7/28/14 - Contamine-Mazeaud

The route

Bucky and I wanted to improve our simultaneous climbing technique and get more comfortable climbing on a steep snowfield.  With these goals in mind we headed to the Triangle du Tacul once again to try a new route that had some climbing that we haven't been as exposed to.  The weather forecast was for a nice morning turning into rain and snow in the afternoon, so we didn't want too committing of a route either.  Contamine-Mazeaud is 350 vertical meters of grade AD+, 65°, mixed (III).  This was a very good climb for us, and not so steep that we didn't feel comfortable simul-climbing the first few pitches.  Once it got a little steeper we started to pitch everything out until, close to the top, we got to try some more simul-climbing.
The last pitch that we were able to finish before the weather started to get a little too threatening was full-on mixed climbing with some vertical sections and some sketchy sections.  Luckily Bucky was able to protect everything well so we weren't ever in any danger.  After this section came a short traverse and then we rappelled down the Chere route, which we had climbed last week.  At the very last belay station we were pulling our rope through and it managed to get itself caught in a nasty crack about 15 meters above us.  Bucky put me on belay and I ran up there to dislodge it.  No problems on the way up, but about half way back down I mistakenly thought that the slope had mellowed out enough that I could walk down the slope face out, instead of toeing in.  After a few steps my foot gave way and I started to slide down the glacier!  I was picking up a fair amount of speed so I just yelled as I flew past Bucky, "Catch me! Catch me!"  My right foot got caught in a bundle of rope on the way down so as soon as Bucky caught me I got spun around 180° and was sliding head first when the belay went taut!  I felt fortunate that I didn't even rip my pants with my crampons, much less my skin.  After that it was a very uneventful walk back to the Midi in a good old fashioned actual snow storm, instead of in some sort of freezing ice pellet storm!  Bucky also bet me that we could make it across the Cosmiques Arete in less than 3 hrs and 15 minutes.  If we do, I owe if a burger and beer.  If we don't, he pays for a night at the Cosmiques hut.  I have a lot more to gain out of this bet than Bucky does.

7/27/14 - Contamine Route

Traffic jams on the Contamine Route

Today Bucky and I explored the Vallee Blanche a little bit further to the South East.  The Contamine is a trad route 250 m (9 pitches) tall with a crux pitch of 6b.  This was going to be our first experience this trip leading 6b on trad, but we were confident that we were ready.  We got to the tram at 0730 and hoped that the route wouldn't be too busy since it is about an hour and a half hike from the Midi.  When we got there, however, there were two teams already on the rock and two teams waiting for their turn below the bergschrund!  We waited out turn and ended up behind a team of two Polish people who were very friendly, but ultimately very slow climbers.  We weren't all that concerned because we thought we were going to have plenty of time.

Behind us came a French guide and his lone female client from Finland.  I have to admit that she was a very attractive woman, but more about that later.  As the climbing went on, the time went on faster and we knew that if we were going to make it back to the Midi for the last tram down we were going to have to pass the Polish team.  We pushed through an intermediate belay station that the Pols stopped at and made the pass.
At the next belay station I looked back down the route to see the French guide and his Finnish client making out.  Not just making out, there was petting and caressing going on as well.  I was very impressed.  I have never seen anyone engage in a spontaneous make-out session 150 meters off the ground, clipped in to the side of a cliff!  Bucky and I had a pretty good laugh about it.  Anyway, Bucky led the 6b and 6a+ pitches, but I did lead one 5c pitch, which was my first for trad, so I was pretty stoked on that.  The French guide and Finnish client decided to bail after their make-out session and rappel back to the bottom.  We made it to the top of the route at about 4:30, leaving us only an hour and a half to get back to the Midi.  As we crossed the Vallee Blanche we kept looking back to see if the Polish team had topped out yet and at around 1715 we still hadn't seen them.

Random cloud hovering around the Aiguille du Midi

There was no way by that point that they were going to make it back to the Midi in time, so I am very grateful that we were able to pass them.  We ended up getting back to the Midi at about 1740 so we only made it with about twenty minutes to spare.  Otherwise we would have had to pay 60 euros each to sleep at the Cosmiques hut!  All in all, it was the hardest route we had done this trip, and a very fun one at that.  I was happy to have a very good challenge after the Aiguille d'Index two days ago.

