No, it's not the name of a thrash metal band - just what happened to my tent in Chamonix last week.
So - where were we? Ah, Switzerland. Lovely Switzerland. It really is a nice place - but it turned out that for our purposes it was just too early in the climbing season. We spent a few days with Matthieu, which was great as a bit of a rest stop and a break from camping, and then left for Grindewald.
As badly as we wanted to see the mythical north face of the Eiger, which I've read so much about, the low lying weather was so bad we had no view at all. After finding out that the only mountaineering route doable without ski's (early season = too much snow!) involved a several hundred dollar train up, we spent the night under a farmers lean to up in the hills and left the next morning.
We pushed on through to Chamonix Mont Blanc, back in France, where Nik had been and climbed from before and knew that the 'maison de la montagne' would be more helpful with information. We had timed it so that we could climb something the following day - my birthday - and as luck would have it the weather looked ok and the mountain office suggested a classic route that was in condition.
And so at 8am the next morning we found ourselves on the first cable car up to Aiguille du Midi - an incredibly quick journey from c1000m up to c3800m! The weather was not perfect, and as we traveled up the pine covered hills, the only sense of movement came from the stabilising towers as they came and disappeared into the mist. And then - voila! We rose above the cloud level and Les Alpes were there - finally visable!
The route we climbed was Arete du Cosmiques (AD) - a classic Alpes route which we didn't see a soul on - one good thing about being there in early season. It was a marvellous route, with all combinations of mountaineering: climbing couloirs, traversing around gendarmes, rappelling off towers, then climbing some excellent granite and icy exit chimneys to finish - by climbing up a ladder back to the cable car station! The day continued with 'summit/birthday' champagne at the top (quite heady at 3800m - especially between two), a mulled wine at the halfway station on the way back down, then a night out with cheese fondue for dinner - good old mountain food.
The rest of our time in Cham however was punctuated by awful weather. Our next jaunt into the hills was spending 3 nights at Couvercle Hut. A great hut, with beautiful scenery - but a minor injury then poor weather meant we didn't climb anything from it. Still - it was my first view of the Grand Jorasses - which I can honestly say is the most amazing mountain I have seen. The Walker Spur on it I have often read about, and it was a special kind of feeling to see it in person.
And then, back in Cham, came the tent. The weather continued to deteriorate (even after walking out from the hut in pouring rain) and upon returning from town one day to our campsite, I found my tent had been demolished by a stray caravan roof, blown off in the windstorm. We were put up in one of the caravans (luxury!), and I spent the rest of the week internetting all things tents and insurance.
So - where were we? Ah, Switzerland. Lovely Switzerland. It really is a nice place - but it turned out that for our purposes it was just too early in the climbing season. We spent a few days with Matthieu, which was great as a bit of a rest stop and a break from camping, and then left for Grindewald.
As badly as we wanted to see the mythical north face of the Eiger, which I've read so much about, the low lying weather was so bad we had no view at all. After finding out that the only mountaineering route doable without ski's (early season = too much snow!) involved a several hundred dollar train up, we spent the night under a farmers lean to up in the hills and left the next morning.
We pushed on through to Chamonix Mont Blanc, back in France, where Nik had been and climbed from before and knew that the 'maison de la montagne' would be more helpful with information. We had timed it so that we could climb something the following day - my birthday - and as luck would have it the weather looked ok and the mountain office suggested a classic route that was in condition.
And so at 8am the next morning we found ourselves on the first cable car up to Aiguille du Midi - an incredibly quick journey from c1000m up to c3800m! The weather was not perfect, and as we traveled up the pine covered hills, the only sense of movement came from the stabilising towers as they came and disappeared into the mist. And then - voila! We rose above the cloud level and Les Alpes were there - finally visable!
The route we climbed was Arete du Cosmiques (AD) - a classic Alpes route which we didn't see a soul on - one good thing about being there in early season. It was a marvellous route, with all combinations of mountaineering: climbing couloirs, traversing around gendarmes, rappelling off towers, then climbing some excellent granite and icy exit chimneys to finish - by climbing up a ladder back to the cable car station! The day continued with 'summit/birthday' champagne at the top (quite heady at 3800m - especially between two), a mulled wine at the halfway station on the way back down, then a night out with cheese fondue for dinner - good old mountain food.
The rest of our time in Cham however was punctuated by awful weather. Our next jaunt into the hills was spending 3 nights at Couvercle Hut. A great hut, with beautiful scenery - but a minor injury then poor weather meant we didn't climb anything from it. Still - it was my first view of the Grand Jorasses - which I can honestly say is the most amazing mountain I have seen. The Walker Spur on it I have often read about, and it was a special kind of feeling to see it in person.
And then, back in Cham, came the tent. The weather continued to deteriorate (even after walking out from the hut in pouring rain) and upon returning from town one day to our campsite, I found my tent had been demolished by a stray caravan roof, blown off in the windstorm. We were put up in one of the caravans (luxury!), and I spent the rest of the week internetting all things tents and insurance.
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