Chamonix 2019 Climb & Life

After one month of living with my relatives in France, I did not speak any french, but I decided to leave the comfort of my cousin’s home in Toulouse to explore the mountains in Chamonix. I signed up for a Blablacar (shared car app) and found a 9 or 10 hours ride with a very french old couple. Since they did not speak any English and all my French was; Bonjour, Merci, and Ca Va, our conversation was based on smiles and sharing chocolate and cookies.

I arrived on a sunny day, and when I saw Mont Blanc for the first time, I smiled. Walking through town, I got to a place from where I could see the river and on top of it, a bridge full of colorful flowers, and in the background the glacier and the mountains. At that moment, I had that crazy feeling of being in the exact place and time where I was supposed to be.

My first night in Chamonix, I spent it in a guy's apartment that I found through Couchsurfing. The next day I bought a 20 Euros tent from Intersport (outdoor store) and headed to "Glacier d'Argentiere camping" where Ryan, who I had just met the day before, was also camping. It turned out that he became a good friend and partner, we started climbing together, and after one month of living in a tent, we found part-time jobs and moved to a tiny apartment. He taught me so much about trad and alpine climbing (I had little experience before) and, as I'm a fast learner, we quickly started going up to the "Vallée Blanch" whenever the weather allowed it. And if we weren't there, we were probably camping at "Plan de l'Aiguille" or just going sport cragging.

"Vallée Blanche"- PH. Ryan Colley

During that time we climbed some beautiful routes; Contamine route and Marylene at Point Lachenal. Papillons Arete, Peigne normal route at Aiguille du Peigne. Nabot Leon, more than once, and Osez Josephine at Aiguille de Blaitière. Rébuffat-Baquet at the Aiguille du Midi - which is for sure one of my favourite ones.

I would love to write a full post about each one, but that took place a few years ago, and I don't remember every detail just random facts of each climb. However there are a few days, that remain fresh in my mind.

Camping at Plan de l'Aiguille

Bivouac Aiguille de Blaitière

Aiguille du Midi, Rebuffat-Baquet.

We went up on the last lift of the day so we could sleep at the station in the top of Aiguille du Midi, and the following morning, be the first ones on the route. We wanted to climb as light as possible, so we just brought bivvy gear with us and found a cozy place to sleep and store the equipment we would not need for the climb. The next day, we woke up early, and as soon as the doors of the station were open, we went down to the glacier. Ryan started climbing the first pitch of the route, which meant that I would lead the 2nd one, a famous S crack. Lucky me! It was a technical climb and a fine, high-quality finger crack. We enjoyed the climb from the bottom to the top. The good conditions and the relief of not having anyone in front of us made it just a perfect day. The last pitch of this climb, which is also the last pitch of other routes, is a bolted slab that deserves a good try. At that time, it was way above my skills, anyways I wanted to try, but the pressure of having people from the other routes lining up to climb it after me made me quickly opt for pulling up through the crux moves. I wish someone would have told me to fix my hair, dry the sweat and clean the boogers off my face, because once at the summit, the curious tourists were waiting to capture climbers on their cameras.

Rébuffat-Baquet

Rébuffat-Baquet

We tried to climb some other routes, but things did not always go as planned, we also had some failed attempts, such as with Guiffra Monaci and Cordier Pillar.

We tried, we failed… we will try again.

The first time we went trad climbing together, we jumped on "Guiffra Monaci" in the Éperon des Cosmiques. Ryan was just recovering from a scary fall he had taken a few weeks earlier in which he had injured both of his heels, but I was sure I could get us to the top, it was only four pitches, and the crux was just 6a. That was my first time leading a trad climb, and I still don't know if my route finding skills were just awful or if I was on the correct route incapable of making the moves. We end up abseiling after trying to climb the 3rd pitch. What a big disappointment! But also, what a huge relief to be able to just bail from it.

"Guiffra Monaci" in the Éperon des Cosmiques - PH. Ryan Colley

Another failed attempt that could have had a bad ending was Cordier Pillar. This was close to the end of the season, we had been going climbing together, and moving through glaciers and exposed terrains for months. We had been planning this climb for a while, we were going to be methodical and careful. So we set up the bivouac near the route the day before, planning to sleep there and having an early start. As we knew that finding the beginning of the climb could be a bit tricky, we decided to walk up there when there was still sunlight, so we could approach in the dark the next day. Moving slowly and carefully, through the glacier (a mix of ice and rock) now and then there were some rocks falling from higher, which made me feel a bit unsafe but I kept telling myself to stay calm, they were falling far away, everything was ok so we kept moving.

Ryan was in front and I was a few meters behind when I stepped on a rock the size of my head, which as soon as I tried to move one more step, went out of place, which made me lose my balance and start sliding down on my back. I knew that if I wanted to stop I had to turn and stick my axe in the glacier, and right before I manage to do this the rock hit me on the back of the head, luckily I had my helmet on, and I was still facing down. Once I stopped, I was a bit dizzy but I was ok, I slowly moved out of the way to one side so Ryan wouldn't drop any rocks at me on his way down to meet me. We both have first aid knowledge and certification, so we were sure that it wasn't anything too serious, just a small concussion ( I had some bad ones before, so I guess I can tell the difference). We went down slowly, and once we arrived at our camp, we had dinner, drank some water, and went to bed early, so I could give my head a good night of rest. The next morning, I was feeling better, but I didn't have any desire of going back to the glacier, so instead, we decided to climb “Nabot Leon”, for probably the third time... known terrain and excellent route which made me feel a bit better about ruining our big plans with a stupid fall.

Sweet slab at Nabot Leon - PH. Ryan Colley

I was upset, and it wasn't because of the fall itself. It was more about how bad it could have been. I kept thinking about it for many days after, all the "What if" kept coming to my mind "What if the rock had hit me in the face? What if I had been unconscious? What if I had needed a rescue?".

I don't think I ever told my parents about it. I just didn't want to worry them about my mistake. Instead, I promised myself to be extra careful and not to take anything for granted. The mountains can be dangerous. There are so many accidents that happen not even during the climb but during the approach or descent. I'm not safe until I’m back home.