Rick The Hitman "Fatton"

I won't make this a long one, but since the alps I've gotten fat.  Why?  A couple of reasons but the main one being work.  I'm addressing this now and I'm thirsty for getting back to good nick.  The last "bout" of training saw me pushing my speed and thus my confidence in my ability to run 7-7:30 minute miles is there.  It's just a case of grinding through it.

I tinkered with a few runs over the past few weeks but I think I'm getting back into a habit which is good.  Sadly I've not been able to get back into the climbing yet, I've been once since the alps and my weight and decreased grip were depressing.  I've moved home so I need to suss out the new wall.  I also need to get some routes sorted around where I live.

I'm off to do an LDWA event on the weekend, I know its Christmas and a bad time to start, but the truth is there is no bad time :)

I'll do a post next week with info on how the LDWA event goes, I'll only be walking this time but I'll be back to running them soon.

Hopefully I will be in good nick before the next bout of Winter comes and/or for February when I'm off to Scotland with the WMC.  Speaking of which I'm thinking about joining another club local to my new place so I can get some climbing partners.  Maybe a bit of running and bouldering first so I don't embarrass myself :s

Alps 2010 - Best of the Rest

I didn't manage to get up to the Col du Midi the following day as the weather came in. I was pretty concerned with the amount of precipitation that I wouldn't be able to find the gear.  I went up alone and the ridge had some powder on it which made it easier for me (I also used one of my poles which helped too).  As a result of the new snow the crevasses had been covered on the bank down to the col.  I refused the offer of roping up with two lads also on a retrieval mission and steamed down in the style you run down scree.  I stopped a couple of feet short of a covered crevasse, that would of made me look like a bit of a plonker after refusing the offer to tie in!  All the tents under the Cosmiques Hut were gone and I was worried I'd never find the gear.  The deep holes were just a couple of inches raised lump!  I started digging in one site but gave up and moved to another.  After digging down a couple of feet I found Chris's bag and proceeded to dig until I had all the gear.  Going back up the ridge was more unnerving in contemplation that actually doing it.  I had to step across to let 2 teams of 3 roped up people passed.  It's always nicer going up!  I got down and Chris had the gear packed up so I booked the ferry and we got on our way.  After dropping Chris off at St Albans I drove back to Telford and made it back just after 4am!

I've been very busy at work this week so I've not gotten around to putting up the best of the photos from my compact camera (I forgot to take the cable to Chamonix and couldn't get hold of one there).  Without further ado....

Cosmiques Arete

View from the ice cave exit to the Vallee Blanche

Wider initial part of the ridge to the Vallee Blanche

Steeper, narrower corner on the ridge - gives a good sense for the exposure!

Me posing on Cosmiques Arete

The largest of the Gendarmes

Chris and I under the crux

Me waiting to bring up Chris on the short crux pitch

The narrow section after the crux (I squeezed down it!)

Chris on the steeper chimney final section

Albert Premier Hut

Chris freezing on the chairlift, looks like Wales!

Me in a crevasse :)

Looking down the crevasse

Video of me in the crevasse on the Glacier du Tour

Chris starting out on the Glacier du Tour for Tete Blanche (~5am)

Chris seconding the Col du Tour

Chris in the Col du Tour

Since I've been back I've been busy with work and I've made a conscious decision to have a week off an physical activities as I've been at it hard for around 9 months!  This week I've been over indulging in food quantity and quality as well as alcohol.  I've been itching to get back into it but resisted as I think a break is a good thing.  I've got some more big goals in my mind and I'll put these up and my training ideas for the foreseeable future soon.

