not being able to climb Mt Blanc, but for me the goal we’d set ourselves months before was a lot more about being physically fit enough and ready to climb Mt Blanc rather than actually climbing the mountain itself. There’s not a single doubt in my mind that we would’ve made it to the top of Mt Blanc if the weather had have been good, so we’ve come away from our trip with a great feeling of working towards an objective and the sense of satisfaction that comes from hard work paying off.

Of course setting a goal doesn’t need to be climbing a mountain, it can be focused on any dream that you want to come true. By setting ourselves a challenge it’s given us so much motivation to work hard and focus on something we really want to achieve. I can say hands down that if we hadn't have had this trip booked I would not have been consistently getting down the gym to train during the crazy busy period at work in the months leading up to our trip.

So my advice to anyone who happens to be reading this is to go and write down that dream you've been secretly thinking of for years but are scared you could never achieve, tell people about it, even post it on social media and make yourself accountable. Than, grit your teeth and get stuck into it, break it down into little pieces and it will suddenly start seeming more achievable, get advice from people who's knowledge is far greater than your own. What have you got to lose? If you fail at least you gave it your all. Give it a try, you never know, it might just end up changing your life forever!

Lay Day

After getting back to Chamonix from Gran Paradiso there was uncertainty from the guides about our weather window for Mont Blanc. The weather currently on the mountains was pretty bad which meant we were stuck in the valley for the time being, so rather than sit around resting, stuffing ourselves at the many restaurants around town or my wife spending all her husband’s hard earned money on new outdoor gear, the guides organised a day out to the newly built via ferrata just outside Passy where the weather still wasn’t too bad.

If you’ve never heard of via ferrata, I believe the direct translation from Italian to English is “the iron path”. In particular, it refers to a large series of iron ladders and cables installed around the Dolomites during the First World War to give Italian troops access through the high mountains whilst fighting with the Austrians to the North. Nowadays, these traditional pathways are enjoyed by hikers looking for an extra thrill, as by simply having a harness with two lanyards it is possible to easily access terrain which would otherwise only be the realm of proficient rock climbers.

Traditionally the area we were in didn’t have any original via ferrata routes, however with the growing popularity of via ferrata over the last decade or so the French government have taken the initiative to build new via ferratas as leisure facilities for the general public to enjoy. We did a few via ferrata routes in the Dolomites on our honeymoon and they were mostly hikes with a few cable and ladder sections. However as John our guide told us “the French have a penchant for the theatrical” and that can be seen in their newly constructed via ferrata routes.

We got to the foot of the via ferrata and it was basically one long “climb” of ladders and traversing cable bridges and rocky ledges. The guides were again very proficient in ensuring all of the group were comfortable as I think Mai and I were the only ones who had any previous via ferrata experience.

This was definitely one of my favourite days of the trip, was loads of fun and a really great way to feel really exposed with some big drops under your feet, but at the same time feeling really safe as you know you’re harnessed into some pretty sturdy steel and all the hand and foot holds were very good.

We actually ended up getting about two thirds of the way along the route before we hit a traffic jam. Apparently it’s not uncommon for people to freeze whilst high up and so exposed, we couldn’t see what was happening ahead but assumed this was the case, so after about 15mins of being stood still watching the thunder and lightning rapidly heading our way we decided to turn around and head back the way we came (if you weren’t already scared of the drop offs under your feet, try being tied of to a steel structure high up on a cliff face while your mountain guides tell you stories of people they know being struck by lightning whilst out in the mountains).

All in all a really fun day out of very basic climbing on quite an exposed route while being very safe. Definitely a welcome break from the suffering of endless walking up a mountain! We even had a paraglide swoop past us pretty close at one point.

Gran Paradiso

After hanging around Chamonix for a few days, we were ready to head over to the headquarters of Mont Blanc Guides, the company we'd booked in with to do our climb. They run a week long schedule containing an acclimatisation peak (Gran Paradiso in Italy, 4061m), followed by an ascent of Mt Blanc itself. Each peak is basically 3 days, the first day you hike up to the Refugio (or mountain refuge), followed by the summit day which starts and ends at the refugio, then on the 3rd day you exit the mountain to return to the valley. With Mt Blanc there's an additional days contingency to allow for inclement weather which can see the summit day start at the Refugio and end all the way back down in the valley, making that summit day a BIG one.

When you do the course with Mt Blanc Guides, all the nights that you're in Chamonix are spent in their accommodation in town which was surprisingly nice. Mai and I scored the studio apartment above the garage which was really spacious. After getting settled in we went upstairs in the main building for our first team meeting to discuss the week ahead with the Guides and our team.

