Mont Blanc Massif 2004 - De La Salle Scout Group Expeditions Series

Mont Blanc Massif 2004

Above: (L-R) Tom Casey, Aidan Ennis, Colm Ennis, Ian Sinnott and Paschal Guilfoyle on the summit of the Aiguille du Tour (3542m).

It was the kind of rain that makes you wet and the kind of wind that makes you cold. Only for the fact that a cable car and chairlift had just catapulted us six hundred metres up from Le Tour, we could very easily have convinced ourselves that we were preparing for a good cold, wet and miserable day in the Reeks. Of course we had arrived at the car park in Le Tour with just thirteen minutes to spare before the cable car closed and our mission now was to get ourselves up to the Refuge Albert Premier at 2702 metres in time for dinner at 7.00pm.

Above: Not the Reeks; Dent Blanche, the Matterhorn and the Grand Combin from the Aiguille du Tour.

It is said that when you are experiencing a place that you have never visited before, that your mind relates the landscape and geography that you are viewing to everywhere that you have seen before. Eventually it seemed that it wasn’t the Reeks but Mount Brandon in Dingle we were climbing. The track wound and ascended in just the same way and the visibility was just as bad. Finally, a last steep snow slope brought us to the Belgian King’s Refuge. The hut warden had no record of our booking but had plenty of space and did we want dinner? God, yes! We had no idea what was in the stew, all that mattered was that it was once alive, it might have flown and now it was cooked and surrounded by soup, veg and lots of potatoes.

Above: Tom Casey with a snow laden Grande Fourche in the background.

A 4.00am alpine start is a unique experience. There are so many mountaineering reasons that make it a good idea – nice hard snow and ice for crossing the glacier, finding and getting established on your route before it gets too hot or rocks get too loose and allowing yourself a good margin of error in case things go wrong later in the day. Tom Casey, a seasoned mountaineer, could accept all of that but having eaten cornflakes and muesli out of a bowl at 4.30am, he just was not prepared for being asked to then drink tea out of the same bowl. It’s fair to say that it cracked him up.

Above: At the Col Superieur du Tour.

After gearing up, we headed off at a good pace across the Glacier du Tour in the direction of the Irish sounding Signal Reilly, before swinging up to the Col Superieur du Tour and crossing in to Switzerland. Our objective was to climb the Aiguille du Tour (3542m) before crossing the Trient glacier to another cabane.

Above: Ascending the steep slopes to the summit of the Aiguille du Tour.

The climb to the summit went well. We roped up for some steep narrow sections and it was an enjoyable scramble to the summit. There were superb views of the Aiguilles Dorees close by and in the distance, the Matterhorn, Dent Blanche and the Jungfrau could all be easily made out. Put simply, the summit of the Aiguille du Tour is a good place to be.

Above: A thoughtful Paschal Guilfoyle on the summit of the Aiguille du Tour.

A dramatic slide off the track by Ian Sinnott on the rocky descent back down to the glacier, woke us all up. It was a good test for TC who was a bit horrified but just about held the slip. Strangely, Sid seemed to enjoy the experience. Back on less vertical ground, trying to eat the lunch rolls was the next big challenge. It was surely last season’s bread. It was a fantastically hot and clear day and we took it easy crossing the glacier to the stunningly situated Cabane du Trient. Only Aidan’s hauntingly white face occasionally distracted us from our incredible surroundings.

Above: The irrepressible Aidan Ennis with Ian Sinnott on the Trient Glacier.

The hut was warm, had a huge dog, sold good jugs of tea and had comfortable bunks that invited us to sleep for the afternoon. Once again at dinner, we had no idea what animal we were eating. It was conceivably a Marmot and the soup went down well with the old bread from lunch.

Above: Beneath the Cabane du Trient.

The next morning, we volunteered for another 4.00am start. Our objective today was to drive the hut warden crazy. We risked expulsion from the Austrian Alpine Club by daring to use cups instead of bowls for our tea but we may never know the consequences of throwing slops into that large green beaker on the table. We fear that the Nepalese assistant hut warden or at least the dog may have been murdered as a result. Descending the Glacier D’Orny was incredible. The imposing Aiguilles d’Arpette were to our left and the impressive steep cliffs of le Portalet were on our right and below us the entire valley was covered in cloud. The sun rose above it and the mountains stretched out forever. Unmissable.

Above: Descending the Glacier D’Orny at dawn.

At the Cabane D’Orny we picked up the track that would eventually bring us down to Champex. Aidan had promised us Alpine meadows with frolicking bell ringing cows but it took a long time to get down to them. It was hot and by the time we had descended the 1700 metres to the Lac de Champex, we had certainly earned our lunch. Paschal, looking like a gunslinger of old, was the first to bathe his feet in the glacial waters of the lake. We ate all day, although the crepes at the end almost got the better of us. First thing tomorrow it was a thousand metres straight up to the Fenetre d’Arpette.

Above: A very still bouquetin at the Cabane d'Orny.

The ascent up the Val d’Arpette took us from the alpine meadows back into rocky glacial terrain and snowfields. With a few marmots spotted, a few bananas devoured and a strenuous effort we finally reached the Fenetre at 2665 metres at about 11.00am. From the window, there was an impressive view back down the Val d'Arpette, of the Glacier du Trient on the other side and also of the 1100 metre descent that we were about to make. The drop went on forever and we all had to resist the temptation of hopping on a donkey to take us down the final hundred metres to the Chalet du Glacier.

Above: Ascending the final snowfield to the Fenetre d'Arpette.

From the Chalet, it was decided to continue the descent into Trient, while Colm ascended up to the Col du Balme to rescue the car, which was down in le Tour. The Swiss police were mildly suspicious at his inability to open the boot of the car on the way back across the border. Although given that he had neither driven an automatic nor driven on the right hand side of the road before, he did well to have been only once branded a Cretin by an impatient French motorist.

Above: Ian, Colm and Paschal at the Fenetre d'Arpette.

With the hard work over, we chilled out in Chamonix that night and the next morning took the Mont Blanc tunnel over to the Italian side. From there we took a series of cable cars up to the Punta Helbronner station at 3462 metres. Mont Blanc was completely shrouded in cloud but from the safety and comfort of the cable car station you could feel an oppressive atmosphere generated by the lower peaks that you could see. These were intimidating mountains and you didn’t need to know their names or the grades of the routes on them, to know that they were all hard to climb. Not a theatre for us to play in just yet.

Above: Paschal Guilfoyle (3rd Scouts) prepares to depart from the Albert Refuge at dawn.

The Waterford Senior Hurling team provided the greatest terror of the trip. With texts straight from the terraces in Thurles, we feared that the avalanche of John Mullane being sent off signalled the end of Waterford’s Munster title hopes. Thankfully, they eventually buried Cork and the team wasn’t far in front of us crossing over the bridge back into Waterford. Waterford still has more to do, as do we on those big mountains. They haven’t seen the last of us.

Above: Above the clouds on the Glacier d'Orny.

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