ᐅ Summit nº19 & nº20: Mont Blanc (France & Italy)

SUMMITS

SUMMIT Nº 19 and Nº 20: MONT BLANC (FRANCE & ITALY)

FRANCE & ITALY

MONT BLANC (MONTE BIANCO)

02/07/2024

ALTITUDE

4.809 m

Jordi Girona, Jordi Guasch, Manel Vidal AND Andreu López

DIFFICULTY LEVEL

HIGH

CHRONICLE

This month of June 2024 I have done an important intensive exercise in terms of physical preparation. Both April and May were difficult months in which the problem of intestinal inflammation derived from the bacteria that I caught on the trip to Cameroon was difficult for me to eliminate. However, in the last 2 weeks, I have managed to complete 6 weekly training sessions and I feel physically strong for the alpine challenge of these next few days. We are going to the world capital of mountaineering, we head to Chamonix (France) to ascend Mont Blanc, the emblematic peak of the Alps, which with an altitude of 4,809 meters is the highest peak in the European Union, in the Alps themselves. and roof of France and Italy. A 2 in 1 for the same price.
I have prepared my luggage with discipline, method and concentration. It is important to carry out a visualization exercise of the different situations that may occur throughout the trip so as not to miss anything, since a small error can compromise the ascension. On Friday, June 28, I leave by car from Sant Martí de Tous (the town that has seen me grow up) towards Selva del Camp (a town in Alt Camp located about 10 kilometers from Reus) and where Jordi Girona lives.

Jordi Girona has recently become a regular on the TSOW peaks and in recent years, we have met on Kilimanjaro (Tanzania), Moldoveanu Peak (Romania) as well as Mount Cameroon (Cameroon). He will be the driver of this trip since he has recently bought a fairly spacious van that will be very good to house the enormous luggage that the 4 members of the expedition will carry (along with us, we will have the company of Jordi Guasch as well as Manel Vidal ). I arrive at Selva del Camp after dinner and a little late and we go to sleep shortly after discussing 4 basic things about the trip.
It’s Saturday, June 29. D-day. The day we had marked on the calendar for more than 9 months when we started planning this great adventure. Today is a unique and exclusive road day. We got up shortly and at 6:00 in the morning we were already on the move. At 7:15 in the morning we met at the railway stop at the Sant Joan industrial estate with the aforementioned Jordi Guasch and Manel Vidal. I met Jordi Guasch a couple of years ago in Turkey, during the ascent of Ararat and since then we have met on important and high-altitude expeditions (Kilimanjaro and Nevado Sajama in Bolivia). In this expedition his cousin Manel Vidal makes his “debut”, who is a great athlete who regularly practices running and cycling, although with practically no experience in the world of hiking.

So with the 4 members of the group introduced, we resume the progress of the trip and La Jonquera, Narbona, Montpellier, Nimes, Avignon, Valença, Chambery… all of them reference towns are left behind until we see the colossus. A huge glacier appears before us that undoubtedly belongs to Mont Blanc… we have just arrived at our “home” for the next few days. We have a quick dinner, we watch a bit of the Euro Cup (Spain wins 4 to 1 in Georgia and advances to the ¼ finals where the host Germany will be waiting for them) and we go to sleep shortly because at 7:00 in the morning they will pick up – us Ivan Moshnikov and Òscar Cadiach, who will be our compass in the coming days.
Òscar Cadiach is someone well-known in the world of mountaineering, one of the few people in the world who can boast of having reached the top of the 14 eight-thousanders on the planet without oxygen (the first Catalan to do so). Apart from this, he is much more in the world of mountaineering but it is not our turn to write his biography. Very lucky and happy that he is among us, we will surely learn a lot and share great mountain moments with him.
Ivan Moshnikov is the guide who has coordinated and planned the entire program for the next few days. We don’t know him much, although we know that he is Russian and I have a good feeling towards him since at all times he has shown great professionalism and attention to our people.

Today, Sunday, with the entire team of 6, the objective is to get to know each other and do some mountain practice. The mountain practice at the same time is made up of 3 activities such as: 1- an excursion of about 600 meters of positive slope that aims to reach around the 2,000 meter altitude level. 2- test the snow equipment and material (crampons, ice axes…) and teach both snow progression and safety techniques to, finally, and 3- go to a rock climbing area. This last one, rock climbing, is new to me and yes, in fact, at 40 years old I had never gone climbing. I really like the new activity and it is highly necessary learning for my progression and evolution as a mountaineer. I click on the activity and I am sure that in the future I will frequent more spaces with these characteristics.
Let’s start week and what a week. The Mont Blanc is on the program as well as the… (I won’t reveal it unless we have been left without an audience for the next chronicle). Our train leaves the town of Saint Gervais les Bains at 7:00 in the morning when we have to get up quite early. The train is not cheap at all but these next few days it is better that the word price be taboo… the train leaves us at Nid d’Aiglé Station (2,372 meters). Today’s program does not present major difficulties to overcome and a positive slope of about 800 meters awaits us as well as about 2.5 – 3 hours of walking until we reach the objective of the day: the Tete Rousse refuge at 3,167 meters high.

