Live2Inspire: Elliz' Expeditie Mont Blanc

13 september 2009

Elliz' Expeditie Mont Blanc - Dag 4

First stage of the Le Tour - Albert I trail via the moraine ridge alongside the glacier - Sep 12th 2009

First stage of the Le Tour - Albert I trail via the moraine ridge alongside the glacier - Sep 12th 2009

Saturday, September 12th 2009.

The girls woke up not all too early. At breakfast around 8am Wilco van Rooijen had another little surprise for them.

This afternoon they would go for an acclimatization stage to the Refuge (hut) Albert Premiere (1) (2706m) and stay there overnight.

Wilco instructed them to pack light, with emphasis on 'light'. Just only the neccessary things for a mountain walk from 1200 to 2700, and on Sunday a training day hiking on ice, with crampons, pickets and harnasses. He would check out their gear.

When all were packed in the late morning, he checked upon them, one by one.

It was hilarious.

He came across many superfluous things like deodorants, extra clothings, books and other little obvious things if on vacation, however, not of any use at this stage - keep the imagination going on the stuff they had to leave behind cause I don't mention here a lot of other things, for obvious reasons :-).

They all had a great laugh. Some girls somewhat less enthused than others ...

After lunch they went to Le Tour (1200m) by car, about 11km up north-east from Chamonix.

Today's mountain hike was a tough one. Especially the last half an hour, just before arriving at the top. It is a very steep and diffult trail at the moraine ridge between glaciers.

Starting at about 1200 meters, they had to go up 1500 meters, with an average ascent of 1 hour per 300 meters. It is all the way up, without any descents and some very steep and technical parts. The trail is at the moraine ridge along the glacier, very narrow (less than a meter), covered with rocks and stones, and chilling steep valley views of a kilometer down. I am sure that one or two of the ladies did not dare to shift their view during walking as it can be pretty daunting.

They started with dry but gloomy weather, however, half way it started to rain and the temperature dropped quickly from 15 degrees C to just above zero. Hands were cold and rusty.

Around six in the evening they arrived at the Refuge Albert I. Most of them oke but pretty wasted. Even one of the ladies was beyond 'wasted'. Hope she will recover overnight.

They went immediately to the attic of the refuge. The girls installed their place to sleep for the night, with their headlights up and on, as darkness had fallen.

Ascent at the moraine ridge to Albert I - Sep 12th 2009

Elliz & Miriam - Sep 12th 2009

Sunset from the Albert I trail, almost at the top - Sep 12th 2009

In the attic in Refuge Albert I - Sep 12th 2009

By the way, the weather forecast looks oke but not all too favourable for an optimal summit stage to the top of the Mont Blanc:

OVERNIGHT (SATURDAY - SUNDAY)
Low cloud - clear high up - getting noticeably cooler
SKY CONDITIONS (cloud) : cloudy at first - clear or partly cloudy later, low cloud or fog patches might persist down in the valley.
PRECIPITATION : none.
WIND - aloft : N -> NNW light to moderate.
TEMPERATURE : +6°C.

TOMORROW - MONDAY SEPTEMBER 14
Changeable and cooler - sunny spells in the morning - showers later
SKY CONDITIONS (cloud - sunshine) : partly cloudy to cloudy with sunny spells in the morning - cloudy or locally mostly cloudy in the afternoon due to cumulus cloud growth - period of sunshine close to 40%.
PRECIPITATION : scattered showers in the afternoon - rain-snow limit towards 2200 m.
WIND - aloft : N -> variable light -> SSW moderate.
TEMPERATURE : min +6°C - max +16°C.

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 15
Gloomy morning - improving during the afternoon
SKY CONDITIONS (cloud - sunshine) : overcast or mostly cloudy in the morning - becoming cloudy with sunny spells in the afternoon - period of sunshine close to 40.
PRECIPITATION : scattered showers in the morning - rain-snow limit towards 1900 m.
WIND - aloft : SSW moderate.
TEMPERATURE : steady.

Link: Weather Forecast Chamonix

Here below some pics from our week, Elliz and I, in August when hiking the Col de Balm (2100m) - Albert I (2700m) trail.