Prelude

I have no I dea how the idea to go to Mt.Blanc came to me. Yes, I do love the mountains - as little as I have experienced them, which is approximately one trip to the Presidential Range in New Hampshire's White Mountains during every summer of my ten-year stay in America. I can also proudly say that I had previous mountain experience at above 3000 meters height, having once driven up to the Haleakala crater in Hawaii National Park, on the island of Maui. I had also been to the Alps before. Plus, skiing is a must every winter.

Of course, being from Estonia, snow is not exactly foreign to me, although mountains are - relatively speaking. The highest peak in Estonia is a hill called The Big Egghill, which looms at awe-inspiring :-) 318 meters height from sea level.

In any case, at some point during the winter, the decision was made. My husband agreed. He had been there with his alpinism club in 1997, and had lots of useful advice to share from what gear to bring to what to do in case an avalanche hits.

Preparation


The main thing I was worried about was my physical shape and endurance. Attempts to once again start jogging regularly, like I had done in my pre-baby era, all ended in futility. The most I could squeeze out of my scedule between work, the toddler, housework, and other responsibilities were regular weekly Shaping work-outs and an occasional second, or on particularly good weeks, even a third excercise session.

On the technical side, I had done some rock climbing, both in the nature and in the gym. Since I had not sought out anything extreme, but had so far satisfied myself with the likes of the Astangu limestone wall in Tallinn and Chapel Ledge in Western Massachusetts, I had so far found the climbing part to be pure pleasure and relatively easy. The fact that I spent most of my childhood climbing trees might play a role here. And of course, having tree-dwelling tendencies to begin with, I had done the ropes course Nõmme Seikluspark in Tallinn, where the "black" course actually started to get a bit challenging. My husband and I had also gone ice climbing on the measly icewall wannabes one could find for that purpose in Estonia in the winter. These approximately 10-meter-high walls were just enough to get a hang of the technique a little bit. So I was also somewhat worried about my skills on ice, not to mention the fact that one could always know more about the practices and tricks of the pros, including even simple things like knots. For the last purpose, I had purchased an excellent book by Des Pawson, called "Handbook of Knots". You can also learn the basics online, for example at Animated Knots by Grog.


I also needed a companion. My husband was to stay at home with our daughter, so obviously he was out. My most crazy (in a good sense) best friend didn't think that a trip at the planned time would fit into her schedule this summer, although she would really have liked to come. And other people just told me pretty much that I was nuts, but good luck nevertheless. I also considered going with a group, but by the time I went to sign up my name at some point in February, all the spots in the group of Estonians were already full, and there was even a considerable waiting list.

Finally I was able to coax my sister Kristiina to join in my crazy plans. She had no prior encounters with either rock climbing or ice climbing, but had, like me, spent her childhood in the trees. Plus, she is quite a decent snowboarder (= seen a mountain or two in her life). At least I knew she wasn't a wussy.


I did lots of research on the internet about getting there, the best routes to the top, the gear deemed necessary by people who wander around in these mountains regularly. It was somewhat frustrating, because I couldn't find any web sites, which could give me the whole story. I did, however, find a few that I deemed particularly helpful:


Since my husband had done the "regular" Italian route (via the Gonella hut) and told me that it was mostly like hiking and only some more serious mountaineering, and having read that the Italian routes tend to be a lot less crowded, the decision was made to try to approach the summit from the Italian side, possibly via the Quintino Sella hut.


Besides, I love Italy, the food there, and speak some rudimentary Italian, all of which I cannot say about France - or at least couldn't before the trip. (Sorry, all my French friends!)


The Trip Begins

Wednesday, July 18th Tallinn-Geneva and adventures in Geneva trying to find our way to our destination: Courmayeur


The first shock hit at the Tallinn Airport, when I dumped my backpack on the scale and saw that it weighed 22 kilos. This was after I had unzipped the two side pockets full of all kinds of electronic stuff (like my cell phone, the GPS receiver, walkie-talkies, etc.) to take along as cabin luggage, which certainly weighed a few more kilos. I was worried, but there was really not much to do - we had taken care to pack as light as possible already.

A few minutes after departing with our check-in luggage and just beginning to feel happy about being able to walk around without all the weight, we got pulled back to the counter by security. Apparently there were suspicious/restricted items in our backpacks. The first thought was that the security might be unhappy about the ice axe or crampons (how would we manage without these?), but luckily it turned out to be the two small containers of cooking gas. How did we not think of this before? However, we determined that it must be possible to procure gas from local sources, so never mind. The security guard also inquired about another suspicious-looking item on the X-ray screen, which turned out to be a set of cooking containers that all fit neatly into one another like the Russian Matryoshka dolls.


Since the cooking containers contained no hazardous substances, the guard was finally satisfied. And I was amazed at the speed at which the entire procedure of discovering potentially dangerous items had taken place - we had barely walked 10 meters away from the check-in counter. After parting with the cooking gas, our bags were re-checked and we were allowed to continue on.

The rest of the air trip went smoothly. We arrived at the Geneva International Airport without a hitch. The pilot landed the Finnair Boeing 757 so smoothly that you could hardly feel it. From the airport we asked for directions to downtown/our hotel, which I had wisely booked over the internet the night before, and were instructed to take any train from the airport and get off at the next stop, which would be downtown. The train ticket cost 3 Swiss Francs (approximately 2 Euro) per person.


Hotel Admiral, Geneva 46° 12' 37,1" N 6° 08' 45,1" E
The hotel was super (a three-star), although as we discovered during our evening stroll, it was located in a what's normally considered a somewhat, khm, shady area. When booking the hotel the night before, I had just been looking for something as close to the train and bus stations as possible. Across the street there was a locale called "CRUELLA" with rather grahic signage depicting the male organ (well, I suppose one could have also taken it to be a lipstick?) and less than a block from the place we could view girls wearning 7-inch heels, thongs, and skirts so short that we could see that it was thongs they were wearing. Didn't bother us, though, it was more of a curiosity thing. After grabbing some snacks for a light supper and enjoying the view of Lac Leman (the lake in Geneva), our main concern became figuring out how to get to Courmayeur, Italy.


A trip to the main bus station, Gare Routiere, (as we later found out it was called) just three blocks away turned up nothing of value, besides the knowlede that on Wednesdays and Thursdays the station was closed after 7PM . Just our luck - it was a Wednesday. On the large sign outside containing what appeared to be the bus schedule, the only item injecting some hope was a bus going to Aosta at 6AM.


Since we were rather tired, and a prospect of having to wake up with the cows at 5 in the morning and flee the hotel without breakfast was anything but enticing, we decided to try the train station, Gare Cornavin (as we later found out it was called). Even less luck there. Everything appeared deserted at the wee hour of about 11PM. Not a sensible soul to ask from. The lonely ticket machines certainly weren't looking like they'd be willing to give us any useful advice.