Alps 2010 - Mont Blanc (Day 12 & 13)

We had kind of settled on doing the Three Monts route to the summit of Mont Blanc.  This involves climbing to the shoulder (a few metres short of the summit around 4100m) of Mont Blanc du Tacul (4248m) before dropping into the Col Maudit (4035m) and then climbing the north face of Mont Maudit (4465m) to the Col du Mont Maudit (4345m), on the other side of this is the Col de Brenva (4303m) which then leads via the Mer de la Cote and Plateau du Petits Rochers Rouge (around 4550m) to the summit of Mont Blanc (4808m).  We had decided this on the basis that the Grand Colouir on the Aiguille du Gouter (normal/ordinary route) was suffering from bad rock fall, although we had left it in mind that we could descend this way depending on how things panned out.  We had originally decided that we would get up at  5am and get the first cable car to the Aiguille du Midi and start the route in the morning, which apparently is a valid option although upon hearing that the weather wouldn't be good in the afternoon we decided to make a last minute dash and bivi on the Vallee Blanche.  We only just made it!

You can just make out the Aiguille du Midi hiding in the clouds, from the Plan de Aiguille Station (half way)

We reached the Midi station just before closing and went in the cafe for some last minute grub.  While I ran to get the tickets for the cable car Chris had got some bread and ham to take onto the Vallee Blanche for breakfast/tea.  We left it a little while and I became a bit overwhelmed with nerves as the route is quite grand, most of it above 4000m and I was still worried about the acclimbatisation issue of my last trip.  We headed down from the Midi station down the dreaded snow slope, I really hate this slope, one false move and your a goner!  When I get my photos off the other camera you'll see what I mean!  We headed to the Cosmiques Hut as it has a reputation for being one of the nicest in the Mont Blanc Massif, but after enquiring they were full so we headed down with all the other dossers on the Vallee Blanche and got digging a snow pit with a wall around it to keep the wind at bay.  

Bivouac on the Vallee Blanche

We settled into the bivi gear and got the bread and ham on the go.  After a bit of music to calm my nerves I got my head down for the sum total of 2 hours!  I woke up and couldn't get to sleep, my chest felt strange and I kept wanting to sit up.  I think paranoia!  I looked behind me and there was already a party nearing the summit of the Tacul so I asked Chris if he was asleep and suggested we cracked on.

Head torches stream out of the Cosmiques Hut under the Milky Way

4 parties (head torches) visible on the North Face of the Tacul

So we got too it.  Whilst I took along the camera there wasn't a lot of opportunity to stop and get it out as we were more concerned with cracking on and getting the route done.  The reason I was worried the previous day is I'd noticed a number of large crevasses on the face and thought (and had read) that the Col du Mont Maudit was steep and possibly ice.  I would normally jump at this but at nearly 4500m, not a place for things to go wrong!  I have an immense amount of respect for this mountain range.  We trundled across the Col du Midi to the foot of the Tacul and started up it.  We seemed to be making good progress, we got overtook by a couple of groups but were generally holding our own for pace.  As the slope started to level out I knew the massive crevasse I'd spied would be looming.  And how to cross this  2-3m beast?  With an aluminum ladder that had frozen in place of course!  I cracked on and got over it ok and Chris followed.  We were roped up and had a very minimal rack (ice screw, prussiks, belay plate and a medium sling) and were short roped.  Nothing went wrong and we proceeded to another crevasse higher up which involved bringing your boot up to hip height, swinging your axe and getting up it!  There were a couple of smaller crevasses on the face but we just stepped over or around these.  The snow was quite powdery and with the small army moving up was getting mushed up.  I was pleased when we reached Col Maudit and we stopped to take on a little food.

Climbers preparing under Maudit, you can see the head torches on the North Face, the highest are at the Col du Mont Maudit

