 Poster: A snowHead
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The Mont Blanc may not be as high as we think it is, and its recognised summit may be under threat from another potential summit 500m to the west.
All is explained in this article from The Guardian.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Always the same when you climb a hill - you think you've reached the top then another summit looms into view..... 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Mont Blanc may still be Europe's highest mountain, but it is not quite as high as it was last year.
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Europe's *second* highest mountain.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Indeed, indeed - no wonder the "West" is reviled/ridiculed in some quarters.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Alan Craggs wrote: |
| Always the same when you climb a hill - you think you've reached the top then another summit looms into view..... |
Having had the pleasure of standing (exhausted) on top of the highest mountain in Western Europe, i can assure you that you do feel truly on top of the world - a fairly unique experience. There are more than a few false summits on the way up though.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Congratulations, Tony, I wonder if you're the only snowHead who's scaled Mont Blanc.
How did you approach the climb? When did you do it? Who were you with? etc.
Just a few paras of info. would be fun to read.
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| skanky wrote: |
| Quote: |
Mont Blanc may still be Europe's highest mountain, but it is not quite as high as it was last year.
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Europe's *second* highest mountain. :roll: |
This is how the French national press reported the story:
> Le pic rocheux le plus élevé d'Europe occidentale
My impression of Amelia Gentleman of the Guardian is that her command of French is pretty limited but in this case I think it was just plain ignorance. Still nice work if you can get it, getting paid for translating stories in the French press while you sit in a cafe on the left bank.
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Thanks for that davidof, good to see that the French had it right at least. David Goldsmith, I have several friends who have climbed Mont Blanc, so I claim Montebiancos Sundome by Proxy 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Having stood at the top of the Aguille du Midi and looked across at Mont Blanc while our guide explained about "beginners" courses, before cursing my way down the little ridge to the Vallee Blanch.....my admiration to anyone who can scale it!! But I don't think I'm going to expand my horizons to include mountineering...
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If the French measured these things in units of feet rather than meters then they would immediate gain a better accuracy. Measuring to the nearest foot is more accurate than to the nearest 3.3 feet !!!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| David Goldsmith wrote: |
Congratulations, Tony, I wonder if you're the only snowHead who's scaled Mont Blanc.
How did you approach the climb? When did you do it? Who were you with? etc.
Just a few paras of info. would be fun to read. |
I would expect that there are a few more of us on Snowheads, but my own ascent was particularly spontaneous.
About 5 years ago, on one of my many summer sessions in the Chamonix valley, my climbing partner (Simon) and I had taken mountain bikes as well as climbing kit. We were supposed to be having a rest day and had geared up for a spin on the bikes, but just before we left the campsite I bumped into an old university friend who, unbeknownst to us, had arrived the night before.
He explained that he and his climbing partner (with their respective wives, acting as support crew) had packed in their jobs and were nearing the end of a mammoth charity trip, trying to climb all Alpine peaks over 4000m in one summer. They had already been forced to accept that they would not bag all of the peaks but they felt that they had to climb Mont Blanc because that was one of the few peaks that the people back home would ask about.
They were due to get the Midi cable car up that afternoon in order to stay in the Cosmiques hut and start the ascent the next day. My partner and I just looked at each other, said "shall we?" and got on the mobile to see if there were two more spaces in the hut for that night.
We swiftly changed out of cycling kit, threw together our climbing kit and then all 4 of us headed into Cham. After a quick skip down the Aiguille du Midi arete and a short climb up to the hut, we spent the late afternoon / evening relaxing in luxury, eating a hearty meal, taking in the breathtaking views and then trying to get an early night.
The alarm clock rang at midnight and we were fed, kitted up and leaving the hut by 1am. After a headtorch climb up the slopes Mont Blanc du Tacul, our friends parted from us as they were making diversions to climb up to the summit of Mont Blanc du Tacul and then onto Mont Maudit, before carrying on to the summit of Mont Blanc. We carried on the direct route and it was round about this time that we realised that, in keeping with the spontaneous nature of the outing, we had not actually got around to checking the route description! Due to that fact that our friends were doing a longer route than most we were one of the first to leave the hut, and we were now pretty much at the front of a long line of torches and so hastily checked our route rather than simply follow the tracks from previous days.