We decided to try our luck one more time at the free internet workstation at the hotel. After waiting for our turn for about half an hour and the train scedule turning up an opton with 7 legs that would take 15 hours to complete, I decided to just go to bed, rest thoroughly (i.e. NOT wake up at 5AM) and worry about getting to Courmayeur the next day. Or stay put in Geneva for another day if we had to. Mind you that up to this point, we had not been able to locate the bus info on the Internet based on searches in English! Perhaps we just didn't try hard enough.

Thursday, July 19th

Geneva - Courmayeur via Chamonix, finding gear in Courmayeur and staying at Hotel Purtud in Val Veny

The next morning was very pleasant. We luxuriated ourselves with coffee and the best buffet breakfast of the entire trip (included in the price of the hotel). Then we repacked our backpacks, as I was intent on ridding myself of some of the weight. My sister's backpack had weighed a "featherly" 16 kg on the airport scale.


My sister got most of the hardware (i.e. ice picks, harnesses and carabiners), the thermos, and the stove. Regardless, my backpack was still huge and did not feel considerably lighter. In the course of the repacking I also discovered that I had forgotten the map at home, but this didn't sway me too much, as I had already been hatching plans of getting us something a bit more detailed than the 1:70000 (1cm=700m). It would have been a good map to have regardless, as it later turned out, because it was laminated and also because it had the main trails marked on it. Ehh, what to do. As already our dad used to say: "A stupid head is a burden for the body."

We weren't sure whether the check-out would be at 11 or 12, so after finding out from the reception that indeed, we had until 12 to figure out whether we'd be able to get out of Geneva the same day or would have to stay another night at the hotel and make a run for the 6AM Aosta bus. The time was 10:15.


We took a quick walk to the bus station, where the picture was markedly different this time: it was buzzing with activity (including some guys strolling back and forth in front of the entrance with a rather scary-looking good-size asphalt roller) and there was even a short line in front of the two cashier windows. A brief consultation with the young cashier dude, who spoke good English to our great delight, revealed that it would indeed be possible to get to Courmayeur, albeit via a small Chamonix detour. The bus to Chamonix would leave in 45 minutes at that point, at 11:15.

We wasted no time getting our tickets, which cost 106 CHF for two and retrieving our backpacks from the hotel.

On the way to Chamonix, the Geneva-Chamonix bus also stopped at St.Gervais - from where the Tramway du Mont-Blanc can take you up to the Ref. Tete rousse or Ref. Gouter. The bus also stopped at Les Houches, from where there are cable cars going up to Ref. du Prarion and Ref. Bellevue. As we later heard, the tramway du Mont-Blanc was not currently operating due to dangerous rock fall, so the cable car to Bellevue option is a way to at least get you closer, should there be future interruptions in the Tramway du Mont-Blanc (which also stops at Bellevue, BTW) operations. See also the map of cable car and the Railway du Mont-Blanc routes created by Compagnie du Mont-Blanc for a clearer understanding of what is located where.


Chamonix

In Chamonix, the bus station - consisting of an about 2x2m log shed - was located right in front of the train station. Also, the tramway to Montenvers/Mer de Glace leaves from a slightly higher-up platform acessible right from the same station. Incidentally, the last was also the location of the only toilet we were able to locate in or near the station complex.


As it turned ou when we were already on the bus on our way to Courmayeur, the Aiguille du Midi cable car also came down not too far the train/bus station. We noted this fact for possible later use.

Bus tickets from Chamonix to Courmayeur cost 10 Euro each, and there are buses leaving at a few hours' intervals throughout the day. We got lucky, as the next bus was leaving in half an hour at 1:30PM. The bus company operating the Chamonix-Courmayeur line is an Italian one called Savda, which also operates the local lines centered in Courmayeur.





Courmayeur

Click here for a map of Courmayeur

The bus goes through the Mont Blanc tunnel, stopping at Val Ferret on the way. In Courmayeur, the location of the main bus station is called Piazzale Monte Bianco, also referred to as PMB on schedules. Right at the bus station, there is a tourist information office, where it is possible to get all kinds of information and booklets, from local hotels to mountain huts to where to get gear. There are also a couple of web sites, ValleMonteBianco.it and aiat-monte-bianco.com which accomplish a lot of the same. From the tourist office we also got a free map of the Mont Blanc massif with all the huts, etc. on it, and even GPS lines marked on it.



The getting gear issue, as it later turned out, was a bit of an undertaking, as the three main stores selling gear didn't seem to have some of the essentials that we were lacking. For the immediate future, though, we decided to enjoy the last scraps of civilization and have lunch at restaurant du Parc right on the side of the Piazzale Monte Bianco. I dutifully noted the GPS coordinates of the restaurant: 45°47'28,8" N 6°58'16,5" E

The next task was to take a tour of the town and find gear shops where we could get cooking gas, wind-and-water-proof breathable pants and an ice ax for my sister, a map, plus some food items and water. The food was easy, and the shop 4810 had cooking gas, but finding a suitable ice ax proved a bit more difficult. 4810 didn't have it, and Les Pyramides only had a relatively short, 65 cm one. Since we had no choice, we got the short one. Even less luck with the pants, though, as neither store had anything even close. We also checked another sports clothing store, the name of which I have forgotten on Via Roma, but had no luck there either. Consequently we decided to forget about the perfect pants for the time being and just make do with what we already had, especially since we had booked a hotel room in Val Veny and the next to last bus there was leaving at 6:20PM, and we didn't want to have to take the last one at 8:50PM.

Getting a map was easy at a book store on Via Roma, where most of the shops in Courmayeur are located, however, I was not entirely happy with the selection available. The best resolution maps are all 1:25000 (1cm=250m) and we didn't see any laminated ones at all - the maps were all paper, which would mean that the humidity - in case we got rained or snowed on - would possibly ruin the map. After we had the map, we ran to catch our bus to Val Veny (bus destination: La Visaille), where we had booked a room at the Hotel Purtud, 45°48' 29,9" N 6°55' 50,0" E


The hotel was something of a curiosity to us. We had barely gotten to our room when the phone rang and we were told that if we wanted any supper, we'd better hurry down to the restaurant. At this point we had not yet realized that the room price also included supper. We did as we were told, though, thinking that this might be the last chance to have a "civilized" supper in a while. While I had experienced a supper at an Italian mountain hotel before while skiing, my sister was in total astonishment. There were waiters walking around in white starched shirts and black suits, the supper consisted of four courses, and it seemed like everybody staying at the hotel had been ordered down to supper at the same time. We also ordered house wine by the half liter pitcher, which was very tasty, and when we found out the next morning that it had only cost 1.50 Euro, we were sorely sorry that we did not drink more. :-) It was cheaper than any old bottle of water sold in the grocery stores! And all the while during the supper we could witness other guests all dressed up, while we were sitting there in our mountaineering pants and hiking boots.