We got stuck into Maudit which felt a bit steeper but passed well enough until we hit the bottleneck of the Col du Mont Maudit.  I was quite surprised by this because although the 3 Monts Traverse is harder than the Gouter Route its still done by Joe Public after a mountain experience.  I wasn't expecting 30m of ice at 50 degrees!  There were fixed ropes from about 5-10m but the stream of people dinner plating ice meant I was hit on the helmet by about 3 lumps of ice the size of a big fist!  Not what you want when your climbing with no protection other than crampons, one axe and another hand clinging to a rope!  I'd started the climb with just my thinish Marmot gloves and as I neared the Col I was frozen to the bone!  I was also greeted by a man frantically trying to reattach a crampon to the foot of a woman who was looking very nervous at the top of the ice pitch!  I wasn't in a good position and spied some ice and rock to the right of her and decided to rock up this.  A bit silly perhaps in retrospect with no protection but great fun, just make sure you axe and feet are placed well!  I bought up a nervous looking Chris on a spike belay to see the Mer de la Cote.  At this point I was so cold it was untrue, the wind picked up and I was colder than I've ever been!  I got the Dachsteins out and put those over my Marmot gloves.  We walked over dithering and I could see the summit of Mont Blanc briefly and knew we still had a way to go.  We started up the final face of Mont Blanc and made it to the Plateau Petits Rochers Rouge after what seemed like an eternity!  There was still more to go, it never seemed to end and breathing is hard at nearly 5000m no matter how well acclimbatised you are!  Incidently my plan this time worked a treat and I didn't feel ill in the slightest :)  After some more slogging, and some more freezing all the way (and I mean freezing, it was a white out with winds strong enough to blow you over and my eyelashes had big lumps of ice on them) we finally made it.  It was really mentally draining, I just wanted to get in a sauna!  We stayed for a while on the summit under the face to shelter us from the wind but it was still soooooo cold!

Chris and I on the summit of Mont Blanc

Me at the summit of Mont Blanc (I think this pic gives a better feeling for what it was like - you can see some climbers coming on to the summit ridge)

Well as you can see it was cold, and the view wasn't up to much and after climbing ladders over crevasses and 50 degree ice with no protection we didn't fancy reversing the route and since we knew the Gouter route we thought we'd chance the stone fall!  We headed back over Bosses Ridge which was less fierce than I thought it might be, although you still wouldn't want to fall off it!  This lead us to the Vallot hut which whilst still in white out conditions was out of the wind.  Chris took a photo of my verglassed face!

Me cold and icy!

After this we followed tracks down to find the Dome du Gouter and back to familar territory and visibility!  It's funny how weather in the mountains works, and how the forecasts often don't!  We stopped off at the Gouter hut which is still a dump but it appears they have started building the new one which will be interesting, although I'm not sure what routes I'd want to do that end up there?  Bionassay Ridge maybe?  We stayed and Chris ate an omelet and I wolfed down some cake bar things I'd took along.  We got on the Aiguille du Gouter which is a horrible route full of loose stone.  4 people died last week in a single incident I believe.  The problem is as the snow melts it defrosts the rocks and they come flying down something called the Grand Colouir.  I saw a load at the start and had to wait for 10 minutes before making a frentic dash!  Chris was waiting for me at the bottom as I bumped into a brit guide I'd met earlier in the week and got chatting.  As we prepared to move off we heard a load of frentic shouting in Spanish, as we looked up there was a boulder the size of a breeze block hurtling down.  I went to leg it and nearly ran in front of it!  As if the climbing weren't frantic enough!  We made it down to the Nig d'Aigle and got suckered into a train trip, cable car and bus journey that seemed to last for ever when all you want to do is put down your sack, take off your boots and rest your achy bones!  The bivi gear is still in the snow ditch, the weather crap now so I'll be heading up tomorrow to collect!

Alps 2010 - North Face of Tete Blanche (Day 9)

After quite a comfortable nights sleep I was raring to go at 4am.  We had been told by everyone (the mountain office, guides and hut) that Tete Blanche (3429m) north face was not in condition because of the massive bergshrund and thin conditions.  I wanted to see for myself!  Dan and Tariq were up in the hut too, they were making an early start for the Aiguille du Tour, although I'm not sure which summit.

Pre dawn start, overlooking the hut and Tour Glacier

We dropped from the hut straight onto the glacier and roped up although we should of carried on along the ridge to gain the glacier so as to not have to regain the height.  The walk wasn't too bad we drudged up one hill to the Signal Reily and turned back towards the Aiguille du Tour.  A bit more walking saw us at the foot of the Col Superior du Tour.