7/26/14 - Riding to Col de Balme

Grabbing a quick drink from the many springs along the way.

In what is becoming an all too familiar theme of our trip so far, we woke up to rain this morning.  Not a nice sprinkling rain, but a downpour.  Climbing, once again, was out.  So instead of heading to the pool or the gym we decided to ride our bikes to Switzerland via the Col de Balme.  Right before we started riding the rain even stopped.  We took this as a positive sign and started on our way.  We started in Chamonix at 1035 m and rode up the streets until we got to the town of Le Tour.  Around the town of Argentiere two things happened.  The rain started up again, and the hill got a lot steeper.  I couldn't tell if it was water or sweat dripping down my face. Once we got to Le Tour we headed up a fire road, a very steep fire road.  Soon afterward the rain let up and then I knew, it was definitely sweat that was pouring down my face.  From Le Tour to the Col de Balme there was an elevation gain of 738 m, a brutal 738 m.  About 2 km from the Col, my stomach started feeling like a hollow pit.  Bucky commented on how we need to remember to buy an industrial sized box of granola bars and offered to ride up to the Refuge at the top of the col and bring me back a snack.  I happily accepted the offer and continued at my slow and steady pace while Bucky raced ahead to bring my salvation, a Snickers!

At the Col de Balme on the Swiss/French border

Results of the muddy singletrack descent

At the Col de Balme we stood and straddled the border between France and Switzerland and had ham omelettes before we headed back down to Cham.  On the way down I was excited to try out some of the downhill single track trails that I had been reading about.  It was quite muddy and slippery, and I certainly had a few humorous wipeouts.  Upon arriving at the mid-station Bucky decided the single track was too muddy and jumped on to the fire road, but I was determined to continue.  Nothing about the trail was very challenging, but it was fast and fun with a couple of small drops and long bridges.  At the bottom of the trail we washed off our bikes and began the fast road descent, chasing cars all the way back to Cham.  All in all we gained 1156 m (3800 ft) in elevation and rode for about 43 km (26.7 mi).  Bucky especially thought this was an excellent way to spend a rainy day, but I have to say my legs are a little "wanked out."

7/25/14 - Aiguille de l'Index

Today Bucky and I explored a new area of Chamonix.  We walked to the town of Les Praz and went up the Index lift.  Our plan was to try and climb two different routes up the West face of the Aiguille de l'Index.  The first thing that went wrong was that we thought it would take about 20 min to walk to Les Praz; instead it took about 45 min.  Next, when we got to the top we had to keep checking the guide book we brought with us because the West face looked absolutely nothing like what was shown in the topo.  Unfortunately while we were wandering about another team got in front of us and jumped on the first route we wanted to do, L'an d'Emile, so we ended up going for the other route, La Complainte des eaux-vins (6a, 250 m, 8 pitches).  The topo in the guide book made this route look like it was on a face.  Instead we were climbing a ridge/arete the whole time.  This prompted many more looks into the guide book because we thought for sure we were on the wrong route.  Turns out we were most definitely on the correct route, the topo was just terrible.  La Complainte des eaux-vins really was too easy of a route.  We realized that we have improved in our climbing enough the last month that a route of mostly 5b and 5c is too easy.  The two pitches of 6a were the only parts we really enjoyed.  After getting lost and then getting stuck behind some teams at the rappel station at the top we did not have enough time to complete both routes today.  We will most assuredly try again some other time now that we know exactly where we are going.  Probably the best part of the route today was the view of Mont Blanc.  For whatever reason it looked very cool today.  I also wrote a new poem today:

Cham-bug

I moved with a friend to Chamonix
My soul seems to be in harmony
We climb and run
and bike for fun
Or study French when it's not sunny

7/24/14 - Petite Verte

Today we hired Adam, our guide from two years ago, to take us up on some steep snow faces and ridges and help us get more comfortable with how to protect ourselves on such faces.  The original plan was to do the Midi-Plan traverse, but after waking up at 0600 to a downpour we had to call that off.  We woke up again at 0800 to find the rain had stopped and the clouds were beginning to break.  After jumping in Adam's car and driving up to Argentiere we decided to tackle the much less complicated Petite Verte route (I/PD).  Bucky and I were certainly hoping for a bigger challenge for our day with Adam, but sometimes the weather just does not cooperate.  The route did provide us with some challenges with how to move quickly together while staying safe along the knife ridge.  I think it was a very good practice day and Adam gave us some very helpful tips on rope management and when to move together versus pitching a section out.  We should now have the skills to tackle the Midi-Plan ourselves.  On the descent back to the Grand Montets, of course, it started to sleet once again.  I guess that is just how we should be expecting to round out our days in this atypically wet summer, soaking wet.

