Mont Blanc
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‘Mt. Blanc Massif, France’From Chamonix the Aguille du Midi cable car ride is the most spectacular in the world. In summer enjoy the unparalleled scenery; in winter ski the incredible Vallee Blanche, a 26 km trip down a glacier beneath the cathedral-like spires of the Aiguilles. The Italian side of the Mt. Blanc massif offers more awesome scenery on an almost Himalayan scale. The network of trails known as the Tour de Mt. Blanc takes in both sides. Ibex are commonly seen in summer.
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Review by expert member ‘Excerpt from 'Full circle around Mont Blanc'’By Alison Harvey for The Independent First published April 16, 2008
It was only as we arrived, giggling, into Switzerland after an advanced lesson in family bonding on the mountain crossing from Italy, that I realised we had finally cracked it.
The Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB), a 200km trek through three countries over nine days, really was the perfect holiday for my teenage daughter and me. The only ups and downs we faced were a total height gain and loss of around 10,000m – alarmingly, further than scaling Everest.
At least it was all downhill from the 2,537m Col du Grand Ferret to the village of La Fouly. My super-fit daughter Lara, 14, had been a true mountain buddy – encouraging and cajoling her less fit mother, 52, up the lung-bursting climb in oven heat from the valley floor.
The day had started easily enough, as we walked down from the beautiful Bonatti mountain refuge, through lush clover meadows gashed by wild orchids and vivid harebells, and zig-zagged across streams close to the Pre de Bar glacier. But now it was time for a lie-down (for me) and lunch on the gentler grass slopes of the Swiss Val Ferret along with Keith, our guide, and two other hiking companions. A pair of eagles played in the thermals – seemingly the only other creatures on what Lara was now calling "our mountain" as she excitedly snapped away.
Lara had at first been rather less enthusiastic about walking in the Alps, even when I'd reminded her that, at 4,808m, Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in Western Europe, and that we'd have jaw-dropping views and lots of fresh air as we trekked over wild and varied Alpine passes from France into Italy and Switzerland and, um, back into France... Full article from The Independent Review by press. ‘Excerpt from 'Extreme Mont Blanc'’By Brian Wimer for National Geographic
Frankly, I hadn't expected much of a climb. Eighteenth-century women in hoop skirts reached the summit, as did an elderly astronomer who had himself toted up by sedan chair. Heck, an Italian sprinted from Chamonix up to the top and back in just 5 ½ hours. I would have packed sneakers, if not for the fact that over the years Mont Blanc has claimed more than its share of lives.
No one considered mountaineering for sport until two locals from Chamonix, Michel-Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat, summitted Mont Blanc in 1786. Today, the valley crawls with climbers eager to try this icon. Most come for the challenge and the views, some for vanity.
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Even with frostbite and avalanches, the greatest danger for recreational climbers is failure to acclimatize to altitude. Note: don't say "acclimatization" to the French—it means you want to "refrigerate" yourself. The word is acclimatation, as in: "Attention! Bivouaquer dans ce refuge sans acclimatation à l'altitude peut mettre votre vie en danger!" ("Overnighting in this hut without acclimatization could put your life in danger!"). In July 1999, a storm forced 40 people to overnight in Refuge Vallot, an emergency hut just shy of Mont Blanc's summit. One never woke up. Full article from National Geographic Review by press. Have you been here? Why not add your own review. |
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