Foot of Col Superior du Tour

We carried on as if to follow the ordinary route up Tete Blanche but then peeled off up the glacier to hit the Col du Tour.  Because of the weather it was a little mixed route which was good fun.  We moved together on it mostly although about half way up I put a sling on a spike to secure Chris.

Col du Tour just left of centre, see people on top right for perspective!

As we gained the top of the col we were greeted with the amazing view of the Plateau du Trient and Switzerland.  To the right we could see the bad conditions on the Tete Blanche North Face.

Chris in front of the North Face of Tete Blanche, overlooking the Plateau du Trient

We dropped down onto the Plateau du Trient which is roughly level with the Col du Tour and walked along towards the north face.  If you look carefully at the photo above you can see a colouir on the right hand side of the face.  We moved along to this and I decided we should give it a go to gain the west ridge.  At first the snow was quite good neve but this meant moving around in the colouir a little to find the best snow/ice.

Chris in the colouir to the right of the north face of Tete Blanche

At the top of the colouir I could of continued up, over rock but given we had no gear and the snow was dodgy I didn't fancy it, or traverse right over a boulder with soft snow which I didn't fancy either!  I tried to climb the rock but because of the heat it was all soft and scree was coming away in my hand.  I decided to hook my axes on the rock and move quickly over the soft snow.  I was glad to reach the shoulder where I bought up Chris.  At this point I saw some climbers crossing the bergshrund and thought I would join the North Face.  Chris wasn't so keen on the idea so we untied from the rope and Chris took it up the ridge to the summit and I soloed the face.  For the most part it was fairly good condition but there was a couple of occasions when I was scratching around in powder and just had to kick my feet hard and hope!  As I got further to the top the snow turned to ice and the axe placements became more solid but the angle became more vertical, I'm guessing 60 degrees!  Again it was slightly sketchy because the top was loose scree and boulders.  I used my hands at the top, placing my axes behind a rock first and then moving.  I was pretty chuffed to make the summit.

Looking down the North Face of Tete Blanche from the summit.  You can see the other party, the bergshrund below them and my tracks heading out from the shoulder

There were a few more rocks to scramble over to get to the summit where I met Chris and we spent a long time relaxing on the summit in the sun.  After about an hour we decided that we couldn't be bothered with the plod up Petite Fourche which was just over the ridge, over the Col du Blanc.

Chris on the summit of Tete Blanche

After relaxing on the summit we decided to head across the Col du Blanc which can be used to abseil down in to the Swiss side and took some photos, it really is a massive wall of ice - not something you'd want to fall down but just a 30m abseil then you can descend safely with crampons.  

Me above the Col du Blanc with Petite Fourche behind

We followed the normal route of Tete Blanche back and got back in plenty of time.  We had some food and went for a snooze before being woken up for the main meal.  Fish soup! Not just any fish either!  Tinned fish!  Blimey I don't know how I managed a bowlful!  It was duck and beans for the main course though so not all bad.  We were all tucked up in bed ready for kip by 8pm.

Alps 2010 - Albert Premier Hut (Day 8)

After Cosmiques we'd been romping around for a few days and were knackered so we slept until late and mostly ate all day.  The weather forecast for the next day had been bad and the heavens opened Thursday night and thunderstorms continued for most of the night, friday morning with it reducing to just heavy rain in the afternoon.  It gave us chance to have a mooch around Chamonix.

We got up fairly late on Saturday morning and packed the bags with a full trad (6 cams & full set of nuts) and ice rack (7 screws) but had places and food booked in the Albert Premier hut.  The bags were still heavy as we had two technical axes this time and again we both lugged a 60m rope each.  We headed down from the campsite to the train station at Les Praz, we headed on the train to Le Tour were we first lugged up a hill and then jumped on the cable car to Charamillion and then further up on the ski lift to Balme.  Its bloody cold on the ski lift in just a t-shirt :)  I couldn't find any cables to connect up my compact camera and didn't want to waste 30 euros on a card reader so my compact camera pictures will have to wait unfortunately!

