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FRANCE 2009

CLIMBING POINTE ISABELLA 3761m IN WINTER (Jan 2009)    photos

When I arrived in Chamonix, the weather was stable and was going to stay that way for a few days more. So without wasting any time, Douglas and I packed our bags and took the train to Mer de Glace. The first day we walked up to the Couvercle Hut at 2687m. As usual, we left late and we had to look for the hut in the dark. Because we arrived at 9pm we were tired the next day and instead of climbing Pointe Isabella, we opened the route and came back to Couvercle. We went to bed early, but I couldn't sleep. We got up at 2am, had quick "breakfast" and left. At first, we just followed yesterday's path. Then, we had to look for a safe way on the wet glacier. Soon the sky started to change colors and we decided to wait a little. When we could see better, we chose a safe route. After overcoming a hard section of deep snow we stood on the ridge. From there we just had to climb up the mixed ridge to the summit.

When we finally stood on the top, there was little time for rest. The weather was fantastic, and so were the views, but it was also late. Snow was melting and we had to hurry up. By the time we climbed down the ridge the sun was ending that day's journey across the blue sky. Soon it disappeared behind a rugged ridge in front of us, and it got quite cold. When we arrived in the hut, we had 18 hours of climbing and walking behind us and were dreaming only about getting some sleep. The next day I woke up and only needed 1 second to realize that the forecast was right. Grey clouds arrived at night and the world around us lost it's colors. It was black and white, like an old TV. The only thing we could do was to pack up and go back to Chamonix.