John the owner of Mt Blanc Guides is a really great guy, very personable and has lots of funny/scary mountain stories to tell. Our two other guides for the week were Dave and Fabio who were also very knowledgeable and passionate about the mountains. All of them had LOTS of climbing stories and seemed to be pretty proficient which was comforting to know seeing as the basis of my mountaineering knowledge is having watched nearly every episode of Man Vs Wild with Bear Grylls (impressive I know). We were lucky to have a small team, just six of us, containing two friends Cindy and Lynn from US and UK and Vit and Katrina a couple from Slovakia all of whom were super nice people, a little older than us but also quite a bit fitter too!

The next day we all set out around Chamonix for a last minute gear and snack shopping session before getting into the minibus to head to Italy. We stopped on the way to our destination in a pretty weird little restaurant that's decc'd out with goblin and fairy paintings and statues which I'm assuming was just part of local culture, where the food was good and the coffee amazing. Then it was onto the Gran Paradiso to start our acclimatisation mission.

Now climbing the Gran Paradiso is a very important part of your acclimatisation for Mt Blanc, but make no mistake, it's also a test. If you're not fit enough to get up the Gran Paradiso, guess what, you're not even going to Mt Blanc let alone attempting to climb it. So after hiking up to and staying the night in the absolutely awesome family run Refugio Federico Chabod, I think we were all a bit anxious to get going the following morning to see if all our training had paid off.

We started out pretty early and after an hour or so of hiking you make it to the glacier where you put on your crampons and rope up. It wasn't our first time walking on a glacier, but probably was the first time walking on one where there was a real danger of falling in a crevasse. The Guides talked us through some techniques to moving in a group over glaciers and was good to be learning some new skills.

We zig zagged up the glacier for what seemed like quite a while until it finally flattened out onto the mountain at the foot of the steeper rocky section before the summit. We did a bit of scrambling up the rocks where a queue was starting to form (such is life on one of the easier 4000m peaks in the European alps). After not too much time we were at the only technical part of the climb which was a bit of a scramble traverse over quite an exposed drop. You get roped in so really wasn't that bad and also there was so much cloud cover it was hard to see the drop so that probably helped too.

After the rock traverse we were at the summit and I found myself a bit surprised by how quickly we'd got there. Don't get me wrong, there was a lot of walking but wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Of course as they say, the summit is only half way, so after a couple of celebratory photos it was time to start making our way down. The way down was WAY quicker than the climb and we were back in the refugio drinking beers within a couple of hours.

All in all Gran Paradiso was a pretty great couple of days, definitely our first 4000m peak and a good confidence builder that we were properly acclimatised and fit enough (just!) to have a crack at Mt Blanc!

Welcome to Chamonix

Well firstly I feel I need to start this post by just saying wow .... Chamonix .... what a place! I think to call it the outdoor adventure capital of Europe may be fair? It's just a very nice picturesque mountain town in the French alps with a pretty serious history of mountaineering, skiing, alpinism and all sorts of outdoor activities. Extremely touristy of course, but hey tourists generally don't flock to places that are dull with not much to see or do.

When we arrived in Chamonix there was a lot of cloud cover and it was raining so we couldn't initially see the famous Chamonix needles. After a quick bite to eat and a short walk around town looking at the outdoor gear shops (so Mai could get her fix!), we were keen to get up to the Aiguille du Midi on the cable car to get a head start on our acclimatisation.

It's a pretty amazing situation for anyone planning a journey into the alpine realm to have a cable car that can take you up to an altitude of 3842m with absolutely no physical effort whatsoever! We planned to utilise this very handy facility to maximise our acclimatisation over the course of the next two days (which actually turned out to be 3 days as we had our dates mixed up!) spending as much time up the top as possible. It was definitely a gradual improvement with us both feeling pretty out of breath the first couple of times, however slowly but surely we both started feeling better each time to the point where I was trying to do as many laps of the stairs around the complex as possible to try and sneak in a bit of excercise (that's when we weren't sitting around drinking hot chocolate of course!).

The first two days the weather was pretty grey and cloudy, but then it all cleared up for the third day and we got to enjoy the amazing mountain views from both the valley floor and the Aiguille du Midi complex and got our first good look at Mt Blanc ...... looks pretty high ...... but doable!

Training's Over

Well, we were hoping to step up our training even further in these last two weeks before flying out, but alas Mai has been crazy busy at work and I've picked up a chest infection! Ah well, such is life, the timing for me getting sick could have been worse I guess, hopefully with some rest I'll be fine by the time we get to Chamonix. It's a pretty hard choice to stop training in favour of rest, but think it's the wiser one to make. I don't think my conditioning would really come along too much when I'm sick anyway and the danger of prolonging sickness by training is almost guaranteed.