The path after the ski lift looked more like Wales than the Alps, I guess because of the hot summer!

Me on the path to the Albert Premier Hut

After some more drudging along a fairly easy path, much easier than the Envers hut we turned a corner to gain a view of the Tour Glacier.  We had previously been able to see just the tip from down in Le Tour.  We chatted to a french couple and exchanged photos.

Chris and I on the path to Albert Premier Hut with the Tour Glacier behind

A little more walking with a couple of sections of iron (which aren't really needed) and we could see the moraine which led up to the Albert Premier Hut with the Aiguille du Chardonnet behind.  We had planned to do the Migot Spur on the Chardonnet but had been told it wasn't in condition, we still took the gear just in case the cold snap had bought it back into condition.

Albert Premier Hut on the left, Tour Glacier and the Aiguille du Chardonnet behind

The Albert Premier Hut is not the nicest place in the world.  French alpine huts aren't reknown for their cleanliness and given that most of the toilet are a hole in the ground (or those damn porcelain squat jobbies) this was no different.  We arrived around 5:30pm and as dinner wasn't until 7:10pm we decided to sort the gear out and get out on the glacier with the screws and axes.  We put in 4 or 5 screws and Chris lowered me on to a ledge in a crevasse which I guess was around 15-20m deep, although the crevasse fell away deeper to the left and right of me (I've got some pics and a little video on the compact, I'll put them up when I get home) I climbed out quickly and we scampered back for tea.  We were in bed early for a 4am start on Tete Blanche and Petite Fourche.

Alps 2010 - Cosmiques Arete (Day 5)

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.

If I can get a lead tomorrow for my compact camera I'll get some of the 'action' shots out where I couldn't pull out the DSLR for time/space/balance reasons :)

Alps 2010 - Envers Hut Crag (Day 4)

After a relatively long lie in of 7:30am we got up for breakfast, we had granola and nutty bread with jam swilled down with some tea and orange juice.  We sat around outside for a while before going down to the rocks at the front of the crag.  We went onto the second tier and I spied a line of bolts, I couldn't make out the name of the routes from the topo in the book.  It looked fairly good, not too easy or hard so I geared up and got started.  The easiest line in the book was 4b on this tier and this felt much easier but a different style of climbing on slabs with delicate finger work and some big step ups where leg flags helped.  I made short work of the first pitch.

Me leading the first pitch

I bought up Chris in the middle of the rope and we tied the big boots and sack onto the end of each of the ropes.  Chris came up to the bottom of the first tier and I hauled the boots and sack up.  I got ready to get on the second pitch which had a tricky undercutting start but then got much easier, I'd say about the standard of a Diff.  I got up it pretty quite and clipped the bolt by the hut and bought up Chris.

Me bringing up Chris on the second pitch

Me at the second belay

After this we climbed the short ladder back onto the terrace of the hut and chilled out and drank some more water.  One thing I've not mentioned already is that at this altitude and in this heat its easy to get dehydrated.  I sweat a lot so its really important for me to drink plenty and I use Nuun tablets to replace lost salts.  I ate the cake I'd save from breakfast and we slowly packed up to descend back to the campsite.

Chris on the path to the ladders to rejoin the Mer de Glace, Aiguille Rouge in the distance

Me at the start of the steeper ladders to regain the Mer de Glace

After getting down the steeper lower 100m or so of ladders down to the Mer de Glace we roped up again, this time with Chris on the sharp end of the rope.  We headed back over the crevasses, this time more to the left than on the way up.  

