Traverse of Mt Kenya 5199m African Odyssey part 2

We left the comfort of the Fair View Hotel having scraped most of the mud of our kit, dried it all out ready for our attempt on Mt Kenya. We trundled through Nairobi before hitting the open road . Eddie might be very good at organizing the logistics of our climbing but what he wasn't very good at was finding a suitable place for my birthday lunch. The cafe was like a scene from Hell with Chicken and chips which had been deep- deep fried and then cremated with a blow torch topped off with warm, almost hot beer.

We continued on up to the park gates where we checked in for the week and re fixed the wheel on the Toyata Land Cruiser which was threatening to come off.

We arrived at the beautiful Met Station 3000m at about 3.30pm.
Unlike Kilimanjaro camping, there was just one other tent and plenty of lush grass to pitch the tents on. The last time I had camped here was in 1988. It was during the night that our neighbours tent had been attacked by a lion and we had all had to run off and hide in a hut. This time the only wild life were some pesky monkeys.

13th January we set off walking , again through rain forest , but this time it wasn't raining . Our goal for the day was to arrive at the American Camp , some 1300 meters further up the mountain. This involved negotiating the "vertical bog."Fortunately it was dry and our progress was rapid. We enjoyed stunning views in every direction and got our first view of Mt Kenya

There were very few people about although we did bump into a member of the ZZ-Top tribute band

We arrived at the camp 4300m at about 4.00pm. I was tired and immediately fell asleep in the grass.

The plan for the next day was to walk up to the foot of the route , scope the approach , come back down , pack up , rest up and prepare for our big day. The approach has changed considerably since global warming has decimated the glacier, leaving just a Tarn at the bottom.

15th January 2015 .3.00am.

We awoke, had our breakfast cooked by the quite magnificent Ashford. Charles elected for a " full English" I didnt fancy this so I had porridge, honey and bananas. Eddie and his side kick Lloydford volunteered to carry our rucksacks to the foot of the route. We all set off at 4.00am.
At 6.00am we aarived at the start. There were 2 Germans, with their Guide Felix, who had climbed a lot on Mt Kenya while taking his degree in Physics at Nairobi University. They set off while Charles and I geared up , Eddie thrust Mars Bar offerings at us. We elected to climb in rock boots carrying our big mountaineering boots in our packs.

The climbing was good and straight forward.

We mostly moved together and quickly. We arrived at Baillie's Bivy after a couple of hours, then overtook the Germans before climbing the very good crux pitch [IV] before some easy scrambling lead to the top of Nelion at about 10.00am. Perfect weather and no wind.

We changed back into our mountaineering boots and got ready for the "real climbing" namely the traverse of the Gate of Mist and the ascent of Bation. We negotiated the ridge which which was just like any typical alpine ridge in the Alps, only higher. Soon we spied some steps in the snow which supposedly lead down to the Gate of Mist. We strapped on crampons and down climbed until down climbing became sketchy and we decided to Rappel the final 30 meters .

[The German climbers elected to stay on the crest of the ridge and then rappel down to the Gate of Mist.]

Their choice was faster , but did require a long rope which we did not have. Anyway we were now in the Gate of Mist and now we had the not inconsiderable task of actually getting onto the summit of Bation. I pulled out the radio at mid day so that we could have a prearranged check in talk with Eddie at back at base camp.

There were about 3 pitches to the summit the penultimate being of outstanding quality. Although probably no more than IV, it felt quite involved at over 5000m ,wearing big boots and carrying a full alpine pack complete with bivy gear.

We summitted at about 1.00pm. The weather was still good and so we were able to initiate the second part of the plan: Namely to traverse and descend the north face route. This was fairly audacious because it required crossing from the southern hemisphere [where it was summer] to the northern hemisphere [where it was winter.] This meant that we would descend the route in full winter conditions.

The descent was choked with snow and I said to Charles that once we leave the summit we were going to be committed because it would be impossible to climb back up. This was my way of making sure he was psyched for what lay ahead. We decided to make lots of short rappels so as not to end up getting the ropes stuck which as it proved would be ultimately faster.
We started down the West Ridge alternatively rapping and down climbing until we reached the iconic Shipton's notch - a key land mark on the descent. We then turned right onto the north face proper and made a series of hair-raising rappels , not least because always the next anchor was buried under snow and had to be chopped out and laboriously cleared with an ice axe.

