We woke up at 5am ready to jump in the car and get to the Aiguille du Midi cable car station, we ate breakfast and jumped in the car but it wouldn't start. This was worrying for a couple of big reasons, firstly because we would miss the first cable car to the Aiguille du Midi and secondly and more importantly for getting home! Chris was sure it was because his keyfob had ran out of battery it was the immobiliser so we headed off on foot for the 20 mins or so walk to the station. We got on the lift at about 7am, an hour later than we had planned but still in good time. The cable car is a funny ride, it kind of judders as it reaches the supports and then swings back and forth and it passes although it all feels really smooth. I took a load of photos with mainly my compact camera but also had my DSLR although I forgot the cable for my compact so I can only put up photos from the big camera at the moment.
The steep snow slope as seen when exiting the cable car
The view from the bridge across to the main section of the station is amazing and the drops are sheer! You follow the signs down to the exit to the Vallee Blanche which leads you into an ice tunnel where you put your crampons on and prepare for the mega exposed descent down onto the Vallee Blanche. You can see in the photo above some climbers descending. The snow was well trod but even at about 8am it was still a bit slushy on top, I guess from the traffic, it made for a nervous descent. I'm heading into Chamonix tomorrow so I'll try and get a cable and upload some more pics showing the ice tunnel and taken from the steep slope.
Me with the steep, exposed snow slope and Midi station behind
Chris looking onto the Valle Blanche
We traversed slowly under the face of the Aiguille du Midi to the Abri Simmond Hut with the Cosmiques hut a little further away. We took off our crampons as the route looked quite dry. Here we met a trainee doctor (Dan) and an emergency doctor who had a special interest in high altitude medicine (Tariq) from the UK, nice company in the circumstance! We chatted a while at the bottom of the route while we geared up.
Me with the start of the route behind
The first section was about Diff level climbing and fairly easy. We moved together hooking the rope around spikes where possible. It wasn't long before we had to go under a the Gerdarme on the right and head slightly up for the first abseil. By this point we had to queue and opted to abseil off a rock spike rather than the anchor point. In fairness you could probably down climb the this bit if you were careful.
Chris on the first abseil
After this abseil we had to queue for quite a while to get onto the next abseil which was much longer and definitely couldn't be down climbed. There are two double bolted anchors which you need to work your way along to and then you drop into free space. By the time you reached good solid ground you were nearly at the end of our rope so 30m in total. I had a nervous moment as I swang out into space to realise I hadn't unclipped my sling which I had for security whilst getting on the abseil! I had to pull up a couple times and get some rope through my belay plate for the guy above to unclip! I think I'd of been sweating a bit and reaching for my other prussik if there hadn't been someone behind!
The queue for the second abseil
After this we worked up a bit more and around another big column and down to where we saw the crux, a 4b slab. I'm not sure if the 4b takes into account the fact it looks as though someone has chipped away some space for your feet. There is a bolt about half way up the crack which I clipped. As I pulled up and got my feet sorted I put in a cam before moving my boot into the crack and placing a cam above. It was still fairly interesting in big boots! I think I'll practice this kind of stuff more in wales before next time! I bought up Chris and then moved down a thin crack before wedging up and out, this seemed like the right thing at the time but Chris jumped straight onto it which might of been better but less protected for me leading. We then ended up on a ledge where Chris lowered me down and then down climbed. We moved over too far to the left and I did an exposed bridge over the sheer drop of the face! I was feeling good by this point and moving well but as I bought Chris up I decided to then traverse up and backwards through a gap. As I got in the gap the flake I was standing/pulling on started rocking back and forth which made for a nervous moment! I ended up doing another move clipping and in-situ cam before bringing Chris up and finding the normally gully. After this I stepped out to see the terrace and some people applauding which was great. I climbed across and ended up doing an exposed bridge and swing across the face again to end up at the foot of the ladder which the spectators seemed to appreciate! I bought Chris over and started up the ladder. It looked pretty rickerty so I used two slings with wiregates just in case.
Chris and I on the terrace
As we jumped onto the platform for a heroes welcome we saw Dan and Tariq coming over, I took some photos of them and we waited for them to make the terrace. After shaking hands we went to the cafe which was rammed and hot! I had a butty and crepe and a bottle of coke and we exchanged email addresses before leaving for the cable car. On the staircase I saw Edward from Alien rock (a friend of Grahams) who had just done the Three Monts Traverse for Mont Blanc. He looked knackered, like we will next week!
Dan belaying Tariq over the last part of the ridge to the ladder, I went further right around the flake.
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