Single push hike and fly Mont Blanc
Mountain stories...
Is it a hard route? No, objectively it’s not very technical. So what attracts me?
I think the solo aspect of the project is what makes me want to go. Will I make the summit? Will I get sick? Will I be able to remain safe? Most importantly, will I be able to take off from the summit and get home in time for my work day?
All these questions are bouncing in my head as I am walking in the dark from the van in Chamonix to Les Houches and the start of the climb.
I came back from Paris on Sunday night, I decided to go and spend a weekend with my family and bring some culture back in my life. After a full weekend of museums, restaurants and crowded public transports, I came home with a craving for solitude and high mountains. Lucky me, there is a big anticyclone over the French Alps which grants us some incredible conditions. I can see on the weather radar at least 5 days of pure sunshine, spring temperature and even better, very little wind in high altitude. As I am driving toward Chamonix in the van an idea burst inside my mind. I am used to these student bursts of excitement. Once this idea is in my head, there is no way around it. I am hooked, Tuesday I will work then spend the afternoon preparing meticulously my equipment and at 10pm I will leave from Chamonix on foot with the goal of climbing Mont-Blanc by the normal route and flying of it’s summit.
Now that I started climbing all these questions slowly fades away from my mind. They are replaced with a peaceful and determined silence. I know what I have to do, the mental game has started. It’s not the first time I am in this situation, knowing what is to come, how long it will take. The adventure feeling is in everything around me. How lucky am I to be able to do these adventures? Once the Tete Rousse refuge is in front of me, it’s time for the transition. It’s a critical moment, as soon as I stop I know I have around 10-15 min before I start getting really cold and I have a lot to do, add layers, eat something, drink, change shoes, crampons on, harness and safety equipment and finally helmet. Ahead of me the grand couloir du Gouter. A notoriously dangerous couloir due to rockfalls. I am not to worry, when I arrive at the couloir it’s choked with snow and in a few minutes I’m on the other side.
The next hour is a long and steady progress on the Gouter couloir, it’s not very difficult but closing on 4000m of altitude I can start to feel the altitude. I spent the last 3 weeks at sea level so my acclimatisation is evidently not optimal. The route is mostly equipped with fixed lines of cables, but I decide not to use them. I feel good, I am confident and comfortable and the idea of a fall doesn’t even cross my mind. I keep climbing when all of a sudden a building stand over my head. I have reached the summit of the couloir and in front of me is the winter refuge of the Gouter. I see some light in the vestibule and decide to get in for a few minutes to change the battery of my headlamp and force a sugar waffle in my body. It’s a strange moment, a party of alpinist is also in the vestibule. We only exchange a few words. They are probably wondering what a guy alone is doing here. On my side, I don’t want to talk too much, it’s weird but I came here to be alone with my thoughts and these 3 people are on my mountain and it bothers me. 4 minutes after arriving, I am already leaving. From here I know there aren’t any difficulties anymore apart from the crevasses and obviously a falling down the face but why would I fall?
Most of all I am very happy to clip my ice axe back to my harness and pull my running poles back out. I am so much more efficient with poles, and as I get higher I know I will definitely be needing them. Now at 4000m I am alone. For me all the way to the summit, there isn’t a single headlamp, this means that if I keep this pace I will be alone on the summit, at least for a few moments. That thought keeps me going even if I am having to work really hard for it now. When down in Chamonix I can easily climb at 1200m/hour, here I’m reduced to 350m/hour, and it’s been a good hour that I started counting my steps. 20 steps pause for 10 seconds, catch your breath, feel the burn in the legs calming down, 20 steps, 10 seconds pause… This new song has replaced the audiobook I was listening to down in the valley. 20 steps, 10 second pause, 20 steps… When I pause, 1, 2, 3, I plant my poles in the hard snow, bend my head forward, 4, 5, 6, rest it on my gloves, close my eyes 7, 8, 9, and I can feel I am falling asleep 10, start walking again. While I walk, I assess the situation. I am definitely suffering from high altitude sickness. For now, it’s not too severe, my head isn’t too sore, I can breath well and I only passed 4000m a few hours ago. I should be on the summit in an hour maximum and in Chamonix in 2 hours. The only thing I know is that I am not allowed to kneel or sit in the snow. I know that if I do that I will fall asleep and it’s around -15 degrees so that wouldn’t be fun really.
Finally, after nearly 11 hours the slope runs out, I look around me and I am standing on a wide open space with nothing higher. The summit makes me think about a grassy hill, it’s not very steep, it’s quiet, peaceful. I always dreamed about bigger mountains and at some point I dreamed about Mont Blanc of course, but now that I am on top, I am not feeling what I thought I would. Is it because my dreams are bigger than my current achievements? Am I dreaming too big too fast?
For many people it’s a dream of a lifetime to climb the highest summit of Europe and even more to fly off it. What am I thinking about? I’m thinking about the summit of Aiguille Aiguille verte, The North Face of Grands Joraces, I’m thinking about K2… I’m constantly dreaming about bigger, steeper place but I have to admit today is a good day, today was a day worth living.
After a final glance at the top, I inflate my wing and run off the north face of Mont Blanc. Quickly, my feet leave the snow and I am floating, clipped to a 1.05kg glider thousands of meters off the ground. I fly above Mont Maudit, look back at the route I skied earlier this year than it’s Mont Blanc du Tacul and finally I arrive above the Aiguille du Midi. What a feat of engineering, building something like this, this high, I can see the tourists on the observation deck and I feel so privileged to be here, high, flying and free. Para-alpinism has really opened brand new possibilities for me int he mountains. Being able to go up a mountain and fly down this quickly brings so much safety and allows back to back ascents. Coming down from the summit today would have taken me around 8 hours on foot, but today after 45 min of magical flight I land smoothly 50m from my van in Chamonix.
Sometimes dreams stay what they are, dreams… Sometimes however they become so much more than that, they become part of you, reignite the fire inside of you.
Dream big 🏔️
