Headed back to France. Before
long the Italian side of Mont Blanc came into view.
Man that is one pretty
mountain.
We got back to Chamonix in time
to see the finish of the North Face Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc.
This race is a big deal around here. Because of the storm, the
race this year was limited to a mere 100 km (62 miles), up and
around mountain trails at significant elevation. Crazy.
The next
morning, the team (minus me) headed out to climb Mont Blanc. I
took this photo and tried not to pout. Left to right is John,
Alex, Eric, Toby, Christian, Mike, Sophie, Chris, and Andre.
After they left I tried to
console myself by shopping at the million or so mountaineering
shops in town.
Then took a cable car up the
side of the valley opposite Mont Blanc, and ate at this great
restaurant.
I looked across and tried to
imagine that I could see my friends climbing, but of course I
could not. The impressive glacier off my left elbow in the photo
is visible from all over town.
The team spent that night in a
hut and prepared for the summit push in the morning. They shared
some great sunset pics.
The next day, as they started
climbing, I took a cable car up a separate slope on the same
side of the valley to this structure, called Aiguille du Midi,
elevation 12,600’. This picture was taken from the hut.
Lots of climbers take the cable
car to the Aiguille du Midi and start their journeys from this
exit to the slopes.