Friday, July 20th 2007
Hotel Purtud - Miage Glacier
The next morning we woke at 6:30 - just in time for the breakfast at 7. We ate quickly, asked for the thermos to be filled with hot water at the restaurant, packed our backpacks and got on the bus to the final stop, La Visaille. The one curiosity I did not mentioned before was that on the bus we got charged for tickets for both ourselves and our backpacks! The "person" tickets cost something like 1.50 Euro per person, while the "backpack" tickets cost about 80 cents.

We arrived in LaVisaille/Plan Lognan (45°47' 05,6"N 6°54' 01,2"E, altitude 1672m) at around 8AM. The bus stopped and later, turned around, right before a bridge. From there we continued on along the alphalt road winding upwards towards Combal/Lago del Miage. It was about 3 km of road and it took us only about an hour to get to the signpost near a bridge where the asphalt road ended (45°46' 35.0"N 6°52' 15,7"E, altitude 1957m).

At the beginning of the trek up the asphalt road, the backpack felt like a huge burden, but soon we both got used to it and actually it wasn't so bad in the end. A few hundred meters further and after a right turn we saw Bar Combal (45°46'34,5"N 6°52' 04,5"E, altitude 1971m) -- a totally decent and civilized institution in the middle of wilderness, complete with what we in Estonia call a "Euro" bathroom (meaning a flushing toilet and running hot water to wash your hands), a warm menu, hot and cold drinks, including beer and several choices of strong liquor. They also post the current meteo at the bar along with the bus schedule for La Visaille. We dumped the backpacks on a bench and enjoyed hot tea, resting and enjoying the view altogether for another hour.



The forecast promised possible thunder showers for "later in the day". A sign stated that it would be only a 4hr 30minute hike to Rif.Gonella from the bar. Around 10 o'clock we decided to get going in the direction of the Miage Glacier.

At about 2077m altitude the path continues on top of a narrow (in some places less than a foot's width) ridge for some 800m. Judging by the map, the height difference on one side was something like 70m, and on the side of the Miage glacier it was perhaps 5m. On the right and up, across the Miage Glacier we could see Rif.Monzono at 2561m. I had noted the spot as being at 45°46' 48.3"N 6°51'58.9"E.



When we came up to the ridge, we actually felt the need to secure ourselves with harnesses and rope, and put on the helmets, and we agreed that if one was to stumble and fall, the other would immediately and without thinking jump to the other side of the ridge to arrest the fall.


We had two incidents on the ridge. First, my sister dropped her sunglasses, which of course headed right down the higher and steeper side towards Combal. Luckily they got stuck after some 10 meters and I carried out a rescue mission despite my sister telling me to forget it. I wa sure she wouldn't be able to manage without sunglasses once we got to snowy and icy territory. At this point I remembered, with discontent at not having taken it seriously enough sooner, my husband's advice to have everything you don't feel like going after, tethered to yourself in some way.


The second incident was discovering that we had lost one of the maps right as we were at the end of the ridge. We left our backpacks there and walked back a few hundred meters, still roped together, looking attentively down both sides. We found our map right on top of the ridge, lodged between some rocks at the spot where we had to carry out the sunglasses rescue mission. All is well that ends well, although our adventures had just barely begun.
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We got over the ridge without needing to carry out any more rescue missions and headed up the glacier moraine. Could not take the stats right after the ridge, though, as the area was exposed to rock fall, so we decided to get to a clearer place fast. At around 1 PM we decided to rest and have lunch (45°47'09,6"N 6°51'26,2E, altitude 2116m.) This was also where the first patches of snow/ice began.
When we were about 2/3 through the Miage glacier to the spot where we needed to take a turn towards the Quintino Sella hut up the Dome Glacier, dark clouds started gathering fast and there was a shower of rain. We used this time to squat under the edge of a large rock, and also to heat some water for the Ramen noodles we had brought. The air had gotten cool enough for us to put on warm clothes. And just in case, I also put on waterproof pants.


On the Miage Glacier, right before the rain

The light shower passed and we headed further up the glacier. The weather, however, remained unstable. Just as we were arriving at the bottom of the Dome glacier, there were ominous sounds of thunder and it started raining almost immediately and very hard. This time there was no large rock to hide under and we decided to pitch our tent in the rain and to spend the night there (45°48'28,0"N 6°49'54,7E, about 2400m altitude). We strategically decided to place the tent far from the Dome Glacier on the other side of the Miage Glacier and next to a pile of rocks which we figured would defend us in case anything would come down the steep and narrow glaciers on our side of the Miage.


We got wet, really wet. By the time the tent was up, we had to soak about two lliters water out of the bottom of the tent with a pair of cotton working gloves we had taken along for climbing. I must say that at this point I was really happy that we had good gear: a tent, 4-season Therm-a-Rest ProLite mattresses, a Primus stove, -9°C rated sleeping bags, a change of dry clothes (no wonder it all weighed so much!). My sister had even brought along two thermal wrap sheets, which look very much like huge sheets of silver-and-gold gift wrap, and we used one of them as an extra comfort layer between the mattresses and the sleeping bags. We changed into dry clothes, I got a pot of water from a little creek that had appeared with the rain in the tiny valley not too far from our tent. The water was very clear and clean-looking. Yet we were both too tired and too busy enjoying being warm and dry in our sleeping bags to bother try boiling it. Instead we used what we had in the thermos, which we had filled in the morning at the hotel, and also swigged down some of the rum we had brought along in a small bottle. We slept comfortably, although occasionally we could hear the rumble of rocks falling and avalanches breaking loose. At around 6AM we were both awakened by an extremely round rumbling and a fall of an entire cascade of rocks off the cliff right left of the Dome glacier. It didn't danger us in any way, as we were far on the other side if the glacier. However, I guess at this point it became very clear to both of us that in no way were we going to climb up the Dome glacier to try and get to the Quintino Sella hut.

Saturday, July 21st 2007
Miage Glacier - climbing for fun on the Dome Glacier - back to Hotel Purtud


After the sun started peeping over the Tournette Spur onto the Miage Glacier at around nine or ten in the morning, our outlook on things immediately improved a lot. We dried our clothes on the little pile of rocks next to the tent. To my great disappointment the little creek near our tent had disappeared overnight, but this was no big deal, as there was an entire waterfall coming down from above less than 100m away. We made coffee and porridge and agreed that this was almost better than a spa - fresh air, sunshine, no people anywhere.