Sometimes I could not find the anchor point and we were forced to leave slings and mallions behind. Slowly we negotiated Firmins Tower and then entered the Amphitheater where we un-roped and crashed down the scree. After 200 vertical meters we turned left to pick up the line of the next set of rappels. After 3 more rappels it was getting dark. on the equator there is no twilight. It is as if at 6.30pm someone switches off the sun. It was now dark but the ground was not now steep enough to Rap so we down climbed some treacherous loose terrain , finally finding the penultimate Rap. The last Rap to the ground is the key one as it is a long way to the side of the gulley and out of the line of stone fall. It is mission-critical that this last anchor is found. Having a very powerful head-torch with good batteries proved to be important. We found the anchor and we landed on the deck at 7.30 pm.

All that was now required was to find somewhere to stop and rest up. We agreed that we should head for Kami Tarn where we knew there would be water.

This was one of those " How hard can it be?' type moments , well it was hard and in hindsight rather comical , but at the time we were shattered . Our quest to find the Tarn was compounded [amongst other things] by the fact the tarn had dried up to resemble a muddy field.
Eventually after two and half hours of stumbling about we found it and a trickle of water.

Every stitch of clothing was donned [ it was very cold] and then I conjured up tomato soup, Shepards Pie , and a pint of tea topped of with a knock-out sleeping pill each. It had been a long day.

Indifferent start to the "Proper" ski season

There was no snow of any sort before Christmas . In fact on Christmas day I rode my mountain bike up the piste to Brevent.[Which was hard work!]

Then just after Christmas it snowed about 50 cm and it got quite cold -12c.

The problem was that the cold snow fell directly onto the ground which had no snow base. Consequently it all got swept off the piste in a matter of minutes, leaving brown strips everywhere. The one place that seemed to be on another planet as far as good snow conditions were concerned was Les Contamines. Here the skiing was exceptionally good and so this is where we went most of the time .

Remarkable

This is the only word I can think to describe the start of the ski season. It is only 8 November. Yet after a recent dump everywhere looks very snowy. The nearest skiing to Chamonix at present is Zermatt. So this is where Scott Todd and I headed. Our plan was to climb the Breithorn 4164m from the highest lift. The trick to getting to Zermatt smoothly is not to get involved with the ridiculous parking and train, but instead to dump the car with Taxi Fredy and get a ride into the bottom of Zermatt. From there we took an electric taxi to the main Matterhorn cable car. This is where things got difficult because the top lift on the Klein Matterhorn cable car was not working. This meant that we would have to stop climbing much much lower down. we rode the gondola to Trockener Steg and put our skis on. We then took the T-bar drag lift all the way up the Theodulgletscher until it broke down! Rather annoyingly we had to abandon it and walk. We took one more drag lift before eventually starting the climb properly at Testa Grigia

It was quite a tough climb but well worth it.

We then stripped the skins off put the skis in down hill mode and skied some very good snow all the way back to the lift station.
The next day after a night in Saas Grund [where we loaded up on some large portions of Rosti] we headed up the lifts of Saas Fee at this time of the year the resort is in high season because all the ski teams are race-training here for the forthcoming winter season. Our plan was to attempt the Allalinhorn 4027m. In the end we made it to just below the Feejoch where a combination of too much unstable snow, big yawning crevasses and a deteriorating weather situation made us stop. This is the photo of our high point

The recompense was some very good powder on the descent.

Exceptional powder considering that we shouldn't really being skiing a tall yet.

Three climbs in three days in three countries

Scott Todd contacted me. He lives in the USA but his job had sent him to Germany for 3 months and he was keen to do some sort of climbing- any sort of climbing while he was in Europe.

So Scott arrived in Chamonix having left Stuttgart at 4.00am. We set off to climb at les Chesery above Argentiere. We had perfect weather and we thought we were climbing well until we were brought back down to earth when we were followed up the route by a hooved animal!A mountain Goat.

We finished by climbing the iconic Aguillette d' Argentiere.