7/23/14 - Goulotte Chere

Oh man, RAIN!  It has rained non-stop for the last three days!  We went to the pool, did some climbing in the gym, went for soggy bike rides, and watched movies.  For...three...days.  Bucky was getting so stir crazy that we actually went up to the Aguille du Midi yesterday to try and climb.  We wanted to do the Goulotte Chere; a 400m ice and mixed route rated II/D(4).  We got to the bottom of the tram at 0640 only to find it was not running.  We waited around until 0730 before we got an update that the first tram would leave at 0800.  Once we got to the top the wind was howling and it was a complete white out.  After debating for a few minutes whether to brave the whiteout and the knee deep fresh snow we decided to go back down and call it a day.

Wondering whether to brave the whiteout and climb

Crystal Clear skies!

Today we were expecting the weather to be miserable once again so we slept in until about 0730.  The entire valley was shrouded in clouds, but Bucky decided to check the webcams and see what it looked like at the top.  Low and behold it was clear blue skies!  We got ready as quickly as possible and got our butts up there.  We practically ran across the Vallee Blanche to the base of the Chere and were both dripping sweat when we got there.  There were about seven teams on the route so we were worried about falling ice, until we noticed every team was already coming down!  Bucky took the lead for the first four pitches and we had to deal with minimal ice fall, although I caught one right on the upper lip that took off a little skin.  I led the last four pitches on the less technical terrain and started to notice the clouds coming in again.

Some clouds starting to form around pitch 5.

Shrouded by clouds!  It only got worse from here.

 By the time we reached the top of the route the clouds had completely blown in and left us shrouded.  Bucky had taken a compass bearing of the Aguille du Midi before it disappeared from view, and there is a well worn foot path back, so we weren't worried.  During the climb Bucky had managed to drop an alpine draw, and I had dropped my sunglasses so we looked hard for these on the way down.  After rappelling back to the bottom I managed to find my sunglasses, as well as a nut tool, but Bucky's sling was nowhere to be found.  On the way back it started to snow, which quickly turned into rain, which even more quickly turned into biting ice balls!  We hustled through the storm as quickly as we could and managed to make it back to the station for the last tram down of the day!  We are so thankful we finally got to get out and climb, and such a fun route as well!

7/19/14 - Rebuffat

We got a late start for an 8 pitch climb called the Rebuffat and weather was supposed to get bad in the afternoon. When we got to the top of the tram it was very windy and the clouds looked ominous, but we decided to go for it anyway. Our reasoning was we could just rappel off the face if it got too stormy. It started snowing off and on about half way through the route, and each time I would start praying that it would hold out until we were able to finish. Everything was going great until the last two pitches. We were a little confused about where the route was supposed to go, but after double checking the topo I was very confident we were on the right track. Bucky had his reservations however and when he got to the crux of the pitch he yells down at me, "there's no f-ing way this is right." Since I had no idea what he was looking at there was little more for me to say than that I felt very confident we were going the right way. After a couple of aid moves on some slung bolts and a couple of, "Alright, I'm going for it, what's the worst that can happen? I just fall right?" comments, Bucky made the move and topped out the route. The whole last pitch was up some off width (really wide) cracks that Bucky didn't have the gear to protect. So with the exception of two bolts on an arete with no holds, Bucky was very exposed to a big fall. My impression of the route was much different being on top rope the whole time I was never exposed to a big fall and I thought it was fun and pretty easy. After topping out we had a very short rappel down to a terrace and a short walk back to the tram. I was standing on the terrace and Bucky was rappelling down when the storm just unleashed itself on us. Five minutes sooner and I don't think we would have finished the climb. Unfortunately I forgot to get any pictures, but I think we will go for this climb again.