We took our sweet time packing the backpacks, making sure everyhing was dry at first. Then we went to climb a bit on the Dome glacier, just for fun and practice. We took extreme care though, making sure we were properly on belay at all times and avoiding the part of the glacier that was crumbling down onto the Miage Glacier. Going up the glacier looked almost fun at this point, but then we remembered the experience from the night before and the early morning. Furthermore, we could see avalanches breaking loose every 10-15 minutes a few hundred meters above us. It had been unseasonally warm (which undoubtedly aided the rock and avalanche fall) - all across Europe people had trouble with a heat wave around the same time. So we started back towards Combal and La Visaille at around 3:30PM. By the way, the description of the Mt.Blanc Glacier on summitpost.org as being a "steep snowy slope, which becomes increasingly more icy and crevassed as you go up it" was not in accordance with the reality we found there at all. What we saw were both the Dome Glacier and Mt.Blanc Glacier, which were very much crevassed from the very start, and consisted entirely of a substance which was neither snow nor ice, but something in between: porous enough to crumble easily and not allow for the fastening of ice screws, yet hard enough to not allow for comfortably climbing just by using crampons and an ice axe. You definitely needed ice picks and proper belaying.


Going down the Miage Glacier was much easier than coming up had been, and we took just one or two very short breathers during the way. We got to the ridge in about an hour, and just before the ridge met two Italian guys who said that they were headed to Ref.Durier. At this point, the sky was looking ominous again with a bunch of dark clouds overhead. We weren't quite sure that going up to the glacier was a good idea given our experience the day before, but the guys looked like they knew what they were doing, although they didn't appear to have any gear and were dressed in shorts and T-shirts. We headed up onto the very narrow ridge. At some point we felt even compelled to put on the helmets and harnesses again. The weather was not getting any nicer. As we were about 3/4 of the way over the ridge, the wind got strong. This is what typically happens before it starts raining. Actually, the gusts of wind were so strong that we didn't feel safe standing on the ridge anymore. It might have been some 30m/s. It also started pouring hail and I must say I was really happy to have a helmet on, as the hail was about the size of the tip of a thumb. A couple of hailstones hit the helmet and I got hit by one on my cheek, which hurt like getting hit with a paintball bullet. Not nice!



I noticed a huge rock some ten meters behind and below us on the steep slope towards Combal, and we climbed quickly down on all fours to take shelter from the hail behind the rock, covering our heads with the extra sheet of backpack material that came along with my Matrix backpack and was meant for all-around use as a humidity barrier, extra cover for the backback, etc. Luckily the hailfall did not las for very long, not more than 15 minutes anyway. The next problem now became climbing down the steep slope, which was at this point muddy, covered with good-size loose rocks and inclined at something like 60 degrees. It took us a while (I was trying to get my sister to rappel by using the Munter Hitch, but she resisted), but we got down safely, picking up a different path leading back to Combal than we had used coming up. At which point it started raining really bad. We took cover under a fir tree, but got wet anyway. Since we were already wet and the rain gave in a bit, we just started walking back to Combal in the rain. As we passed the bar, which was closed (I was quite hungry and thus disappointed), the rain stopped and what was left of the evening sun came out. The three kilometers down to La Visaille went quickly and in high spirits, although we were totally soaked (again!). When we got down to the bus stop, it was our first chance to check out the bus schedule. The time was 7:20PM and the bus had left at 6:20, with the next one (the last bus for the day) coming at 9:20. Initially the plan had been to take the bus all the way back into Courmayeur. However, we figured that time walking would be better spent than time sitting around waiting for the bus, so we just started walking towards Hotel Purtud where we had spent the night before heading to the Miage Glacier.


I was beginning to feel blisters developing on the balls of my feet. When we got to the hotel about an hour and 3,5 kilometers later, and got a room, I took my boots off and saw that one of the blisters was quite huge, about the size of a third a ping-pong ball. I proceeded to pop it open with nail clippers. Luckily we had brought a good stash of band-aids, so I was able to bandage both blisters properly. It was still uncomfortable to walk, but I considered this a part of the package. The kitchen at the hotel was nice enough to get us a late dinner. We weren't able to eat more than the antipasti and a third of the pasta dish, though. I guess the stomach had shrunk during the day as we hadn't been eating a whole lot. We were feeling quite differently about wine, though, especially knowing now that it cost only €1.50 per half liter. We took our glasses and the wine pitcher and went to our room to shower, wash socks and shirts and hang these along with everything else to dry. Being considerate of others as we were, we also sent SMS messages to friends indicating that we were alive and well.


Sunday, July 22nd 2007

Hotel Purtud - Courmayeur. Finding waterproof pants in Courmayeur. Click here for a map of Courmayeur

The next morning, the first order of the day was to hang everything outside on lawn chairs to dry. I guess the air inside the room was so humid that nothing was even an ounce drier then the night before. The sight of four lawn chairs covered with clothes and equipment was not exactly a pleasure to the folks working at the hotel, but they tolerated us. After breakfast and check-out (they wanted us to free the room at 10) we joined our clothes on the chairs, and also spread the tent on the lawn to dry. We hatched a plan to first talk to the folks at the Guides' Office in Courmayeur to see what they recommend and then act accordingly, but to probably try and approach Mt.Blanc from the French side. Since we were in no particular hurry, we just enjoyed ourselves in the sunshine, even getting ice cream from the little cafe right on the ground floor of one of the hotel buildings. We then took the 12:40 bus to Courmayeur.


Lunch time in Italy is of course also the time when all stores are closed for some 2-3 hours, most of them opening again at 3:30PM. In that sense, it was bad planning, as we had to buy a few things before heading up to the Torino hut via the
Mont Blanc cable carfrom the Italian side. After a lunch at one of the cafes on Via Roma - the main street in Courmayeur and seeing that ALL stores we needed to pay a visit to would open at 3:30, and with the last cable car going up at 4:20, we decided to stay another day in Courmayeur, get what we needed and head up the next day instead. The weather was supposed to be continually unstable anyway. At some point we had even considered hiking up to the Torino hut, but because of our recent experiences and the weather forecast promising more of the same, we figured that we'd forgo further undertakings in getting soaked and hit with hailstones.


We checked into a Bed And Breakfast right near the Piazzale Monte Bianco, called Venezia, and left our backpacks. The first place we visited was the Guides Office, but unfortunately the lady at the counter told us to come back after five, as this would be when the actual guide would be there and we could get adequate answers to our questions, such as how passable is the trail from theTorino hut to l'Aiguille du Midi/Cosmiques hut.


So we headed out to take care of the shopping list: waterproof, breathable pants for Kristiina, some additional snack food for the summit day, more band-aids, possibly some insoles for my shoes to prevent further blistering. The problem with Courmayeur is that there are only a couple of stores for each type of article you need, and no single large store where you could get everything. There were plenty of waterproof, breathable jackets at both 4810 and Les Pyramides, but no pants at all. We even tried the Eastern mountain Sports, but of course no luck there either. Finally we decided to check the outlet store of the 4810, which is located around the corner and a bit uphill from the main store. Found the perfect pants in GoreTex, but unfortunately a size too big (M) for Kristiina. Yet she took the pants as there was no hope of finding anything better, and the adventures on the Miage Glacier had proven to us that you really need waterproof pants.