We arrived at the refuge shortly and around 12:00. I try not to sleep but I do try to close my eyes for a few hours in the bed that they have assigned me since we have not had enough hours of sleep in the last few days and for the next few days it is not expected that we will sleep an abundant amount of hours. Around 3:00 p.m. I get up and go to the living/dining room to “kill time” until 6:00 p.m., when dinner will be served. During this time we talk and get to know each other a little better with our guides Òscar and Ivan although we cannot hide a certain nervousness and our main concern is none other than what the weather will be like tomorrow and what time we will leave to attack the summit.
At 5:30 p.m. there is a guide meeting in which they mainly talk about the weather and departure times of the different “cordadas”. It seems that we will adopt the strategy of leaving a little later than initially planned and will be up at 3.30 at night to avoid the harsher weather conditions predicted for the early hours of the morning. For the rest of the day, it seems that the wind conditions will be more favorable so if this is true, the ascent will only depend on our strength and desire for the summit. Before going to sleep, I give myself a few moments of solitude and calm outside the shelter while I contemplate the imposing mountains in front of me. At 20:30 – 21:00 I go to sleep, still in daylight.
Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Today is the day we will try to conquer Mont Blanc, one of the reference peaks that every mountaineer aspires to have in his record of conquests. I am calm and confident, I have a good breakfast. I put on the mountain equipment, which is not little and the ritual of getting dressed can last exactly 30 minutes (tights, second layer pants, Gore-Tex last layer pants, socks, boots, gaiters, crampons, helmet, headlamp, gloves thin first layer, mitten gloves on top of the previous ones…and when you’re done with the clothes you have to think about sunscreen, lip cream and ensuring that everything inside the backpack is well placed in its corresponding place). I go outside where Óscar and Iván are waiting for us. I will share a rope with Òscar and Jordi Girona who will go in the middle while I, who have less experience in “cordades”, will close the union.

We took the first steps at 5:30 in the morning. The front light lasts on for 5 minutes, the time it takes for the first rays of daylight to appear. Our team goes first and is followed by Jordi Guasch, Manel Vidal and the guide Ivan. The first objective of the day will be to reach the Gouter refuge at 3,815 meters, although before it, we will have to avoid the mythical “bowling alley” which is a channel through which at certain times of the day stones fall and the “bolon” is the hiker ( Better to take it with a touch of humor, I think it’s good 😉).
The “bowling alley” at that time of the morning is still sleeping and there is no impact on standing out in its path. After the “bowling alley”, the mountain takes on steep slopes and comes a section equipped with chains and different fastening elements. I really enjoy this part, which, although it requires concentration, is very dynamic and entertaining.
Around 9:00 – 9:30 we arrived at the Gouter refuge. An authentic jewel of architecture that cost “only” 7.5 million euros and an authentic 5-star hotel installed at the heights of the mountain (we said before that we would not talk about prices, right? 😉). We took advantage of the fact that we were about 30 minutes ahead of the other team to make adjustments to the luggage (in my case, the helmet that put too much pressure on me in the back) as well as to eat and drink a little.

Jordi Guasch and Manel Vidal have also been able to regain strength and sit for a while and we set out with determination towards the objective and remain from the shelter, less than 1,000 meters of elevation gain. There are 995 meters of slope to overcome, which is a figure less than 1,000 meters (we are not deceiving here… only in the mind against fatigue or discouragement). I feel very well on a physical level and without muscle fatigue, without altitude pain, without any discomfort derived from the boots, I have no feeling of body cold… I feel confident about our chances of reaching the summit.

The part of the route after the Gouter refuge does not involve any significant or technical slope but it climbs gradually and is a long and slow approach. The wind, one of the main enemies when it comes to reaching our objective, begins to timidly make an appearance and I begin to feel cold on my face. We have been walking for 3 hours from Gouter and we stop for food and a hot drink when Ivan explains to us that there are approximately 3 hours left to reach the summit. At these moments it is important to trick the mind and not think in terms of the summit but rather of following “small objectives” such as completing a certain slope or reaching a certain point on the route.
In front of us the route becomes more vertical although at no time do I feel any sense of danger. Òscar Cadiach, voice of experience, tells us “step by step we will reach the summit”, “Chino The cordada is like a kind of umbilical cord that unites a lot and in which one’s feelings are immediately transferred to the rest of the members.

We arrived at some emergency and unguarded shelters that must be located at approximately 4,400 meters. There is very little left, less and less, although this 2-in-1 “roof” is made to pray. The wind intensifies a little and that reduces the thermal sensation but nothing that is cause for alert and concern. Jordi Girona is beginning to experience fatigue as a result of the accumulated kilometers and also the altitude, although we do not falter in the pace. We join the other group and Ivan tells us that there are only 20 minutes left.
It is being an enjoyable ascension in every sense. Physically I feel very strong, I don’t have altitude sickness, I have adopted a good material strategy and I don’t feel cold or hot beyond a little cold on the face… I enjoy the moment. I had had many doubts in recent weeks about whether I could be here, about whether I would have the strength and health to do it and suddenly…4,809 meters.

Mont Blanc under our feet. We became part of the history of mountaineers who have climbed this colossus, of those mountaineers who had looked at me from a distance and wanted to emulate them one day. Now I can say that I am a full-fledged mountaineer… we have ascended to the highest peak in the Alps. Hugs, euphoria, shared joy, happiness… multiple feelings fused in an indelible moment for each of us.