On our next day the weather was indifferent - raining hard in the morning with an improving forecast so we took the gamble to head to Switzerland where the weather was good and we climbed The outstanding Pantagruel at Les Trappistes crag one of Olivier Roduits many outstanding routes .

On our 3rd day the weather forecast was good- I suggested to Scot that we head through to Italy to climb the stunning Bucce d arancia at Arnad. What I hoped it would be a fitting end to our 3 days together. Well we left a sunny Chamonix drove through the Mt Blanc Tunnel to be greeted by misty miserable weather [ not what the forecast predicted] By the time we arrived at Arnad it was raining. Anyway not to be deterred we set off up the climb - Needless to say we were alone. Fortune favours the brave and it stopped raining and we had amazing climbing

Until it started raining again. We had climbed all the difficult pitches and what should have been simple was not simple in the lashing rain and so we decided to retreat by rappel. This was surprisingly simple if not a little wet and muddy.
But all in all Scott got a pretty good taste of multipitch rock climbing in the Chamonix and surrounding areaa and he has promised to return ..

Aravis offers great climbing oppurtunities especially at the end of the season

There is no doubt that if you hit the right weather late September early October can be the most beautiful time to be in the alps.
Peter Folkman arrived for few days climbing. On our first day we climbed the new route Princess which is the final trilogy of the long routes on Les Rochers des Mottets. This is the hardest and probably the best of the three routes , but I made a note to my self not to try and climb it when its damp.. Slippy is not the word.

On Tuesday we set off for the Aravis mountain range but it started raining and we had to abort plan A . Luckly it did stop raining and we managed to have a very good afternoon climbing at Les Gaillands.

On the Wednesday the weather was good and so we headed to the Col de la Colombiere where we climbed the long and remote
Arête des Bouquetins on the Pic de Jallouvre

On the Thursday we returned to a different part of the Aravis - the col des Aravis , for the standout route of the area which must have one of the most photogenic ridges anywhere L'Arête à Marion on the Pointes de la Blonnière. Mind you the approach is relentless and hour and halfs slog up a stoney slope with only a vauge path to follow.

Perfect weather perfect Autumn conditions -

Francis Bridgeman ans I enjoyed some varied climbing in and above Chamonix and then for the second half of the week we headed to Kandersteg and the spectacular Stockhorn

We stayed in Kandersteg at the wonderful 300 year old Ruedihus Hotel which as got to be a must for anyone visiting the town

LA VERTE 4122meters. “ Avant la Verte on est alpiniste, à la Verte on devient montagnard... “

“Before The Verte one is an Alpine Climber, after the Verte one is a real mountaineer.”

So said Gaston Rébuffat one of Chamonix’s most famous Mountain Guides .

The weather in the Alps this summer has been terrible. Twenty two years I have worked in the Chamonix Valley as a Mountain Guide and this has been the worst- whole weeks have been washed out and many peoples mountaineering dreams have been put on hold until may be next year?

However the constant bad weather meant that it snowed a lot, the glaciers and their crevasses remained filled in and the snow plastered the north faces acting as a form of rendering gluing everything in place. Then finally at the end of the season the high pressure built and we were set up with near perfect climbing conditions for climbing on snow and Ice. These conditions were almost unheard of for a generation and numerous possibilities evolved.

At the same time my client of 22 years who has never missed a season Charles Sherwood arrived to a mouth watering combination of a fabulous weather forecast and perfect conditions.

I had identified a particular route for us to attempt. Namely the Nant Blanc Face of the Verte. The face is rarely climbed because it is rarely in safe condition and pretty much never at the end of the summer, but as I have said this was no normal summer.

Yet even with perfect conditions the challenges are considerable : The face is massive from the Bergschund to the summit it is over vertical kilometer. The ice climbing in two sections is vertical and the final key section at over 4000 meters involves scaling an overhanging serac. [I did not know this before we started otherwise I might have not been so keen]
In addition actually getting into position to start the climb was very hard work;

At mid day Charles and I took the Grands Montets cable car to the top and then headed across and down the glacier from where we had to make a series of difficult abseils down a horrible lose gulley towards the Nant Blanc glacier. Things did no go well because the brand new ropes I had bought for the attempt were immediately damaged by loose rocks [one irreparably] which must be some kind of record - an hour old.

We found a place to bivouac at about 6.00pm and enjoyed the setting sun while having our dinner.