Everyone in these two stores had also told us that these two stores were pretty much the only game in town. So after we had all the necessary essentials, we decided to just walk around a bit, since we were in no hurry. We ventured on along Via Roma until we came to an intersecting streetand a new-looking shopping plaza. To our great surprise we found som interesting stores there, including one called the High Tech Chalet. The owner was super-friendly *and* spoke excellent English. Later on he told us that he had been studying in the US and that his son was born and living in the States. He also had excellent technical clothing, just what we were after. The only problem was now the not-so-perfect pants Kristiina had already purchased at 4810. The owner of the High Tech Chalet was certain that we could return them, and so was Kristiina, however the story at the 4810 turned out quite different. They were willing to give us credit towards other purchases (not very useful, because we didn't need anything else and also didn't want to carry anything extra) or we could stand there and wait for someone to pay cash for an equal or larger amount (yeah, right - like that's going to happen with 180 Euros). Even the owner of the store came up, but unfortunately she spoke no English. At some point she even got really impolite, not to say nasty, yelling at us in Italian, telling us to get out and that she was the boss there. We were even told that it was not allowed cancel transactions in Italy by law, that there was a special police looking after such things.


Back at the High Tech Chalet we were once again told that this was all BS and the owner even printed out a page from a consumer protection agency, where it stated that while customers are often being told such things, it simply isn't true. We highlighted that sentence and later took the paper back to the owner of 4810. Kristiina decided to buy the pants that fit her perfectly nevertheless. While talking to the owner, we also found out that the sun-roasted fellow sitting on the couch was Stefano, one of the best guides in Courmayeur and also an extreme climber, skier and snowboarder. The owner of the shop showed us a few pictures of Stefano on snowhow.it, for instance one where he was skiing a wild 60-degree slope. I told Stefano that if there had been any mountains around when I was half my age, there would have been a great chance of me turning out as crazy, but that I had calmed down a lot lately, especially since having a baby.


We took the conversation as a chance to find out everything we needed about the walk from the Torino hut to the Aiguille du Midi and Cosmiques hut (easy in his opinion), acclimatization (what acclimatization? - if you have already hiked to the bottom of the Dome glacier and spent a night there, you should be acclimatized enough) and the ascent to Mont Blanc (5-8 hrs and you need to know how to use the rope and cramp-ons). He also told us that just a week ago a group of five Polacs had attempted to ascend via the closed Gonella Hut. They had gotten to the Brenva Spur just fine, but had lost the track and caused an avalanche, in which a girl had broken her leg. The weather was also foul. Two brothers decided to stay with the girl on the Bosses Ridge while two other guys went down to get help (the cell phones were out of range) Unfortunately the rescuers could not go right away due to bad weather, and by the time they got there two days later, they found three frozen dead bodies sitting in the snow. The dead climbers had all been in their early twenties. Stefano had been one of the rescuers.


On a more positive note we now had the main item we needed. We also got band-aids from a pharmacy and then just sat in a cafe on Via Roma, people-watching and having dinner. Life the Italian way is quite a spectacle in itself. In the evening everybody comes out to stroll around, have an ice cream or step into the little stores. Some people are really dressed up, including an evening gown and high-heeled shoes, others are just casual. Babies in their strollers and dogs on leashes are everywhere. Then, all of a sudden, around the time of the stores closing (7PM), the streets get empty and most folks still walking around and sitting in cafes are tourists.


Monday, July 23rd

Getting up to the Torino Hut via the Mont Blanc cable car.


After checking out of the Bed&Breakfast, we went to Piazzale Monte Bianco to find out how to get to the Mont Blanc cable car station. Turned out that you need to take one of the regular Savda bus lines to La Palud. The driver even told us exactly where to get off. From there it was some 200 meters of road uphill and around the corner, but the cable car station was easily identifiable (45°49' 06.7"N, ca 6°56'01,9" E - the cable car took off so fast that I lost my GPS connection) .


The ride up went fast - it only took some 15 minutes. When we arrived at the Torino cable car stop, the weather there was not exactly pleasant - it was windy, snowing, and the visibility was poor. The old Torino hut right at the level of the cable car stop was closed and we had to climb the 222 metal stairs (ca 45m elevation) up to the new Torino hut with our trusty 20-kg backpacks. It took some huffing and puffing, as our bodies were not used to the altitude. I was thinking in my head that this was really no place for complaining, because if I couldn't even do this, I had no reason to be on this mountain in the first place.


At first it was quite strange at the hut (45°50'41,8"N 6°56'01,9"E, altitude 3367m). The hutkeepers did not speak English at all and nobody wanted to deal with us or explain anything. There were also very few people and no women in sight. We went upstairs to the sleeping quarters and since we didn't know any better, just plopped our bags into the first open room with two free beds. Then we took a self-guided tour of the hut and sat down in the lunch room, where there was also a stove that didn't heat all that much. Don't get me wrong, it was warm alright though, but I did wonder what the place would be like in the winter. In our heads we both started immediately with suggestions for improvement, since the "New" adjective was only relative - the interior reminded us of the 1960s and it also seemed that it had not seen any repair since.


For lunch we got a big bowl of minestrone verdure soup with a huge cheese sandwitch each (12.50 Euro a pop). At some point the hut-keepers even came to ask if we wanted a room. The hut cost €53 each, including supper and breakfast. Not cheap, but then again, not a whole lot more expensive than the Bed&Breakfast with getting supper on our own.


There were also big signs that you could get hot tea by liter (need to have your own thermos), but please order and pay the night before leaving. We were instructed that supper was at 7:30, which seems to be the universal supper time in Italy. We were also asked when we wanted our breakfast and instructed that the latest breakfast time would be at 7:30 in the morning. We were asked our destination the next day and this was properly noted in the database. The new bedroom was larger and had more beds in it, 10 sleeping places in total. Each bed had a pillow and two thick woollen blankets.


Outside there was still fog and a bit of wind. Could not see farther than 10m. The cell phone had no regular coverage with any of the available networks, although SOS-only coverage was available.


At some point I needed to use the bathroom and this was an experience in itself. The fact that the toilets are the kind you regularly experience in Asia in itself was not so big deal, but the sensation of cold Alpine wind whizzing up and around my bare derriere made me seriously worried about who might be getting hit with the falling excrement. It was also smelly and overall I concluded that the open air loo at the bottom of the Dome glacier had been a lot more pleasant. In the corner of the shit-house I noticed a real designer item - a toilet brush on a ski pole. Very practical, no doubt.


More people kept arriving. The weather was getting worse: the wind stronger and fog thicker. Upstairs a bunch of people were holding a training course in rope use, how to wind the excess rope around yourself and fasten it into your harness. We were getting bored and I was really glad I could spend time typing up this text on my Treo.