Chris in between crevasses on the Mer de Glace

The drudge up the ladders was hard work and I was blowing heavy.  I think again it might of been because of dehydration as my bladder pack ran out some time earlier.  We were rushing up them though, it was nice to get to the top and finally see the station.  The queue was massive but we were soon(ish) on the train and back to Chamonix.  I bought a melon to eat in the train station while waiting to go back to Les Praz where the campsite is situated.  It was nice to get some proper fruit and its so much tastier than back home.  I messed around on my laptop until about 10pm trying to get some stuff on the blog but the wifi kept cutting out but eventually gave up and got my sack ready for an early start (5am) on Cosmiques Arete.  I'll post that up soon :)

Alps 2010 - Aiguille du Roc (Day 3)

I awoke around 7am and got some rice down my neck.  We had been looking in the Envers de Aiguille guide book for an easy route and had planned to do the Grepon Mer de Glace (D) but at 850m it was a long route and given our lack of acclimatisation and the difficult of route finding and committing nature of the route we decided to rethink our plans and headed out of the hut to the left down a steep snow slope and up towards the lower half of the Aiguille du Roc to do the easiest route in the book - Sonam (D Fr 5b).  We walked up the steep snow slope pictured below, although you can't see the route we did (it's slightly more to the left) you can see two climbers in the top left which give a good sense of scale.

Snow slope leading to the foot of the Aiguille du Roc (top left)

After stepping over a couple of crevasses on the soft snow we got to the foot of the climb which required a step over a bergshrund of about 2ft wide to get onto the route.  The bergshrung seemed bottomless.  I think we were both worried that the route seemed a lot harder than a 4b but I psyched myself up and told Chris to stop worrying (or at least keep it to himself) and I got my rock boots on.  Rock boots aren't the best thing to be walking around in on ice and snow and I took my axe and tentatively walked up the snow slope leading to the bergshrund and planted my axe.  I hopped over and started the route.  I was desperate to try and get as much gear in as possible as decking into a crevasse wouldn't be fun.  Climbing up something of this scale is simply immense.  The route Sonam is 6 pitches long, the first I'd say was about 30-35m.  I made fairly good progress up the side and into a crack placing a few nuts and finding one in-situ nut.  I then had to traverse out past a piton about half way up into the central crack.  At this point it all got a lot more difficult.  There was very little for your hands and feet!  I managed to get up a little higher before placing a cam and laying back (and pulling a little on it) to place another one.   This was so much harder than a 4c, and the book said there was no need for gear as it was fully bolted, another sign we were off route.  I put in another cam and pulled a bit because there was very little for feet and the layback crack started to bulge.  I got a couple of nuts in to protect my precarious stance and 'manned up' before pulling over the bulge and scrabbled up to the belay bolt.  I was pretty relieved!

Me leading the first pitch of what we thought was Sonam

I bought up Chris wedged in a small cave, it was nice to be out of the sun but a pretty uncomfortable hanging belay.  I do enjoy belaying on multipitch routes as you can turn out away from the face and enjoy the view, and what a view!  It's probably one of the things I enjoy about climbing the most.  Chris came up and met me and then lead the next pitch which was easier technically but still reachy and with some committing step ups.  There were alot more bolts on this pitch, perhaps the glacier had retreated leaving an extra pitch at the bottom?  Chris made good progress but as I belayed him I noticed that my axe at the bottom had started to lean in towards the bergshrund as the heat of the midday sun melted the snow, I wasn't happy about having to travel the snow slope and crevasses on the way back without an axe and this put me on edge somewhat.  Chris bought me up and we decided that with my axe where it was and the difficulty of the route we should abseil down.  The next pitch looked fairly easy (VDiff/Severe) but we geared up and lowered off in one abseil.  I was a bit nervous about this but Chris got down and I followed.  

Me abseiling down the first pitch

We had a bit of a nervous moment as the rope snagged but we got it back and descended to the hut.  We hung around outside absorbing the view until tea time, we ate at the hut this time.  They serve good simple food which really fills the hole.  For an extra 11 euros we had the option to sleep in the hut so we did.  I think I slept better but earplugs are always a must!

The last of the light from the hut

I tried to stay up to wait for the stars to come out as I was keen to get a long exposure shot but I was too tried.  I thought I might get some in the night if I needed the loo but I didn't really wake up properly and was in the middle top bunk so it wasn't so easy!  I'll try and take one at altitude before I leave though!  We planned to do some cragging on the rocks in front of the hut in the morning before descending down to Chamonix at around lunch time.  This would help firm up our ideas about the grading!