7/18/14 - The Chamonix Classic

Walter left this morning and Bucky and I slept in a little later.  We walked to various bike shops around town to get parts and pieces that had broken off his bike while in transit.  We scored gold at ZeroG bike shop and got everything he needed.  We finished fixing up his bike and making some minor fit modifications to my bike and started riding around 15:00.  The trail we were headed to is called the Chamonix Classic and is described as a 2hr ride with a 5/10 difficulty for climbing and 4/10 difficulty for descent.  We rode up to a town called Le Lavancher on Le Petite Nord trail and it was very steep and very hot.  I was sweating quite profusely.  Then it is a short descent before you start to climb again up towards Argentiere.  The ascent to Argentiere was also fairly difficult, but I didn’t have to step off my bike like I did for the climb to Le Lavancher.  When we got to Argentiere I was still feeling good so instead of turning around to begin the descent on Le Petite Sud trail we continued up to the town of Le Tour.  This climb was brutal.  Really steep, really rooted, and brutally hot.  After a short descent to Le Tour we turned around and rode back up and down to Argentiere.  On the way back down I started to get a hollow empty feeling in my stomach and I knew I needed to eat as soon as possible.  As soon as I got off my bike in front of a little cafe my legs started shaking.  I knew I needed sugar fast so I got some orange juice and a sandwich.  After a brief lunch break my body had recovered and we continued the descent back to Cham.  Le Petite Sud was a very fun trail with lots of rocky and rooty sections as well as some burner-fast smooth straightaways.  The whole trip ended up taking four and a half hours and I would have rated it an 8/10 for climbing difficulty.  There is one trail in the book that is already an 8/10.  I'm not sure I even want to know what that's like!

Recovering with a sandwich and orange juice.

7/17/14 - Le Lepido Pteres

Climbed Le Lepido Pteres with Wally on his last day here.  Walter and Bucky ran to the top of the Plan de l’Aguille again and I met them there with the gear.  This time they knocked 7 min off and ran it in 1:11, even while being attacked by a vicious German Shepherd.  The climb started as mostly traversing with a really nasty bit full of loose rocks and dirt.  Eventually we made it to the start of the vertical climb and it was all really slabby with no hand holds, but it was not super steep.  Bucky led one pitch and then I led the other 4 which was good for me because it involved placing a lot of pro.  No pitches were harder than a 5c.  Down the back side we had two rappels and then some steep down hiking until we got to one last rappel that we were not expecting based on the description in the guide book.  We hustled down the trail back to the tram station and managed to catch the last tram of the day.  Walter still ran down the trail to the bottom, but I was very happy to save two hours of steep down hiking after a long day.  

7/16/14 - Frison-Roche

The girls left this morning, and we all slept in until 10am.  The rest was well needed, but we couldn’t waste a day of perfect weather.  We went up the Brevent side again and climbed the Frison Roche (5 pitches, 6a).  I think I could lead the whole thing, but Bucky led the two 6a pitches because I wasn’t sure at first.  I did lead a 5b and a 5c pitch.  Walter did really well except for the second 6a pitch.  There was a wide crack that he decided to try and lay back on the whole way up.  He got very tired and ended up falling a few times.  For the last pitch, a 5c, he was so tired he still came close to falling, but managed to pull through without incident.  Tomorrow is Walter’s last day so we are planning on going up to the Plan de l’Aguille to attempt Le Lepido Pteres again or Nabot Leon routes.  I also bought a hard tail bike today for 350 euros.  I hope it lasts for the rest of the summer.

7/15/14 - Pointe La Chenal part deux

We took the girls up to the Aiguille d'Midi and climbed the Pointe La Chenal again.  We were a little worried about taking Kristen on a technical ice climb so our only two options for a single day trip were Chenal or Cosmiques.  The girls did great all day.  When we got to the last hike up off the glacier Kristen started to bonk, hard.  I couldn’t see her, but Walter was in the lead, then Kristen, then Bucky.  Bucky kept saying we needed to wait.  I thought we were too close to the top to wait, but Bucky was adamant.  Apparently in front of him Kristen was crawling on all fours at times and asking Walter to take a break, while Walter was literally dragging her up the mountain.  Some guys were walking down to spend the night at the Cosmiques hut and apparently were laughing and calling Walter a torturer.  Kristen was a certainly a trooper.  If she had any hard feelings towards Walter she didn't show them.

