This is a video my friend Andrew Bradley put together of the of the final few steps up first big mountain I ever climbed. Mont Blanc in the French Alps. I spent 5 days learning how to climb, ice climb and understanding the mountains. Then it took us 4 days up the mountain.
The 3 of us tied together, Andrew, myself and our guide Lino. The idea is when you're tried together you work in a team, if one of you falls over the edge the other two jump opposite side of the mountain and pull against you causing tension so you don't fall off.
On the final day we we're told the weather is moving in and we may not be able to push for the summit. Then at 10pm we got a small window at 1am so we headed to bed for a few hours. I spent most of that time excited and nervous and not really sleeping. Then 1am came and it was action stations we pulled on our clothes and clipped up our crampons and set off into the night. My first sight was looking back at the lights of Chamonix that looks so distant, as I swung back around to face the mountain I guy was marching back past me towards the camp with a girl over his shoulder who'd gotten altitude sickness.
The next stage was to scramble up a small rock face using our head-torches and then start the long lonely trudge up each small peak. after a couple of hours we paused for breath in the Velo (Valley) just before the final few peaks to the top. Here we sipped on sweet tea which gave me the right boost to push for the top.
When we reached the top of the mountain I remarked, "wow it's pretty misty up here" to which the other two laughed and replied "yeah Tarran that's the clouds", we had a laugh and enjoyed the simply stunning view. We were standing above the clouds, above Europe.
I always find it's the effort I put in to get to these places that allows me to appreciate the views, it makes it worth so much more.
Cheers - TazMania
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