Getting High
The forecast today called for clear skies and sunshine, so it was the perfect day for us to get high!
We spent the morning on an excursion getting as close as we could to Mont Blanc. We took 2 different trams and an elevator to reach the observation point on L'Aiguille du Midi. Mont Blanc is 15,780.9 feet high, and L'Aiguille du Midi is 12,605 feet high! That's where we were! (To put this into perspective, the altitude on Lone Peak in Big Sky, MT where we're used to skiing is 11,167 feet). Mont Blanc is the highest peak in the Alps. There have been 6,000 to 8,000 fatalities on the peak, and an average of 100 hikers per year perish trying to reach it.
The starting point in Chamonix was a hub of activity. Most people who intended to go up got there early, and the first lift departed at 8:50 a.m.
We observed quite a few people going up to ski! But they were not just taking their ski's and poles up with them. These people were outfitting themselves in mountain climbing gear, complete with ropes and crampons. We asked someone why, and they said in some cases people rapel to start their skiing. Talk about giving someone enough rope to hang themselves! The gear is also to be used in case someone falls into a crevasse and a rescue is necessary! (We found out later why the crampons were needed.) This naturally freaked us out, and we determined that we would be happy to go up just to enjoy the scenery.
So we bought our tickets, we were given boarding passes, and we waited for about a half hour until our boarding group was called.
While in line, we met a nice young man named Rob, who was planning to go up and soar (he flies back down with a parachute)! This is Brock wishing Rob good luck:
So I am painting you a picture of a group full of extremely brave or crazy individuals loading into these trams and going up for extreme adventures.
When we got up to the top, we definitely felt the altitude; it made us feel dizzy and uncoordinated. Also, it was below zero, with some wind chill. This is what I looked like:
I looked like that because I saw this:
Those, my friends, are skiers climbing down to start skiing. That, right there, is why they need crampons! One misstep to the left would mean immediate death!
Here is another view of the hiking skiers from way above:
The whole thing was simply mind-blowing!
And to top it all off, the first thing we saw when we got up there was an avalanche!
You could see for a hundred miles in all directions, into France, Italy and Switzerland.
The star of the show was Mont Blanc, the highest peak and the rounded peak to the right in a sea of jagged peaks:
As high up as we were in the sky, it was amazing to see ravens up there with us, soaring, and hanging out on the observation platform with us. Brock has told me as long as I've known him that wherever he goes, ravens follow. I'm starting to believe him.
My favorite raven was clinging to a nearby rock:
Here is a close-up of him:
This fella was clinging on for his life, wondering how in hell he let his friends talk him into flying all the way up there!
We understood how he felt!
Going down was as scary as going up. I could not look too closely, especially after we saw that the cables were held together by a little bit of duct tape!
The whole experience was terrifying and the most awesome thing in the world at the same time. We're so glad that we did it!
As if that wasn't enough, when we returned to earth, Brock wanted to fit in some skiing! (Welcome to my world!) So we returned to our favorite lift, Flegere, went up and had some lunch, then skied for a couple of hours. It was a really pretty day for that and not too crowded.
When we returned to our hotel, we had time for some hot tubbing, while we observed parasailers soaring, helicopters buzzing by, etc.
Our hotel has some really neat wood carvings in a tree by the hot tub:
What a memorable day!
And it was all going so well until Brock discovered he had run out of bourbon! (Just kidding! He never makes that mistake!)