Breakfast was at 2.00am the next morning and we were packed and away by 3.00pm.

We scrambled down onto the Nant Blanc glacier and threaded our way through a maze of giant crevasses by the beam of our head torches. This was difficult and I took a wrong turning and headed up a false line. Everyone can get lost in this game the trick is to realise quickly as and rectify the situation , which we did but still it was frustrating and time consuming. Eventually just before dawn we arrived at the start of the route which is marked by a giant crevasse - the bergschund the last crevasses between the mountain and the glacier. The guide book rather unhelpfully suggests it will be between 12 to 15 hours to the summit from this point.

Climbing over the bergschund was steep but thereafter the angle laid back a little for the next 400meters. We made steady but unspectacular progress because the snow was very hard and we were balanced on our crampon front points instead of being able to kick steps in the snow.

10.00am we reached a narrowing of the climb. We were confronted with a pitch of very steep ice- far steeper than anything we had expected. Fortunately the quality of the ice was perfect and the ice axes stuck in the snow like they were being driven in to cork. Perfect nevé.

Above this pitch the route moved onto another giant ice field before heading left to a rocky ridge . By now the the sun had come round onto the face and it got unpleasantly hot added to which bits of melting ice started spraying us from above some of which were football sized!

We were now tired and thirsty and we decided we should stop for the day and bivouac. The problem was we could not find anywhere remotely flat enough and so we just kept on climbing up and up in the vain hope of finding somewhere suitable. What happened was that as we climbed higher the ground became even steeper and so we reluctantly set up a belay and abseiled back down about 50 meters to an area which was the least worst option! We carved a ledge out of the snow - a sort of bucket seat and climbed into our sleeping bags at about 9.30pm. As Charles observed this is know as a “double head torch day” : you start by head torch and you finish by head torch.

We awoke at 4.00am and began to melt snow to brew pint mugs of tea. Packing everything up was difficult because it was all frozen like a board but eventually we were back climbing at about 6.00 am .

Above us was the crux of the climb- an overhanging lump of ice know as the “Calotte" which barres the route to the summit. I arrived at the foot of the feature which was made up of fluted ice and I was not a tall sure that I would get any purchase with my ice axes. Firstly I cleared all the flutings of ice away like a vandal attacking a giant chandler. Then I launched my self at the over hanging ice and climbed what was the most certainly exposed bit of ice climbing I think I have ever done because it felt as if I was hanging above the entire Chamonix valley. I was happy to pull over the lip and see ahead of me much more mellow ground. I belayed and it was Charles turn to follow.

Above us lay the summit of the Verte a short walk away. The scene was stunning and we arrived on the summit at about 8.30am,hardly any wind and not a person in site.

The next challenge was to get down which off the Verte is never simple. Some earlier pre planning- We had learned that the Whymper Couloir was still full of snow [again because of the bad summer] and because we had arrived on the summit early the snow was still frozen and safe, so we headed down the rather narrow ridge to the col and set up the ropes for the numerous abseils back to the glacier. It was a rather hot walk on a soggy glacier to the marvelously positioned Couvercle Hut , some beers, massive omelettes and bed.

Terrible Teens

I was joined by very demanding teenagers last week. The problem with them is that they have too much energy and this energy needs to be channeled constructively. In addition they want adventures but not too much boring stuff [like walking miles and miles.] To add to the mix the weather was being very un cooperative.

Hereward Mills, his father Bill and Bill's Godson Jamie joined me for four days of adventures. They were particularly keen to spend a night in a mountain hut . With the weather forecast the way it was it seemed to me the best chance of over- nighting was to set of immediately and so this is what we did by heading up to the Couvercle hut which is tucked away at the end of the Mer de Glace underneath the mighty Verte. Getting to the hut is quite an undertaking and involves climbing some intimidating ladders bolted to the rock face.

We arrived at the hut in thick mist just before for dinner. The scene was quite moody and there wasn't much colour to be had in the landscape .

The next morning was clear and we enjoyed some fantastic views of the north face of the Grand Jorrasse

The hut is also in a very beautiful position too

We were lucky to be able to see so much because the forecast was again poor so we decided to head down before we got a drenching

Fortunately the weather held and we managed to get some quality tuition in the use of ice axe and crampons on the Mer de Glace

We made it down to Chamonix just before it pissed it down.