We also noticed that all the people arriving were wearing similar-looking blue flip-flops and went to investigate where to find these. We wondered if you had to rent them or what? Later at the Cosmiques hut it became obvious that you take your (wet) boots off as soon as you enter the hut and change into flip-flops, as there the box with flip-flops stands right next to the entrance, but at the Torino hut we had to go on an exploration trip to find the gear/drying room, which also had large shelves full of change footwear.
Later in the evening we happened to chat with a group of three Italians from the Dolomites, who where planning to climb Monte Rosa and then later in the week perhaps attempt Mont Blanc. We talked about all kinds of things beginning with Italian food and ending with the kind of gear each of us carried.

Tuesday, July 24th
Torino Hut - Vallee Blanche - Col du Midi


What greeted us upon a look out the window in the morning was not exactly promising. Around seven in the morning it was cloudy, foggy and windy. As we needed to go and claim our breakfast nevertheless, we headed down to the cafeteria and stood in a long line with all the rest of the folks. Breakfast consisted of two large pieces of bread, a few small packets of jam, coffee in a bowl and corn flakes with milk for those who wanted these. As I cannot stand sweets (jam!) first thing in the morning, I was very glad that we had packed our own salami and a few tomatoes the day before in Courmayeur. I proceeded to get these from our backpacks and at least the two of us were able to get a decent breakfast.


During breakfast, the weather improved. Soon some folks started heading out. We were still on the fence. We decided to speak with an experienced guide who was leading a group of Italian army guys. He thought that crossing the Vallee Blanche would be doable, but that there was a risk of a snowstorm, so we'd better be prepared and also fast. We also found out that the three Italian fellows we had chatted with the night before also wanted to just take a small walk and then turn back, and they proposed that they'd keep us company part of the way. Perfect! By the time we were all packed and ready to go + had waited for our companions, the time was 9:30, which was a bit on the late side, considering that we estimated at least four hours for the crossing of the valley. The weather, on the other hand, was absolutely beautiful at the moment: blue skies with a few cumulus clouds, good visibility, snow glistening everywhere. The Italians roped themselves together and led the way. My sister and I followed, also roped together. Soon it actually got so hot, that we all needed to shed a layer of clothing. As a result I was wearing just a T-shirt and my jacket right on top of it.


On the way we crossed several crevasses. Some of them we crossed by going around them, some smaller ones we jumped across. I was beginning to feel really thankful that we had the Italians leading the way. It would have been easy to lose your alertness and accidentally step into a crevasse.


About mid-way through the valley, the weather started deteriorating fast. At first it got cloudy, but soon enough it began snowing lightly. The wind got stronger. As we reached the Gros Rognon rock formation more than 2/3 of the way, it was already snowing heavily and the Italians decided to turn back. They urged us to hurry in order to not lose the trail, which was disappearing in the snow fast. We thanked them and headed on. However, hurrying was not exactly easy, as the trail was constantly leading uphill. The good news was that there were not supposed to be any major crevasses anymore. The visibility got progressively worse and the trail disappeared in places, and in places we found the faint trail again. The falling snow got thicker and the wind heavier. We started to understand why this place was called Vallee Blanche, or the White Valley - when it was snowing, all you could see was great whiteness around you.


At some point it felt like we were descending a bit and this did not seem quite right. As visibility was pretty much zero at this point and there was also no trail whatsoever, we decided to try and determine our location by using the GPS lines on the map. This was in no way a trivial undertaking, as the GPS lines on the map are sufficiently far apart, so you have to really just try and use your best judgment. Funnily enough, the free map we had received from the Tourist Information Office in Courmayeur turned out to be more helpful in our case. We determined that we must be due East from the Cosmiques hut, and if we kept heading forward, we might actually pass it, heading to Col du Plan. Mind you, neither of us had never been up there before, so no "mental map" of the surroundings existed.


I proposed we use the compass to head due West. This way we would at least reach the rocks near the Cosmiques hut and perhaps we would be able to get to the hut by following the rock massif. All of this was determined by studying the map, which was getting soaked from all the wet snow. I was beginning to feel really glad that I had taken part in Tallinn's Orienteering Tuesdays and Thursdays. At least I was feeling comfortable with a map and compass. The only difference with orienteering was that usually when you go orienteering, you can see where you are going and you find your destination by comparing the objects you see on the landscape to those you see on the map. In our case, all we could see was total whiteness all around. Even when we finally reached a rock massif after marching West for a while, there was no way to figure out where exactly we were. A 1:25 000 map can never give you the detail you need in such a situation. Plus, we couldn't see any points of reference around us anyway.


Oddly enough, a trail with very deep boot prints leading sharply up appeared. We figured that it must be the trail leading up to the Cosmiques hut. What else could it be. We decided to follow it. The altimeter agreed, as we were gaining altitude fast. At some point my sister noted that it looked more like someone had been coming down, and not going up using the trail. We pressed forward. I was beginning to have my doubts as well, as the altimeter showed us passing the altitude of the Cosmiques hut by a few meters. And then, right, there, the path ended on top of some pretty high rocks. As we couldn't see arond us, we didn't know that we were onlu some 20 meters away from the balcony of the Cosmiques hut - a fact we learned only the next day. Had we continued even just a bit further, we might have found the fixed rope leading to the balcony. An funniest of, all, as we discovered the next day, there is even a key of the hut kept out on the balcony, in a small glass cupboard. Apparently there have been others trying to enter the hut in such an unconventional way, from the totally wrong side.


For the time being, however, I noticed that I was starving. I announced my plans to cook lunch right there and then, upon which my sister got really mad. She would have much preferred to find the damned hut first. I proceeded to find a protected place behind a rock and set up the Primus stove to melt some snow and boil the resulting water. We made tea, cocoa, porridge and some instant noodles. I could feel strength seeping slowly back into my body. We packed up the Primus and climbed back down. The visibility was not any better. For a moment, we discussed which way to go in order to try andfind the Cosmiques hut, but since we were quite exhausted, the snow was coming down and the wind continued to be fierce, we decided to pitch a tent right there and then. However, the one thing we did was to try and find a place where nothing could fall off the rocks onto the tent and us. We moved some 30 meters away from the rocks we had just climbed down from. We also tried to select a site where there were just rocks and now snowy cols looming above us. The final worry was crevasses. Although there weren't supposed to be any major ones, there was still a small worry that a crevasse could be hifing under all the fresh snow and that in the morning we'd wake up in one. Finally we settled on a site with the following coordinates: 45°52'16.1"N 6°53'06.8"E


Pitching a tent in 15m/s wind and snow constantly coming down at you is not exactly fun. We didn't have a shovel, so we just tried to dig ourselves in the best we could using our snow axes. The tent was flapping in the wind violently and we were worried that at any moment, the edges we had buried under the snow could break loose, and the flapping would worsen. As we found out the next morning, after the snow had frozen a bit overnight, we had done such a good job that probably not even a hurricane could have carried the tent away. It took us some serious work to dig out the tent the next day.