We finished the day off by going back to Les Gaillands with nice weather.  We all got to take a try on the 6a overhang.  I managed to climb it easily this time, while Walter and Ainsley had to take a few tries at it before they eventually succeeded.  Kristen was a little too "wanked out" to give it a go.

7/14/14 - Crakoukass

Despite the forecast of rain we headed up the Brevent side and wanted to attempt the Fraison Rouge route.  When we got up there, however, it was completely shrouded in clouds so we hiked down to an easier alternate route called Crakoukass (D sup., 5c).  It was six pitches to a short hike and then two more pitches to the finish.  We ended up bailing on the last two pitches because the rain started getting a lot heavier and we were getting close to running out of time before the last tram down from the top.  Bucky led with Ainsley and Kristen in tow, and I led with Walter in tow.  It was a really cool climb with a lot of funky pitches, a chimney, and a spire that we climbed to the top of only to rappel back down about 8m to the start of the next pitch.  I am definitely looking forward to trying this one again and finishing it out.  I also hope to get some better pictures.

7/13/14 - Argentiere

Took the train up to Argentiere and went for a hike up to the Grand Montets mid station due to the weather forecast.  It didn’t rain much, but sprinkled a bit here and there.  The peaks were all completely shrouded in clouds however so it was probably a good decision.  We stopped at the refuge Lognan and had two Assisez Montagnes and some beers and wine.

7/12/14 - Les Gaillands part deux

We got back to Chamonix at about noon and decided to take the girls out for some easy cragging.  Kristen had never climbed outdoors before and hadn't climbed at all in a few years.  The weather seemed to be holding out, but after a few climbs the rain started falling to varying degrees, and the rock started to get really slick.  We tried to spy out routes that had very positive foot and hand holds so that we weren't trying to smear on the slick as snot rock.  With a very short break between showers I managed to lead my first 6a of the trip on a big overhang, even in the rain, but I did have to pause for a bit while hanging on the rope.  Kristen and Ainsley did really awesome.  I was really impressed not just with their climbing ability, but also with their attitudes while being out in the rain.

