Re: Chamonix - ice training - second installment!

First team camp was good. The intersection of 2 glaciers with
stupendous mountains to all sides. Still the continual rock and ice
falls shattering the potential tranquility. A slow mist creeping up
the valley leaving us without sight so focusing our senses on the
sound of the falls - eerie and exciting

With Tabasco our various freeze dried and pre-packed meals were deemed
to be edible, with some saying they were "quite good actually"!! Hmm,
they would not be where I normally eat! Still it felt good to eat,
talk and check our tents. It was the first outing for the "prototype
tent" with scope for improvement it was to prove to be a good cover
for big Matt P and I and a splendid dining establishment the following
night!

It is hard to sleep comfortably with just a quarter of an inch of
compressed foam between your hip bones and rock solid glacial ice. I
tossed and turned all night feeling I had no sleep and being envious
of the deep snoring coming from Steve's tent (poor George) - at one
stage Steve's nocturnal rumblings drowned out the closing sound of the
mountains caving in to the might of the glaciers!

Call of hands at 07.00. Whilst Matt P and I can almost stand up in our
palatial tent, the other pairs endeavour to get dressed in cramped 2-
man affairs trying not to touch the insides of the frozen and damp
tent lining. We appear with loud shouts of "Morning all, sleep
well"? ,with all replying in the affirmative regardless of the truth!

A quick breakfast, melting ice to fill our water bottles we are eager
to get back on our skis and tackling the distant ice falls to our
right. I change our teams around at each stop to see how well we work
with each other and to give myself a chance to work with all. There is
a big variation in our skiing experience and I want to see how we
cope, roped up, working as a close team. It is good!

We march on across the gently undulating ice field until near the
massive ice falls we see a deeply crevassed stretch of ice we need to
cross. The 2 teams take different routes. I am leading one and take
what I judge to be the least crevassed. George leading the other has a
different approach and seems to be seeking out the most crevassed
route to "try out our new skills for real"!! At one stage, George's
team of 4 has to "sprint ski" across a series of narrow but bottomless
crevasses!! All safe and sound we traverse across a ridge to the steep
sides of the glacial valley and start a very steep ascent of a deeply
moguled ice field dodging ski touring parties going downhill (cheats)!

A beasting up the broken slope in blistering sunshine reflecting on
how well hidden so many of the crevasses are and feeling slightly
guilty that some of the touring parties might follow our uphill tracks
across the lower crevasse fields! As we press on, everyone is starting
to feel the altitude and effort. It is apparent that we have not
hydrated enough that day as our bodies show signs of dehydration and
tiredness. We are above 3000m now and oxygen rarification means we are
gasping for breath more than before. We slot into our rhythm, head
down and press on with the skies getting darker and more ominous.

Skiing now in white-out conditions we know it is time not to press on
but to camp. Finding a suitable spot is hard with no visibility. You
need to be on hard ice with no crevasses and clear of any potential
avalanche risks. Eventually, Peter calls a halt, then using the 2.5m
"prodder" to check out a safe area, we make camp.

What a fantastic effort by everyone. The wind is howling, the tents
flailing in the driving snow. Cooking outside is not an option and we
feel far removed from the more relaxed camp in benign weather from the
night before. All 8 of us now squeeze into the "prototype tent" with
Mike melting ice in one corner and the team realising the benefit of
collective body-warmth.

It is not the weather to stay and socialise for too long, but we know
we are in the company of exceptional people when George shares the
story of his honeymoon involving trekking on bought ponies across the
frozen steppes of Mongolia, fording swollen icy rivers, following wolf
tracks, being shot at by local hunters and then having to trek a
further 70 kilometers on foot to the nearest village as the hunters
had stolen the ponies!!!

In our pairs in our tents we feel cold but relatively snug against the
buffeting of the winds and the flapping of tent cloth.
I wake a few hours later to calm. I step outside in the clear freezing
night and marvel at the beauty surrounding us and the sheer brightness
of the stars....all is good in the world!

Part 3 coming soon!!
Hurrah
Manley