The next day was miserable at first it wasnt actually raining so we decided to try and climb a Via Ferratta down in Passey. Just as we got to the foot of it the heavens opened and we had to retreat. Eventually in the afternoon we went to Les Gaillands and not for the first time this summer I was the only Guide there. However fortune favours the brave and the sun came out and we had some really good rock climbing in the afternoon.
On our final day we headed for the Via-Cordia - the rock climb to be done when everything in the high mountains cant be done

Bad Bad Weather Week

Lloyd Donovan is probably the keenest of the keen when it comes to alpine climbing and he arrived to climb with me for six days. Prior to our meeting we had exchanged emails about what the possibilities might be. Plans had been laid. Then we got the weather forecast- utter crap.

The first day was to be okay , so not perhaps following best practice [because it is so high] we headed for the Cosmiques Arete on the Aguille du Midi. I need not have worried because Lloyd flew up the climb only being stopped by a lot of numpties ahead of us. We then had the chance to visit the glass box

It was semi okay the next day but the forecast was to deteriorate so we decided to climb the Voie Caline - a long simple climb above les Bois. Well it is simple in the dry, but when it started to rain it takes on a different complexion - terrifying.

True to form the next day it snowed down to 2000 meters, so we went for a big walk up the Emosson Dam and climbed the Bel Ouseaux

It was more like a Scottish winter scene than a summer Alpine scene.

The remainder of the week was spent dodging around the frequent showers and we did lots of rock climbing and worked on loads of training in "escaping from the system" - Things which ever climber need to know but never get round to actually practicing.

The Lost Wedding Ring and the Helicopter.

Climbing and Mountaineering trips are all very fine , but the really memorable excursions are when it doesn't go exactly according to plan and there are glitches which produce stories "You can dine out on" Once again teaming up with Alan, Mark [Robo] Miguel Clarke & Art produced a memorable trip.

I was also joined by two other Mountain Guides James Thacker and Jonny Baird. This is what happened:

We met in Gressoney , stayed in the excellent Ellex Hotel , eat in the local Pizzeria and significantly had a little too much to drink.

On the Sunday it was raining and pretty miserable. We took the lift to Puntra Indren from where we walked up to the Mantova Hut , all in thick mist and driving snow.

On the Monday we awoke to hurricane strength winds which stopped us from going anywhere. We sat around drinking cappuccinos and then suddenly for no apparent reason the wind died and we were off.
We "stretched" our legs and ticked the 4000meter mark and some of the team even carried on to the Col de Lys 4200m from where the views to Zermatt and the Matterhorn are unique. We then turned heel and headed for the Gneftii hut where we were greeted by the magnificent Stephany , Guiliana and the rest of the Hut team. The food, the welcome was spectacular. Then showers were provided. free WiFi - what more could you want? You can run your whole life from here.

Tuesday morning the weather was better . We headed off and climbed Ludroigshohe 4341meters.

Wednesday was like Christmas

After some debate we decided to sit it out because the forecast for Thursday was stellar and in addition an extra days acclimatisation would be in valuable if we were going to realize our goal of spending the night in the Margherita Hut.

Thursday - the gamble had worked - Blue Skies, no wind , plus a well rested and acclimatised team powered up to the summit of the Signalkuppe punta Gnifetti 4554meters where there is a conveniently placed mountain hut- The Margherita. Once we were through the door we again met Stephany & Guiliana who were now the guardians of the Margherita Hut . They immediately set about making a magnificent lunch of home made hand grated rosti a platter of dried ham and a selection of local cheese.
During all this Alan discovered he had left his wedding ring down at the Gnifetti Hut. His mind was immediately put at rest with a quick call to say they hand found it.
Ten minutes later Stephany made a flamboyant entry, stood at the end of the dinning table and with a ta- daaa- like a magician produced the wedding ring! We were all suitably amazed and then she told us that the helicopter had just flown it up.

