Day 1
No need for an early start as todays objective was simply to drive through the Mont Blanc tunnel, make our way to the village of Pont in the Savarenche valley to park up & walk up to our home for the next 3 days, the Refuge Vittorio Emanuele, named after the Italian King who’s hunting grounds had long since been re-classified as The Gran Paradiso National Park. Gran Paradiso, the mountain is the highest Alpine Peak that sits solely in Italy, it stands at 4,061 Metres & could be likened in popularity to being Italy’s equivalent of Wales’ Snowdon.
Tim picked us up from our campsite at 9am, the forecast for our Italian sojourn was a bit mixed but generally not bad, not worth changing plans at this stage.
A bit of a queue at the tunnel, again not bad & soon we were driving down the Aosta valley where there was time for a quick Italian coffee, small but important detail, before moving on & then turning due South into the Val Savarenche. Here the road immediately narrows & climbs steeply over a col before descending into the valley floor. We reached Pont a little before midday & then donned ours bags ready for the estimated 3 hour walk up to the hut. I had descended this climb back in 2013 so knew it would be some effort in the 25 degree heat.
Here I should mention our bags. Judy had kindly offered use of any of her kit that Dorina needed, having assessed Dorina’s existing kit well before packing we came up with a shortage of, right size rucksack, helmet & inner gloves, the latter two we’d buy but Judy’s bag (a red Osprey, same as mine) would be great. Here I need to apologise to Judy as she arranged for Maggie & Alwyn Oliver to drop it over to us well before our trip only for me to ‘discover’ during the packing process that I also had a very good & rarely used Ski Mountaineering bag hidden away in my kit room. Sensible decision was to get Dorina to try both bags on & see which she liked the best. My ‘rediscovered bag was lighter fitted a bit better so Judy’s kind gesture left a tad of guilt on me.
Bag weight was an issue with my aim being to keep Dorina’s as light as possible so that she could enjoy the experience as much as possible. As such I would carry any dual items such as food, wash bag, books etc. This was a good plan until Tim chucked me his rope which saw my bag weight lurch to well over 20Kg.
It was a warm sweaty climb up to the hut for all of us but we made good time despite Dorina doing as I’d done 11 years before, namely taking numerous photo’s of the myriad of Alpine flowers along the way. We reached the hut after some two & a half hours a little after 2pm. The hut was welcoming & very efficient & we were soon tucking into a late lunch that hit the right spots. We were also lucky to have a small 4 bunk room to ourselves which with my errant bowels is always going to help me relax.
Dorina could now experience hut life, relaxing afternoons, sat in the sun, reading & taking in the incredible scenery. People watching is also a must, mostly mountaineers either assessing the climbs ahead or returning from their exersions with a scatterring of sightseeing tourists thrown in too.
On the way in Tim & I had been discussing final options for the next two days, he clearly preferred Becca di Monciar (a highlight that I’d also climbed 11 years ago) for the second day whereas I preferred Gran Paradiso. We agreed to set a final decision once the first day had passed & we could see both how Dorina had performed as well as how the latest forecast stood. For the first day I’d gone for Tim’s excellent suggestion of La Tresenta, the peak immediately above the hut next to Gran Paradiso itself, a peak I’d forgotten was even there. It looked a mixed climb & ideal to test Dorina’s skills & head for heights. The days ahead proved that she was more than capable of tackling what we had in store for her, not only that her smiles & humour, as you may have seen from the photo’s & videos, shone through almost constantly.
The evening meal was served at 7pm to a full hut but there’d be no need for an early night for us un-like most of the others who were heading for Gran Paradiso, our shorter route meant we’d be heading off in daylight.
My stomach had a bad night as is often the case, this time I’ll blame the Alcohol free Beers creating unwanted gas but my sleeplessness I can frustratingly deal with, more importantly Dorina slept well. We breakfasted at 5:30 & by 6:20 we set-off on our own. An important part of any climb is not faffing too much in the kit room as you don kit, particularly harnesses, boots & gloves. This can add stress to pre-climb nerves, our short route allowed Dorina to get used to this process without any real pressure (earlier the start the more pressure to get this honed in, namely breakfast & kit ideally 30 minutes only). 50 minutes for starters was perfectly fine for today.
The climb itself went smoothly with a steep moraine to start with. Reaching the first snowfield I was pleased to see Tim stop without me needing to ask him as he said ‘time to put on Crampons’. I liked this approach & felt it would benefit Dorina as well, good call Tim. Soon ropes were added with Tim leading, Dorina in the middle & me bringing up the rear, both Tim & I protecting Dorina whilst keeping an eye on technique & offering advice here & there about rope management, axe hand, foot placement & the like. In truth we moved well together at a steady maintainable pace whilst taking occasional stops to take in the views & photographs, Gran Paradiso to our left & Ciarforon, 3,642 metres, to our right.
