Mont Blanc Acclimatization

I got to Chamonix on September 3rd after a smooth flight to Geneva with a stopover in Paris. Chamonix is a great little town, it smells like cheese and ham, good coffee, and of course, outdoor sports. I sat for a 'white-coffee' in one of the cafes and all I could see was people with their walking sticks and boots up and down the town centre. Our Mont Blanc climb was planned for Thursday, September 8th, and the next couple of days would be used for acclimatizing to the altitude, something a lot of people neglect in the Alps, but which is always of course very important.

The following morning we woke up early and took the scenic Montenvers train to the Mer de Glace glacier (picture left). The glacier is beautiful, a pity it's retreating so quickly. From the hotel we followed the trail towards the Plan de l'Aiguille as we would spend the night at the Refuge du Plan de l'Aiguille (2,207m).

Duration: 2 hours
Distance: 4.5km
Total Ascent: 300m

This refuge is fantastic, probably one of the best around the Chamonix valley - not a lot of climbers using it, and great food prepared by Claude. After drinking a lot of fluid, it was time to go to bed (at 9:30pm!!). I have to say I didn't have the best night of sleep. Guess it was the altitude, because the bed was OK and I had a private room, so no noises or anything. It's a weird feeling: you wake up many times during the night somewhat breathless. Nothing too bad anyway.

The following morning we made the short climb to the Plan de l'Aiguille lift station (2,233m) and from here it was back down to the valley. We had a couple of hours to spare before heading to Le Tour, so I headed into town for a long walk - it's amazing how good it feels to be back in the valley.

At about 14:00 we headed to Le Tour (north of Chamonix) as from there we would hike to our second hut of the week: the Refuge Albert 1er (2,702m). We took the Le Tour lift towards Combe de Vormaine. From here we hiked for about 2 hours along the Glacier du Tour, a beautiful glacier with a particular blue tone. The weather was improving then and the sun came out to greet us for the first time during our stay.

Duration: 2 hours
Distance: 3km
Total Ascent: 1,050m

The Albert 1er hut is a bloody mess. It is quite popular because of the peaks within reach but it is quite old and crowded. During dinner, for example, there were probably 4 more people per table than what one would like. I know you can't complain about those things - that's just what climbs in the Alps are about, but if you can avoid the Albert 1er, do it.

Woke up early after a bad night of sleep (this time because of the sheer noise in the 12-packed room) but with great views to the Aiguille du Chardonnet (picture right). We headed into the Glacier du Tour, our day today would involve a more interesting climb: the Petite Fourche (3,520m). It's an easy enough climb with a bit of scrambling at the end. More of an exercise for acclimatization than anything else. After that we descended into the Plateau du Trient after abseiling the bergschrund at Col Blanc. We headed to the Cabane du Trient (in Switzerland) at 3,170m for our third night high up. Some huge crevasses in the Plateau - no wonder, I was hiking on short sleeves such was the perceived temperature.

Duration: 5 hours
Distance: 6.8km
Total Ascent: 920m

The Trient hut is beautiful, great location and infrastructure. But boy is it expensive. I payed 8 euros for a 1.5l bottle of water - no kidding. Great food and accommodation though. Had a good night of sleep, but for the first time an annoying headache was insisting on hanging around.

The following morning we would head off very early for one last climb before summit day and then back down all the way to the valley. We left the hut just before 6 in the morning and had some great views of the sunrise over the Plateau du Trient. The climb of the day would be the Aiguille du Tour (3,544m). For the first time in the week the forecast had changed and it indicated we would get the tip of a storm towards the end of the day (following day was not looking as good as before either). At the time I didn't bother too much. We spent a good 2 hours navigating crevasses until we got to the foot of the Aiguille. From here it was a bit of ice climbing and then some easy scramble to the top of the peak (picture left). We headed down to the Col du Tour and then crossed west towards the Glacier du Tour, back to the Albert 1er hut and straight back to the Le Tour lift.

Duration: 6:20 hours
Distance: 10km
Total Ascent: 450m

It was great to be back in the Valley for some proper rest after 4 days and 3 nights up high. Acclimatization seemed like it was a success - now it was all up to the weather on summit day.