Mid Summers Day Skiing Tradition

With a bit of imagination, luck and planning it is possible to get some amazing skiing on the longest day of the year.
For the last few years Reuben Berg and I have done just that . This mid summers day might have been the best so far. We drove round to Gressoney , rode the lift to Punta Indren put the skis on and skinned up to the Mantova Hut. some times when we have taken skis out in the summer we have had some strange looks, but not this time. The majority of parties were on skis and it was impossible to distinguish the scene from mid ski touring season. Conditions were perfect.
The next day we climbed Vincent Pyramid.

The weather was far from perfect and we had some cold strong winds to contend with. But from the summit in less than 20 minutes we were in the Gnefftti Hut drinking Cappuccinos.
The forecast for the next day was poor. We went to bed thinking that it would not be possible to do much the next day. Our goal had been to climb up to the Margherita Hut and spend the night. This is the highest building in Western Europe at a lung busting 4554meters.

However at day break the weather was not too bad so we thought we should go and have a "look" knowing that if the weather deteriorated we could retreat very quickly on skis. We were bolstered by the site of a helicopter delivering beer to the Margherita Hut reasoning that if the heli could fly then we should be able to make it . We did make it but the weather was decidedly sketchy as we finally made it and yes the beer was there:

The other delight was to meet the fantastic Giuliana, one of the Guardians of the Hut. A couple of years ago she climbed all the 4000 meter peaks in one summer.
The Hut was not busy that evening. 6 guests. Next morning getting out of the hut was a challenge- strong wind and zero visibility. We teamed up with a Swiss Guide and his client and navigated through a classic white out. Eventually we got below the cloud at the col Lys. From there we could really enjoy our selves with a fantastic powder descent followed by spring snow all the way to the Punta Indren cable car

Breaking trail up Mt Blanc with 50cm of fresh snow

The weather has been far from settled and coupled with lots of other issues it made for a challenging week which was only half successful. Dee Anand and David Folkman joined me for 6 days and below is the brief story of what happened.

After three days of training and acclimatisation in indifferent weather we headed up to the Tete Rousse hut and spent a pleasant afternoon relaxing and gaining more acclimatisation. Well it was pleasant for me and Dee but David had a bad night with the Shits. Non of us were sure why he was ill when weren't but we assumed that it would be some 24 hour bug that would go. So we decided to continue on with our plan, which was to head up to the brand spanking new Gouter Hut, where we planned to arrive early and rest up ready for our summit attempt the next day.

David struggled , but was determined to get to the Hut. He immediately went to bed and assumed with a bit of rest he would be fine. It started to snow big time. Dinner time came around and David was feeling worse and could not countenance eating. Hugely frustratingly he was not going to stand any chance of attempting Mt Blanc.

While we were dealing with David's illness , another group were dealing with one of their group who had broken his ankle. They had called a helicopter . I reasoned that David would be far better off if he could hitch a lift too so I asked the Hut Guardian if this would work. In principle the answer was yes. In practice it was a lot more problematical. Bad weather meant the helicopter could not fly.

David was going to have to endure a pretty miserable night. With nothing else to do I went to bed . No sooner had my head hit the pillow and the Guardian came into my dormitory to tell me that there was weather window and the PGHM helicopter would be here in 20 minutes. The Guardian was not sure if the helicopter could take one or two causalities because of the weight limit at such high altitude. I was asked to speak to the Police Mountain Rescue doctor at his base in Chamonix.

I explained what I believed to be David's symptoms and the doctor immediately triaged and decided that David was the priority and not the guy with the broken leg. It is not difficult to see that the guy with the broken leg was deeply unhappy about having his helicopter stolen from underneath him.

Both David and the other casualty were taken outside the hut to wait for the helicopter. It arrived in very dramatic style kicking up huge amounts of snow screening everything from sight. When it departed there was no one left on the ground and so we concluded that both casualties had gone. Indeed they had a mere 5 minutes later and they were at Sallanches Hospital.

Meanwhile Dee slept through all the commotion and was somewhat surprised when he woke up and couldn't find David. It was 2.00am and time for breakfast. 45 minutes later Dee and I set off . We were enveloped in thick cloud and there was deep snow. Critically there was no wind. At the Vallot hut 95%of the parties turned back. There was still no wind and I could see no reason to give up. The only difference was that there was us and one other party to break trail. We stuck at it and arrived at the summit of Mt Blanc at around 8.00am. We saw nothing!