We now alternated from snow, good conditions in a tracks from previous days to follow, to rocky ribs, Dorina preferred the snow & was more nervy on the rock with scraping crampons. I reassured her that as rocky ribs go these were neither exposed or loose meaning that they were really pretty safe. Whilst we were on a quiet route there was a group of 4 descending from above having set out well before us so the security of the rocks & relatively gentle aspect made the risk of rockfall really very small.
Soon we reached the summit at 3,609 metres, Tim & I took it in turn to hug Dorina as well as shake each others hands, Dorina beamed as only she can & we took a well deserved break to eat, drink & take in the tremendous views particularly over to Grand Paradiso & the cliffs on it’s Eastern face. Initially there had been a couple of other guys at the summit but we soon had it to ourselves before we in turn began our descent.
I led down with Dorina in the middle & Tim as anchor, we were on a short rope, I made sure not to move too fast giving Dorina time to feel comfortable to find sure footings, as a team we moved well & my thoughts began to look ahead to tomorrow now feeling that Gran Paradiso was well within her capabilities based on todays Alpine introduction.
We reached the hut at 11:20 some 5 hours after we’d set-off & congratulated each other on a job well done.
Lunch & a relaxing afternoon now beckoned the latter being short-lived as a group of over 40 French women arrived & starting high fiving each other, clearly, we wrongly presumed they had just climbed Gran Paradiso from the Chabod hut & were descending via ours (as I had 11 years ago). We hoped they would soon continue down to the valley but no such luck, they were staying the night.
At least we consoled that with them staying at the hut tonight it meant that approx. a third of the hut were not heading for our summit tomorrow, this was now defintely to be Gran Paradiso & not Becca di Monciar as I’d told Tim I’ll see what Dorina would prefer & as I’d hoped & expected the 4,000 metre kudos won the day.
Again we dined at 7pm, I avoided the gas of zero Alcohol Beer & went back to wine albeit with unusual moderation.
My stomach had a slightly better night & again Dorina slept like an Angel. Breakfast was at 4am & by 4:43 we were again harnessed up with boots & gloves on & heading out into the darkness. We had performed well (7 minutes faster than yesterday) with only 3 groups getting out ahead of us, we had been surprised to see many of the French women at breakfast, they weren’t going down, they were going up! Just what was all the congratulations, singing & self-praising of yesterday all about?
Following two of the teams we crossed a roaring stream that neither Tim or I could remember from years before, it would soon transpire that whilst being on a clear path climbing a moraine it was not our intended route, that being the glacier below to our right. One of the teams corrected but Tim followed the lead group. As we climbed high above the lower glacier route it felt good to be getting some height under our belt early on, I believed we would meet the glacier further up as we’d soon be traversing to our right to join it. Not so, at the top of the moraine it became obvious there was no route to the right our path now climbed left & immediately became an exposed Grade 1 type scramble with steep drops to the left & behind. Despite this we didn’t rope up just full on concentration, 10 minutes or so later the worst was behind us & we were back on easier ground.
After a further half hour or so we reached a mixed plateau at circa 3,500 metres, it was now clear to Tim that from here our route would now need a descent to join the Chabod route. This looked a bit frustrating with me knowing that once reaching the Chabod route we had a long steep climb to tackle immediately. We stopped to Crampon & Rope up as did the group we’d been following & captured some shots of a typically wonderful Alpine dawn. We led off with Tim quickly correcting to find our tracked descent line, in truth the descent didn’t see us loose as much height as I’d feared & we were soon traversing over to the Chabod route, let the climb begin.
As ever Tim set a maintainable pace (unlike a group of 3 who we later re-overtook well before the summit, the two clients being unable to maintain the guides pace, probably French as usual). Slowly the climb passed by & we reached the point where our original planned track met with the one we were on. Here we met Tamsin Gay & her two clients (we bumped into them after exiting Mont Blanc Tunnel two days earlier & knew they were climbing it via the Chabod hut). Tamsin was Tim’s partner when we met in Nepal in 2012 & was the guide who guided me over Skye’s Cullin Ridge in minging conditions back in 2016.
At this our pace slowed as we followed her group up a final steep climb & long traverse to the summit ridge. This felt too slow for me & Dorina but we weren’t in a race & it would help mean that the summit would be relatively clear of crowds when we got there.
At the summit there is a ‘new’ oneway system where you traverse under it to the left before a short steep climb up rocks, eased by mettle rings for foot placement, brings you to the summit & its Madonna. We left our poles at the Col & then began the initial traverse, it was far more exposed than I could remember it, very narrow with a couple of protruding rocks forcing you to lean out over steep drops behind your back (Tim later expressed the exposure was far more severe due to the increased snow this year). Dorina & I both admitted afterwards that it was definitely Type 2 fun. Unlike Dorina I enjoyed the final climb onto the summit which we reached at circa 8:40am, a very respectable 4 hours after setting out.
Again we hugged & shook hands, took photo’s, it felt safe despite the exposure all around & particularly that of the North & East faces.
Tamsin’s group then joined us as did another group who’d been at our hut the evening before. The group who had reached the summit immediately before us set-off down the Southern ascent route (part of the oneway system) & their leader/guide was soon making a pigs ear of it. This part of the route consisted of several bely rings fixed to the rock to protect from the exposure both left (massive) & right.