Nicely reassured, we carried on. At this point I should point out that Alpine climbers often have a slightly snobbish attitude to climbing Mont Blanc due to the fact that it is "only a walk" and the mountain is "just a big mound of snow" and lots of people arrive in Chamonix with the ascent as their one and only alpine ambition. In fact, the beauty of the route surprised us on a number of occasions. One memory that I can still recall is ascending a slope that was steep enough that you could not straighten your arms in front of you. At the top, the slope suddenly flattened out and fell away into a bowl and there, on the other side of the bowl, was Mont Blanc dramatically picked out by the moonlight against a dawn sky with every shade from midnight black to the deepest blue.
The final 500m were very tough, largely because we had only arrived a week before and had only had one trip up to about 3,500m and so were not acclimatised. My partner deserves a mention because I was suffering worse than him and if it had not been for his persistent encouragement, I doubt that I would have made it to the top (I was taking about 5 steps, resting on my axe (not easy, as it is a short climbing axe, not a walking axe!) and then almost drifting off to sleep).
Eventually, we got to the top and again the mountain surprised us. I was expecting a boring convex mound but the summit is surprisingly defined. Despite my rests, we were one of the first teams there and were able to take in the incredible view of the changing early morning light over the 360 degree horizon (it was about 7.30am). A few photos and some food later, we raised the energy to head down the way we had come and were back at the Midi cable car soon after midday.
Sorry, that was a few more than a few paragraphs, but once I started, I thought I'd describe it properly!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Tony - thanks for the description - much appreciated!
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Nice one Tony!
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You know it makes sense.
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Excellent Tony, and the extra paragraphs were well worth it. 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Can say no more than congratualtions for that!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Cheers guys. As you can probably tell, I quite enjoyed having an excuse to remember that climb. It was one of the least stressful and most enjoyable climbs I've done in the Alps. I would recommend it to anyone (subject to the right training/instruction, of course).
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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For someone who's done no climbing, what training and preparation would be involved?
I take it that if you take the cablecar up to the Aiguille du Midi, you are largely traversing, with an overall climb of about 1000m. Roughly what distance would you be hiking and climbing?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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David Goldsmith, The Cosmique hut is at 3,613m but you do lose a bit of height as you go up and over the lower slopes of Mont Maudit before reaching the slopes of Mont Blanc itself. Probably 1,500m total height gain. The route up the Gouter ridge approaches from the other side but I believe increased rock fall on that route means that the Midi is now the more favoured starting point.
I am not sure of the distance travelled but guidebook time from the hut is about 7 hours to the summit (although the Lindsay Griffen guides are notoriously harsh with their time estimates)
As for skills, rock climbing experience is irrelevant since it is entirely a snow route. You will have to climb up some quite long and sometimes steep snow slopes and so being comfortable walking in crampons is the most important thing as well as being familiar with moving when roped together with your partner(s). This is particularly important on the descent for a number of reasons: (1) the snow will have been softened by the sun and tends to ball up under your crampons (imagine walking across a snow covered black slope wearing 4 inch platform shoes with no traction!) (2) it is harder to control your balance when walking downhill (3) you will be tired (4) everyone else on the mountain will be tired and will be doing stupid things.
The precise obstacles change constantly but when I did it there was one crevasse that had to be crossed using a wooden ladder that looked like it had been there all season (with countless crampons cutting away at the rungs) and one almost vertical section where most people were using a knotted rope to keep their balance on the descent (although the action of others pulling on the rope seemed more of a hindrance than a help and whatever it was attached to was hidden out of sight under the snow - I avoided it as much as I could). Apart from that, it is just like British winter hillwalking in crampons but mostly at night, on a much bigger scale and with less oxygen. Oh, and the views, the air and the light are indescribably better.
I know that a number of English companies run courses to take British hillwalkers with no previous experience up the mountain. You'd spend a week practising the skills and acclimatising and then, weather permitting, you'd make the ascent. The skills can be picked up quickly and with a good level of fitness and a reasonable head for heights you would be fine. I know others without any alpine experience that have grouped together to climb it without a guide, but then you are reliant on assessing the weather conditions and working out the logistics yourselves.
If you're interested, look at http://www.exodus.co.uk/holidays/twm1.html as a starting point - I've not used them but Exodus have been doing this sort of thing for ages. Not sure what happens if the weather prevents an ascent though...
A more sobering view can be seen at http://www.ski-montblanc.com/MontBlancClimbing.htm
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Tue 10-08-04 17:35; edited 1 time in total
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Thanks, Tony, that's hugely informative.
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