The weekend before I got sick we were both pretty busy at work so couldn't get up to the Blue Mountains like we wanted, so opted for a Saturday morning session in the altitude chamber (or torture chamber as I've started to call it), followed by a some sand walking from Collaroy Point to North Narrabeen and back.

The altitude chamber's a pretty handy training facility that's for sure. It doesn't actually apply the same air pressure as being at altitude but rather matches the percentage of oxygen in the air that you would find there. I think simulation is a great tool when training for anything and seeing as there's not really any opportunity to train at real altitude in Australia this has got to be the next best thing.

The reason I call it the torture chamber is not because it's ridiculously hard, it's really as hard as you make it (and I will always try and push myself in there) but because it can be pretty boring and a bit confined walking fast on a treadmill with a heavy pack in a tiny room! It is pretty convenient though and just easy to know that it's a one hour training session where you don't have to think too much, just get in there and get on with it.

Getting Heavy

Another weekend, another amazing walk in one of the great outdoor areas surrounding Sydney. We were back in the Blue Mountains this week as I finally had an entire weekend off work, yeewwww! (It's been a while)

We thought we'd do the Wentworth Falls Loop this week for two reasons. The first being that we are lucky enough to have a couple of friends who live in Wentworth Falls who very generously put us up for the night from time to time, often spoil us with dinner and generally put up with our shit! Cheers boys, you're legends. Second reason is we decided to up the weight in our packs a bit this week and didn't want to over do it with a really long walk.

At 10kms the Wentworth Falls Loop still isn't a bad walk lengthwise and there's definitely lots of steep climbs and descents. It's also just a really beautiful part of the Blue Mountains so is always a pleasure to get out and enjoy the spectacular views.

Mai was carrying just over 10kgs and I was carrying a little over 20kgs. Oh man were we feeling it!? Ha, a bit more weight makes such a big difference, but think it's really great training in preparation for Mont Blanc. I mean carrying extra weight at no altitude must go towards simulating how much harder everything is once you're up at 4800m. We brought our walking poles along but didn't need to use them which was good because I think our legs needed the workout the most and we're both pretty comfortable hiking with poles so it will be nice to have them at hand on the mountain in case we need them.

Once again feeling the benefits of just having a good excuse to get outdoors and get some really good excercise done. We went to look at a house on Saturday that was really expensive and just incredibly average, was honestly a bit down about the fact that we can't afford a house in this crazy city we live in (not many people our age can!). However getting out in the wild gets your mind in a happier place, you start to realise life's not about things and what you've got, it's about experiences and what you do. If we weren't training for Mont Blanc I guarantee we wouldn't have got out on the trails this weekend and would probably have just been sat at home doing nothing.

Just Keep Going

Once again the week's been busy with work, life seems to be a constant battle between doing what we really want to do and making sure by doing that we're not still going to be working until we're in our 90's to get by! It's all good though, pressure's starting to ease for me at work as of tomorrow (hopefully) which may just leave me to focus a tiny bit more on our goal of getting in shape to climb Mont Blanc.

It's hard to know if what you're doing is enough, I mean we would certainly like to be doing a little bit more than we currently are but have both had a lot on our plates lately. We didn't go to the altitude chamber this week on Tuesday, still feeling a bit wrecked from our run around Narrabeen lake, but did on Thursday which was actually our wedding anniversary. There's no better way to celebrate 5 years of marriage than struggling to breathe while sweating buckets on a treadmill in a very small room with the air pressure equivalent to 4000m altitude I find! Don't worry we did go out for dinner on Friday as well.

So at least we did do something during the week this week, but with only four and a half weeks to go until we fly to Europe I think we could do with stepping it up a little.

We did still do our weekend training session this week too. We were originally planning on another walk in the Blue Mountains but thought we'd go a bit closer to home instead. Have had a window open on my iPad for ages now of the Mount Kuring Gai to Cowan walk (via Berowra Waters) so thought we'd give it a go.

The walk starts and finishes at train stations which is pretty handy when doing a one way walk. Mai's watch had it as about 18kms (although website said 17.2kms), either way we completed it in around 5 hours. There was quite a lot of up and down which was good, not quite as steep as a lot of trails in the Blue Mountains but still some good hills that got the legs pumping. Was nice to see a wild area so close to Sydney that we'd never really been to before.

If nothing else training for Mont Blanc has been a great excuse to go and do a lot of really great day walks in and around Sydney that we might never have done otherwise! Mai was struggling a bit today but did really well to push through and get it done, particularly as the last 2kms we were practically sprinting to make sure we didn't miss our train. I think mental conditioning is just as important as physical for us at the moment and being able to keep going when things are getting tough is exactly the kind of mindset we are going to need when we're on the mountain in July.