The group behind Tamsin’s began to press us to make our descent & here Tim showed his real worth pointing out that he & Tamsin are Guides, the group ahead were amateurs & that we weren’t moving until the initial belay rings were free for us to use. His clear & determined stance brought the rear group to a halt & we all waited in line. Tim when satisfied led-on guiding Dorina step by step, belay by belay. She focused well & was aided early on by a helpful tug from Tamsin who was then kind enough to say to her clients we will follow Paul & he’ll be quick, largely true but I did manage to mess up one difficult move making me look like the amateur I am.
It was full on but felt controlled & soon we were back at our discarded poles & moving on & downwards to get away from the crowds & the risks this gives. We stopped once we got back to the junction of the tracks going to the two huts but agreed to keep it short to ensure that snow conditions further down didn’t get too soft before we’d get to them. Here it is time to say that during our 4 hour ascent the only stop we’d made was to put on Crampons & rope-up, from Dorina’s point of view that was an incredible achievement given everything she was adapting to, not many budding Alpinists would be able to do that I’m sure, well done Angel.
We soon moved on at a good pace still roped up at this stage with axes in hand but rarely used. About halfway down our ascent Dorina commented that we hadn’t seen the French group, sure enough a minute or two later Tim saw the first of several large groups far below us, it was the Frenchies strung out, what are they doing, what time did they set-off, what the f…?
As we passed them group by group you almost wanted to shout ‘turn back, you’ll be descending in the dark, this is a mountain disaster waiting to happen’, we didn’t. Soon after passing the last group of 6 with a very plump woman strung out the back & effectively being pulled up on the mountain (she should have been mid-rope), we heard a guide shouting to another what we could only hopefully assume were French for ‘we need to turn back, this is hopeless’. Tim’s concerns were simply guide ratio way too low & that’s illegal on a peak like this 1:5 max ratio.
By now we were de-roped on less steep ground & making speedy progress before we took a second break to take on fluids at my request. Lower down we passed a final group of the French who had turned back, they were roped which I couldn’t figure out why particularly as they were walking in a grid & had they encountered a crevasse (weren’t any here) would have all gone in it together. Later Dorina pointed out that one of the women had cuts to her nose & face clearly having taken a fall, would answer at least why they were moving so slowly.
We reached the hut at 11am just over 6 & a quarter hours after we’d left it, congratultions all round were inevitable. Dorina had her first 4,000er in the bag & I had Gran Paradiso by a partial new & un-expected route.
Lunch could not be ordered until midday, Tim & I looked at each other & nodded a ‘no need to waste time waiting for that’ (a long journey out with plenty to be done before tomorrow). As I write this almost 2 weeks later an un-complaining (at the time) Dorina just said she was tired & wanted to eat before the descent to the car, little did she know at the time that it would be me complaining before that descent was over.
Earlier as we’d un-roped Tim did his, by now, customary trick of looping & tying the rope before looping it to me without even a ‘Paul, do you think you could carry this?’.
Having collected remnants of our gear from the hut we set off at 11:25 & began the expected one & a half hours & 850 metres of descent to the car. On the gentler earlier steps my bag felt heavy despite being a couple of Kg’s lighter than on the way in even though unlike on the way up this time I was using a pole for balance. However when we got to the zigzags & steeper ground my troublesome lower back decided to play up & I began to slow down. The next 40 minutes or so saw rapidly increasing purgatory & thoughts became not only ‘can I do this’ but also ‘I’m going to be f….. for days’. Dorina began to suffer in my pain, Tim was out of site & oblivious & paid for this by his look of shock & horror as I finally reached the bottom after more than one stop. Dorina explained, they rushed to get the bag off where at my yell of ‘be careful’ two strangers also rushed to my aid, very kind.
A few minutes later we began the final trudge to Tim’s car, Dorina had my bag & I had hers, she had my boots & Tim had the rope, a remarkable recovery ensued & by the time we were sat having a snack before the journey back to France I could hardly feel any pain, the difference of a heavy bag going up & a heavy bag going down?! To cap this descent ‘experience’ we also found a grumpy Italian waiter, yes that actually happened too!
On the drive back we decided to skip the traditional ice cream at Tim’s favourite bar to save time only to get stuck at the tunnel for half an hour or so due to a breakdown inside it.
Back at the campsite at circa 5pm Tim dropped us at the tent (no more carrying) & we agreed to meet up at 6am the next day for part two, this would be Zermatt where my plan was The Breithorn for Dorina & The Breithorn & Nordend for me. More on my thinking on that in the next blog for now there was a lot to do: Shop, Un-pack, re-pack (for 3 days, one hotel, one hut & two mountains), Eat & possibly watch England v The Netherlands. Hectic but went to plan until a bottle of wine in the tent thankfully beat a game of football, result both ways!
Great first half in Italy but arguably the main event to come, we had chanced a dodgy forecast & the Mountain Gods had given us their grace.
