Chamonix, The French Alps
Our big adventure began with a 3 week trip to the French Alps. We started by hiring a guide who took us onto a glacier (frozen river) and showed us how to rescue each other if we fall down a crevace (deep crack in the ice). Mr Greenhead is a bit heavier than me but I managed to pull him out! You have to get ski lifts up to reach the glaciers because they are over 1000m above the town of Chamonix.
Next we headed up onto the mountains with our ice axes and crampons (sharp spikes that you put on the bottom of your boots) to practise our new skills. We also needed to get used to the air above 3000m because there is less oxygen to breath and exercising is more tiring. This is called acclimitisation. We started with an easier mountain called Petite Aiguille Verte (ask Madame Allen to translate), then moved onto Mont Blanc du Tacul and finally Mont Blanc. We had rest days in between, which we spent climbing near the town of Chamonix.
Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in Europe at 4810m and you have to start climbing it in the middle of the night (2am). It takes 11hours to climb and you need to move quickly because once the sun comes up the snow starts to melt which is dangerous. We managed to summit (get to the top) and down safely, but we were exhausted! It was a great way to end the first part of our travels.
No comments:
Post a Comment