From virtually no experience, four Donegal men have been training hard over the last year with myself in the donegal mountains with a focus of a dream to stand tall on top of Mont Blanc – now its time to make dreams come true……
Every year the summit of Mont Blanc becomes the ultimate objective for mountaineers the world over, all striving to stand on top of the roof of Europe and look down on all of the major summits of the Alps.
Dubbed “the roof of Europe”, Mont Blanc is the highest peak of European Alps. It is on the French-Italian border with an elevation of 4810 meters (15,781 feet) above sea level. On sept 26th 2013, Four man Donegal team and myself will be climbing to the summit of Mont Blanc via the “Gouter route & Traverse to the Aiguille du Midi” route. This route climbs Mont Blanc from the northwest via Grand Couloir , Col du Dome ,mont Blanc summit 4810mts & descend the three monts Mont Maudit ,Mont Blanc du Tacul via Aiguille du Midi.
This is a more technical route than the standard Gouter route, because of the traverse of the mountain. The climb of Mont Blanc is a once in a lifetime experience.
Lets Go…..
Day 1
This years route selection i have chosen to not opt for the comfort of the Bellevue cable car & Tram Mont Blanc, instead climb directly from Les Houches south of Chamonix directly up to Baraque des Rognes (2768m) & on to our refuge for the night Tete Rousse hut (3167m).
Day 2
Relaxed start with breakfast in refuge Tete Rousse as we make our way the refuge Gouter hut(3817m) via the the very interesting Grand Couloir . This section tends to be more difficult and technical with a high level of concentration required.The route then ascends the boulders and exit cracks leading to the Gouter hut where we will rest up for the few hours before our summit bid.
Day 3
Gouter hut to the summit mont blanc will start with a very early 2.30am rise. Roping up ,the first part of the route is almost flat, head south-south east towards the Dome du Gouter (4304m). The glacier is generally straight forward and friendly yet tough going with altitude now kicking in. From here continuing into the Col du Dome(4258m) then onto the slopes of the Bosses Ridges of the Grande Bosses (4513m) and then the Petite Bosses (4547m).
Finally as the sun rises approx 7am we will crest a fabulous whale back ridge leading us to the summit. This ridge is steep, narrow and seriously exposed in places.
Hoping for a clear fresh morning with good visibility to capture the views and take in the realisation from the summit we will start our descent as we traverse via the three monts Mont Maudit ,Mont Blanc du Tacul ,Aiguille du Midi reaching our final destination of Chamonix where a well earned beer awaits after a grueling 15hrs summit day.
Follow our progress here Voodooascent.com as i will be posting a daily “good bad & ugly” detailed account of the climb up Mont Blanc to a spectacular 4810mts….
No mountain too high No problem too BIG to conquer
Jason
