Mont Blanc is not a mountain, it is a cathedral. Each year, several thousand faithful converge religiously on this object of their worship. These pilgrims at altitude, convinced that saving visions will reward them up there, plant their crampons in the footsteps of Jacques Balmat and Doctor Michel Paccard, the first to conquer the summit in August 1786.
To reach the highest point in Western Europe, candidates have the choice between different routes. The most popular of them, the "Royal Way" or "Normal Way", begins at the station of the Eagle's Nest, which can be reached by rack-and-pinion tram from the village of Saint-Gervais. A path shared by hikers and somewhat shy ibex climbs first to the Tête rousse refuge, which overlooks the Bionnassay glacier. It is after this spectacular vision that the serious things begin. The crossing of a dangerous bottleneck equipped with a metallic lifeline transforms the trek into mountaineering. This test introduces the delicate ascent of the Aiguille du Goûter: 600 meters of elevation during which rockfalls, favored by global warming, require the wearing of a helmet.
Morning ropes
Suspended at 3,835 meters, the new Goûter refuge welcomes every night, from the end of May to the end of September, 120 mountaineers for a short night with a difficult sleep. From 2 a.m., the ropes are formed and set in motion by the light of the headlamps. Their goal is to reach the summit, 1,000 meters higher, at the same time as the first rays of the sun. But some thrill seekers, recently converted to the cult of peaks, embark on the adventure without having dreamed enough. Mont Blanc, which should constitute the apogee of a mountaineering life, deserves more consideration… Many of them, exhausted or victims of acute mountain sickness, do not pass the Vallot refuge, at 4.362 meters.
Only 33% of climbers reach the summit when they are not supervised by a high mountain guide. At dawn, when the snow on the Bosses ridge begins to ignite, the lucky ones know that deliverance is near. The soul stripped by the effort, they can then savor the same triumphant emotions as Balmat and Paccard. The world, far below, is insignificant. Altitude: 4.809 meters.
Trip
Bormes-les-Mimosas invites its visitors to the generous spectacle of the Var coast
Trip
France seen from above, time for an air cruise aboard a hot air balloon
- Adventure
- Mountain
- Mont-blanc
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- Mountaineering