In the process of setting up the tent we once again got the entire inside wet and had to dry it up with whatever we could find. Once again we were thankful for having good gear. When we were back in Estonia, we heard that 6 people had frozen to death on the same day in the same snowstorm, some on Monte Rosa and some higher up near Mont Blanc. After getting warm, we got snow with a pot and made hot tea. We had consumed everything we had put in the thermos in the morning during the hike through the valley.
Our faces were sun and cold burned, regardless of the 45 SPF sunscreen we had liberally spread all over our faces before leaving the Torino hut in the morning. During the night I awoke several times, as the wind was rattling the tent violently.


Wednesday, July 25th
Col du Midi - Cosmiques Hut - Col du Midi


The morning was once again beautiful. We were quite curious to discover where exactly we had ended up. The first peek out the tent made us laugh, as the Cosmiques hut was only some 40 meters away, above us on the rocks. We could also see the cable car wagons zipping back and forth between Aiguille di Midi and Punta Helbronner (well, you cannot actually see the latter from Col du Midi, just the general direction). The sun was high in the sky, the wind had quieted down, and we succumbed to the familiar routine of hanging all the wet things out to dry and fixing ourselves some hot breakfast.

On the gloomier side, we discovered that our faces were in rather bad shape from the sun and cold/wind the day before. Both of us had several large fluid-filled blisters and the skin hurt badly. My sister even created a face cover out of a towel we had with us. As a result she looked like a lousy bank robber.
We packed up our stuff and headed towards the Cosmiques hut. Turned out that about 100 meters North, there was an East-facing slope on our left, which lead to the Cosmiques hut. The height difference from Col du Midi to the hut is some 70 meters, which in my opinion is really cruel. Just imagine yourself coming back from Mont Blanc after a 14+ hour day and then having to climb another 70 meters to get to your resting destination! As we witnessed the next day, it really was cruel. We saw people crawling up towards the hut. The only thing worse is Aiguille du Midi cabe car station, which is a 300m height difference away. And, as we later discovered, it's no walk in the park getting there. Just FYI to those who might be planning to climb Mont Blanc and then casually take the cable car down the same day. You may not be up for it physically.
The Cosmiques hut (45°52'23,5"N 6°53'08,6"E) was considerably newer, fresher and generally nicer compared to the Torino hut. The first order of business was to try and wash ourselves a bit. This was the only factor in the entire Cosmiques experience that proved disappointing. There were no showers and the only sink in the bathroom was a tiny one. The toilets on the other hand were a luxury! Real flushing toilets, which had just recently been scrubbed clean. In general, the entire place suggested cleanliness, which was the exact opposite of our experience from a couple of days ago. We took gentle care of our hurting faces and washed the best we could given the tiny sink. It felt like some serious luxury. We then proceeded to get lunch at the cafeteria. You could actually call it a restaurant - there was a menu with substantial choices and the place also looked aesthetically pleasing. Not to mention the view! Mont Blanc along with Mont Maudit and Mont Blanc du Tacul are all visible from the cafeteria window. We enjoyed ourselves royally, gulping down pork potroast and blueberry pie. There were very few people around on this nice sunny day, as most folks were outside conquering peaks close and far. The only thing that spoiled the entire atmosphere for us was the sun- and windburn on our faces.

As the day progressed, more and more people arrived, setting up their tents at the bottom of the col leading up to the Cosmiques hut. By dusk there might have been some 20 pitched tents.


We, too, set up our tents at the new location and spent the afternoon and evening just lazying around in the tent, making sure we were protected from the sun. The coming night would be ideal for attempting to climb Mont Blanc. We decided to set the alarm for 1AM and see how our faces were doing at that point. Before falling asleep there was a lot of doubtful discussion going on. Could we manage it physically? Should we have hired a guide? Would we be up for it in terms of mountaineering technique? What if more bad weather would hit? My sister announced that in case one of us would have to die, it should be her, as I had a baby. With these thoughts we fell asleep.


I heard some soft beeping, but could hardly make out where it was coming from. Only as I was fully awake did I realize that it must have been from the Timex watch on my wrist inside the sleeping bag. The alarm had long stopped by then. There was some commotion going on in the neighboring tents as well. Obviously people were setting out in droves. My sister was still fast asleep. One touch of my face confirmed that I was almost an invalid. Yes, we could have gone, but why make it more difficult than necessary. We'd have another chance the next night, as the weather forecast was promising. I didn't even bother to wake up my sister, and after a while fell asleep myself as well.


Thursday, July 26th
Col du Midi - Cosmiques hut - Col du Midi

Most ofthe next day we spent once again nursing our sunburns and people-watching. There were people coming back from their Mont Blanc attempts and crawling up to the Cosmiques hut on all fours. There were others trying to go all the way to Aiguille du Midi in order to take the cable car down right away, but turning back and setting up their tents instead. And then there was an entire influx of folks fresh off the cable car.
Some people could not keep off the cliffs right under Aiguille du Midi. We witnessed someone fall while rock-climbing and the entire party of four being airlifted away by a helicopter as a result. It actually looked kind of scary: the helicopter lowers a harness, which you have to fasten yourself (regardless of any broken bones), and then the chopper suddenly takes off upward and away like a bird released from a cage. All the while the rescuee is dangling some 20 meters below on a harness, until he or she is finally ratcheted up to the chopper. I wasn't sure about my appetite for having to go through something like this with, for example, a broken leg or arm.


Around lunch time we went up to the Cosmiques hut to reserve places for dinner. We figured that if we got a proper meal before the summit attempt, it would no doubt help us have more energy. We also checked the weather forecast and it looked OK: 90% chance of clear skies. The only concern was potentially strong wind higher up.


When it was time to go up to the hut again for supper, I convinced my sister (who was rather doubtful about our ability to endure 8 hours of constant uphill climbing) to go through an experiment. We were to take it very slow and steady, the way you are supposed to climb in the first place. I said I'd lead myself, as my sister's style was to go as fast as she could and then take a break when all the strength was gone. So this time we went extremely slow and steady, and surprise, surprise: we got to the Cosmiques hut in about 10 minutes without having to stop once!


The hut was super crowded. We were barely able to find a sitting place at the end of a long table. Next to us was sitting a young Romanian guy, and across the table was a couple from Austria along with their hired guide. We spent the entire duration of the dinner exchanging experiences. The Romanina guy was fresh back from a summit attempt, and told us about the conditions higher up. He also explained that at some point there is a need to fasten your rope for belaying/rappelling. There used to be a fixed rope, but it had gotten covered with ice and snow. (Plus, it is never very safe to use a fixed rope in the first place, as you don't know how long it has been sitting there and what condition it is really in.) This got us a bit worried, as we only had 20m of rope, but 40 might have been a better bet. As we weren't going to abandon our plans now that we were so close and there was finally good weather and our faces were starting to be in tolerable shape, we figured that we'd manage one way or another.