7/7/14 to 7/12/14 - London Calling

I had never been to London before so when Bucky told me about a race there he had qualified for a year earlier I was all in to go.  Walter and I flew separately from Geneva because Bucky's flight was being paid for by his company as part of his race qualification package, this becomes important later.  We land in London and take the tube to Bucky's hotel (also paid for).  The plan was for Bucky and another qualifier named Julian to sleep in the hotel while Walter and I slept at their brother Luke's place.  Luke had just moved to London for work two days before we landed.  Luke, Bucky, Walter, Julian and I all met up at the hotel and headed out for a night on the town.  Apparently there was only one club in the area so we ended up at Tiger Tiger.  A few highlights were:  a guy to girl ratio of approximately 3:1; two men having sex in a bathroom stall being interrupted by the attendant right as I went in to urinate; really expensive beer;  a high percentage of frat style bros.  I am not planning on returning to Tiger Tiger.  The rest of the trip went relatively the same way.  We would wake up around noon, go see a few sights, find a pub to watch the World Cup (sidenote:  Watching the World Cup in Europe is absolutely amazing.  It is like having a Super Bowl every day for four weeks.  Watching America vs. Belgium, in France, with a slew of drunken Belgians, was the most fun I have had watching a sporting event since Super Bowl XXXII.  No exaggeration.  Everyone should be watching the World Cup in Europe.  I digress), then finding a club to go dance the night away.  Watching Bucky's race was really fun.  Especially since we had full access to the racer tent which was stocked with as much beer and food as you could handle.  Julian's birthday was also on race day so we went to a club once again and had a very similar experience to the Tiger Tiger.  Probably the best thing to happen on the trip was that Walter and I decided to just sleep on the floor in Bucky and Julian's hotel room since Luke lived so far away from everything.  After getting back to the hotel after a day of sight seeing we found that the hotel maid had folded all of our clothes, organized all of our luggage, and actually made up two "beds" on the floor of the room!  She put down sheets and even turned down the comforters!  It was spectacular.  I left her a thank you note and a tip.  Our last night out we were up late again and slept just a little too long.  We got a driver since the tube didn't run early enough in the morning and headed for the airport.  Bucky was flying separately again so we went to drop him off first.  Bucky told the driver he was flying on British Airways and the driver said they flew out of terminal 4.  Bucky checked his booking, which said it was terminal 5, but the driver said terminal 5 didn't exist.   Our driver was also adamant about not getting on the highway.  His GPS kept telling him to get on the highway but he just kept on the side streets.  Due to this ridiculous driving technique we were all cutting it really close.  As soon as we got in range of the airport we started seeing signs for the terminals, even terminal 5, which the driver still refused to admit existed.  Even with Bucky telling him we needed to go to terminal 5 the driver just wouldn't do it.  So Bucky gets out and Walter and I continue on to terminal 2.  I wasn't sure we were supposed to go to terminal 2, but I thought I remembered it from when we landed.  We run into terminal 2 and are told by an information lady that I was indeed wrong and we were supposed to be in terminal 1.  We sprint about a half mile (not exaggerating) over to terminal 1 and find the Swiss Air desk.  We try to check in at the computer terminals but the only place they offer us to go is Brussels!  I find an actual human to talk to and she informs us that we cannot check in within thirty minutes of our departure time.  She starts looking for later flights for us when another woman walks up and just says, "Let them run.  They look sprightly, just let them see if they can make it!"  She informs us that our gate is the absolute furthest away from the check-in area but maybe we can make it.  At this point we have 10 minutes before boarding ends.  We get to security and despite the short lines we are trying to pass some people who are moving through very slowly.  After getting scolded by a security lady I managed to get through the metal detector.  Walter, of course, sets the machine off and starts getting a pat down by an agent.  The guy asks him when our flight is and when Walter replies at 0700 the guy just says, "Man, you don't have time for this!  You need to get moving!"  Successfully through security with about 5 minutes before boarding closes we start our sprint to gate B36.  If anyone had been to Heathrow airport, terminal 1, gate B36 you will know how desperate our situation was.  It is a loooooong way from check-in.  Sprinting as hard as we could we went down long corridors, up one escalator (turned off of course), down two escalators, down another long corridor, up another escalator, around a corner and down another long corridor, down yet another escalator, one more long corridor, up a final escalator and right to our gate to find it closed!  Oh, but wait!  Only the first class gate was closed!  The economy gate was still open!  Both of us were panting and dripping sweat, but we made the mile long trek in about 5 minutes and made our flight.  Those first twenty minutes sitting in a cramped airplane seat between two other men, dripping sweat, were some of the most uncomfortable minutes of my recent memory.  When we landed in Geneva we were not too surprised to find that  Bucky was not there.  Bucky, believe it or not, was supposed to fly out of the non-existent terminal 5 which was a bus ride away from terminal 4.  Luckily we did manage to meet up with Bucky's girlfriend Ainsley and her friend Kristen, who were joining us for the next few days.  Bucky managed to get on another flight an hour later so it wasn't too big of a deal, but he was very upset with that driver.

7/6/14 - Le Lepido Pteres (sort of)

We planned to attempt a route called Le Lepido Pteres.  I met Bucky and Walter at the base of the climb since they ran from Chamonix to the Plan de l’Aguille station.  As the wait for them became longer and longer I started thinking about walking back down, but I spied them making their way up to me eventually.  Apparently after passing the Plan station and starting the ~1hr hike up from there Walter’s legs began shaking.  So they stopped and went to the café and got water and sandwiches.  By the time they got to the base of the climb it looked like weather was going to start rolling in so we bailed and rode back down to Cham.  About an hour later the clouds rolled in very thick and the rain started to fall so we were quite fortunate to have turned away from the climb.

7/5/14 - Pointes La Chenal

Today we were back on the Mont Blanc massif.  We planned another short day because of the weather forecast.  It never did rain, but it was very cloudy and windy all day.  It felt like near winter conditions.  This time we did the Traverse of the Pointes La Chenal (II, AD, 4a).  This was a short (4.5 hrs including approach) climb and was a very good introduction to Walter on glacier travel as well as technical climbing in crampons.  Tomorrow it is supposed to rain, again, so we are planning on running up to the Plan des l’Aiguilles, a 1500 m elevation gain!  Hopefully the rain will hold out for yet another day.

Peaks breaking through the fog

Not much to see on the hike back to the Midi

The Aiguille d'Midi

7/4/14 - Aiguilles Rouges on Independence Day!

