Page 22 - 2018 AMA Winter

EXPEDITIONNEWS
My alpine education continued the following day as we ascend to the Cabane Triente. A mountain hut high up on the Trient glacier. Despite having completed the Alpine Klettersteig Leader course in previous years, conditions prevented us from visiting huts and so this was my first taste of high alpine accommodation. One thing to note here: if you’re going to stay in a mountain hut, ensure your bank is, firstly, aware you’re going to be making purchases abroad (Tom Northover), and secondly, is on-call to pay out your inheritance to fund it. Some are, cata- clysmically expensive for basic amenities (drinking water in the case of the Trient hut - 10 Euros for 1.5 liters of bottled water or 6 Euros for 3-4 cups of tea). This made hydration, a fundamental proponent in
James Gordon leading on rock
Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), a distinct problem for the team who were using the hut as a staging ground for acclimatiza- tion. Despite this, the teams learnt valuable lessons both in the hut and outside on the glacier including the bagging of peaks such as Tête Blanche, Aiguille Du Tour and Petite Forché. After three days on the glacier, countless games of Monopoly DealTM, sleepless nights attributable to those ambitious/overly cautious climbers in our dorm getting up from 0200, we descended the glacier to the comfort of the minibuses and our camp site back in Chamonix.
THE COLD TRUTH
“Gents, we’ve got seven who want to climb Mont Blanc and only space, for six!”.
Chris Dowd descending the Tete Blanche Bergschrund
Ben Powell leading Shane Stafford at 4000m
The harsh realities for every expedition leader who has ever had to manage a group of keen climbing wods! This group was no different. One had to go to the ‘Non-Blanc’ group. One did - say no more, ‘C’est la vie. This now created a (almost) natural divide in the subsequent MELs for the team. One half would pursue Mont Blanc and the others, the ‘Non-Blanc-ers’ would focus on climbing rock routes. The Mont Blanc group were soon in bed having squirrelled their kit away for an early start. Their next short term objective was accli- matization at 3800m and onwards above 4000m as their ATG(A) approved altitude profile permitted before a summit attempt on 25 Jul 18, weather permitting. So far it looked good but with over a week to go, anything could happen.
NOT A CONSOLIDATION PRIZE
Climbing alpine rock can be a wonderful experience. Large columns of granite and, perhaps more exotically named rock types I’m blissfully unaware of, give countless opportunities for logbook enhancement to put the average U.K. crag warrior to shame. It in itself could be the basis of a substantial expedition and will be one I shall be returning to Chamonix for in the future.
Six became three-lots-of-two as the climbers paired off - Rhys Jenkins and Ryan Anderson, James ‘The Doctor’ Gordon and Tom Northover, Chris Dowd and I. The apprentice rock gods ticked off route after route in the relative comfort of the Chamonix valley. These included the
22 / ARMY MOUNTAINEER