The satisfaction after a good warm dinner and some wine was immense. The wine certainly played a role in falling asleep faster back at the tent. We also ordered sandwitches to take along to the summit attempt and filled the thermos with hot tea. The alarm was set for 1AM once again.


Friday, July 27th
Summit attempt

At 1AM we got up quickly, dressed, packed light, put on the headlamps and started heading towards the northern slope of Mt.Blanc du Tacul, where the trail goes up to Mt. Blanc du Tacul, the Mt. Maudit and finally to Mt. Blanc. The sky was clear and starry. We were among the first ones. However, we didn't want to be the very first ones, so we stalled a bit and let others lead the way. As we were walking, roped together, towards Mt. Blanc du Tacul, we could see the first parties descending from the Cosmiques hut to Col du Midi and joining what was beginning to look like a long line of firebugs. There was also a party on skis who zoomed right past all the rest on Col du Midi.


My sister complained about her crampons and we stopped at some point so she could fasten the crampons more securely. As we were almost at the bottom of Mt. Blanc du Tacul, she complained again and found that she had lost one of the crampons. What to do. We turned back. It must be somewhere right there, not too far away. But there was no crampon in sight. Just to be sure, we walked all the way back to our tent site. No crampon. We walked back to the bottom of Mt. Blanc du Tacul. No crampon. We took a slightly different route back. No crampon. All the folks we asked on the way had not seen any crampons either. In general, people were not in a very communicative mood at all. Everybody seemed to be out for themselves and in a somewhat gloomy mood. At this point we were quite sure that someone had picked up the crampon, and that it was probably on its way to the top on Mont Blanc in some good samaritan's backpack. Needlessto say it would be impossible to climb without the crampon and if we couldn't find it, we couldn't go. Just to dissipate any doubt, we decided to go looking one final time. Nothing. In total we spent an hour and a half walking around, and in that time covered 3,7 km, as my Timex GPS wristwatch claimed.


Needless to say we felt totally defeated and even angry. What a stupid thing to ruin your one chance at Mont Blanc. As there was nothing further to do, we had no choice but to crawl back into our sleeping bags and at least try to get a good night's sleep. There would be no more chances during this trip -- we had to be back in Geneva the next day, Saturday, for our flight home. And if we made another attempt the next night, we probably wouldn't be able to make it back in time. What the heck, the mountain would be there the next year as well.


In the morning we packed ourselves up without haste and started heading towards the Aiguille du Midi. We had no idea where we were going. All we could see from Col du Midi was a regular wide slope going upwards, not unlike the one leading to the Cosmiques hut, and so we didn't even bother to rope ourselves together. My sister had no crampons either, since having one crampon on was of no major help. The first half of the climb was no big deal except for the fact that it was already early afternoon and the snow was soft, which meant that occasionally we fell in to our knees. Things changed as the trail took a sharp left towards Aiguille du Midi. Here it was a 45 degree incline, in addition to which the trail continued on a rather narrow ridge. On one side you could see Col du Midi some 250m down a 60 degree slope, on the other side Chamonix some 3000+ meters down, also a 60 degree slope.
Suddenly a young Finnish guy moving past us stopped and asked if we wanted to get roped togehter. Seemed like a good idea, especially since he was offering his rope and we didn't have to look for ours in the backpack. He lead the way, then was my sister and I came last. The Finn was like a young mountain goat, moving rather fast. Of course some of it might have been due to the fact that he had no 20+kg backpack to carry. I was panting and asking for stops every 15-20 meters. I tried not to look down on either side. Looking in front of your feet was not a good idea either, because it created an illusion of everything moving around you and made my head spin. The Finn did not seem concerned at all. He had given his axe to my sister and was gambolling up the ridge like it was a walk in the park. I tried not to think about what would happen if any of us slipped, as we weren't securing ourselves properly with axes at all. Ideally, there should have been one of us secured with an axe at all times when the others were moving. To make things worse, when both the Finn and my sister had reached the platform at Aiguille du Midi, the Finn untied himself and my sister and started to wind up the rope, casually chatting with a dude next to him in Finnish. Not being on belay in any manner made me rather nervous, and I screamed repeatedly: "Put me on belay". I'm not sure if he didn't understand or didn't hear what I was saying, but he continued his chatting and rope winding. Aarrgghh! If I slipped, we'd both probably be down in Chamonix within a few minutes, dead. Finally I reached the platform with shaking legs. All is well that ends well.

While I was climbing my last 20 or so meters, my sister had already started chatting with a Swede carrying skis. Apparently they had been the party we saw zooming past us on Col du Midi at night. We also saw them descending the side of Mont Blanc du Tacul on skis around 11 in the morning when we woke up. Turned out that they had found our missing crampon! It had indeed gone almost to Mont Blanc. The Swede also told us that nearly everybody had turned back from Mont Maudit due to strong wind, themselves including. These news made us seriously ponder over fate. We had just saved ourselves some 10+ hours of climbing for nothing. Our surly moods immediately improved quite a bit.

We took the cable car down, walked a few hundred meters to the railway/bus station and took the first bus to Geneva, where we checked in to our familiar hotel Admiral. Unbelievable how good a hot shower felt! Nevertheless we made definite plans to go back. Next time we'd be a lot wiser and would not have to waste any steam on getting to know the surroundings. We'd just go straight for the summit. And we wouldn't bring any men. Our teamwork had functioned excellently and we didn't need anybody to ruin this.
The lessons we learned:

1) You do not, under any circumstances, climb anywhere without minimum gear: a tent, a Primus stove (and cooking gas), some food (enough to survive at least 72 hrs.)+ all the climbing gear. You never know when a snowstorm will hit in this region. Remember the Polacs and the 6 people who froze to death in a snowstorm! It is also a good idea to bring thermal wrap sheets. These are so small and light when packed together that you can even keep them in a pocket. Should something bad happen, you may be thanking your good senses. Plus, it never hurts to have a minimal first aid kit.

2) Don't bother to rope yourself togehter with anyone who has no clue about proper belaying technique. It's pointless and even life dangerous.

3) You cannot rely on cell phones for help. Inevitably you'll be out of range just when the s..t hits the fan. We had two-way radios as well, although we didn't have to use these.

4) Good orienteering skills are essential. If you don't know how to use a map and a compass, please don't go there to put your life in danger.

5) If you have never experienced a white-out in the mountains, make damned sure that your summit day is not the first time you experience it. There is a good chance that you'll end up like the Polacs or the other 6 if you do, especially if you are foolish enough to climb without proper gear.

Finally, here are some Mont Blanc summit descriptions by other folks:
http://danielarndt.com/article/98/Summit_of_Mont_Blanc
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