Enfants de la Lune

Rappelle moi ton nom

We decided to go climbing on a crag on the Aiguilles Rouges side, which is the North side of the Chamonix valley.  The weather forecast was for rain in the afternoon so we didn't want to get too committed on a big face.  I led the route L’homme est rare (5c), Bucky led Rappelle moi ton nom (6a) and T’as pas tout lu (6b).  Then I led Enfants de la lune to Serieux s’abstenir (5c).  The 6b route was very hard for me at the top, even on top rope.  I actually had to use a bolt to push myself up.  The 6a was easy on top rope and I didn’t have any issues leading the 5c routes.  This is good news because my confidence was certainly shaken after getting worked on the 6a move on the Eperon des Cosmiques the other day.  We never did get rained on, but the wind was howling and very cold so we ended up making it a relatively short day before heading back to the valley floor.  Once we got down we decided to celebrate the 4th of July in good old American style with beer and hot dogs.  Unfortunately we don't have a grill, or hot dug buns.  So they were fried hot dogs on a baguette, but hey, we tried.  American beer here is crazy expensive.  Like 6 euros for a bottle of bud.  A single bottle.  6 euros.  At the market.  So we celebrated with Heineken.  That's OK right?

7/3/14 - Eperon des Cosmiques

The route up the Eperon face

This was our first day up on the Mont Blanc massif.  We climbed a 5 pitch face called Eperon des Cosmiques.  Rated a D+, 5b, with one move rated 6a.  

The 6a move was a roof that I could not get over with my heavy pack, despite the cheers of Bucky, Walter, and a random French team below us.  I would pull myself up as high as I could and get Bucky to take as much slack out of the rope as he could muster and then relax and gather my strength.  Inch by inch I worked my way over the roof until I was able to surmount this humbling obstacle.  

Hanging at Belay #2

Struggling to get over the roof.

We finished on the Cosmiques traverse back to the Aiguille du Midi.  The traverse was Walter's first time doing alpine climbing in crampons and he handled it very well.  There is one rock face with a diagonal crack on it that I struggled with my first time but Walter cruised through.  All in all it was an exhausting, satisfying day.

Walter and I nearing the top

Back on the Aiguille du Midi looking at Mont Blanc

7/1/14 - Les Gaillands

Our first day of climbing!  We went to the Gaillands crag and put up 5 or 6 single pitch sport climbs.  Don’t know any names, but they were all fairly easy.  Bucky leads what we were told was a 6a+ while Walter and I follow.  Walter coins the phrase, "getting wanked out" when his forearms get pumped, which has become very popular over the last three weeks for all of us.

6/30/14 - Trains!

Bucky, Walter, and I left Florence at 09:00 and began our journey to Chamonix.  We decided to take trains the whole way which, unfortunately, involved six transfers through three countries.  You may not think that is a big deal, but when you are carrying two large packs that weigh about 70 lbs each, a smaller 20 lb pack, and a bag of food and water, you might not enjoy running through stations trying to catch trains either.  The most annoying part of the journey was that we had transfers in Italy, Switzerland, and France.  This meant that we couldn't buy our tickets all the way through in Italy, but had to buy tickets in each country.  Luckily the Swiss still let us pay in Euros, but because we didn't have time to buy our tickets at the station we had to pay almost double for each ticket.  The French, luckily, were not so anal and let us pay the standard fare.  Upon arriving in Chamonix we met our landlady for the next week and she took us to the apartment.  The apartment is tiny!  It has three twin beds, two are bunked in a hallway across from the bathroom while the other is against the wall in the combined kitchen, dining room, bedroom, living room.  Irina, the landlady, made special points about how the floors were very nice for Chamonix and we were to take special care of them, how we were not to jump on the couch because it had a weak frame, and how she needed pictures of all of our passports.  Lastly Irina told us that if we talked with any of the neighbors to tell them we were her friends visiting from Colorado because she technically was not allowed to sub-let the place and she didn't want to get kicked out.  She also says she rents it out for two weeks a month and that pays for the whole months rent.  We are not sure where she lives for the two weeks she rents out her apartment, but wherever it is, it works for her.

6/29/14 - Arrival

I arrived in Florence, Italy at 22:00 and I was stoked.  Bucky met me and got me to the hotel to drop off my three packs full of bike gear, climbing gear, and enough clothes for three months.