Tour du Ciel, day 3, 3rd May 2008
7th May 2008
This was going to be a long day, the aim was to travel to the Cabane de Tracuit which looks a pretty long way on the map. Another early start at 0400hr and we’re away from the the cabane du Mountet a little after 0430hrs lighting the way by head torches until fixing skins and starting the first ascent.
photo : some of the group climbing the Blanc de Moming with the Dent Blanche in the centre background.
The snow is pretty hard again and it’s a steep ascent to the kick turns are awkward and I’m getting a little discomfort in one of my feet, I didn’t think too much about it and assumed it was the angle and I was just stressing my foot a little. Unfortunately it was a bit more serious, it turned out I’d sheared the hinge on my left ski boot, even then at the time it didn’t seem a big deal and there seemed little to be done about it.
By now we’ve reached the highest we can on the Blanc de Moming using skis and skins so we stow our skis on the rucksacks, put crampons on and start climbing the ridge.
The climbing is superb, it’s 0830 in the morning and the light is fantastic and of course the backdrop is just stunning.
After making the summit of Blanc de Moming we skied the other side through the glacial terrain. At this point I realise I’ve a problem with my boot, the skiing is good and the snow is great but I’m putting some extra work in to control that broken boot but it’s manageable at this point.
Now we start to climb to the col de Milon and the broken boot becomes a real problem, I’m getting no support from it as we make a climbing traverse and the boot is alternately rubbing to form a blister or pressuring into my foot. I managed to put up with this for a short while but in the end I had to stop and Fredy Tscherrig produced a bit of wire to make a running repair. This turned out to work pretty well and gave enough support to continue climbing.
From the col de Milon we ski down on good snow and start the third and final ascent of the day to the actual hut. It’s been pretty tiring work, the first ascent was 810m followed by 1020m of descent, climbing to the col de Milon another 350m of ascent and 290m of descent. Now this final ascent is going to be 570m which we make with a break in the middle, I’m pretty tired as we stop for a break but about 50m from the top I’m really just running on empty, in the end I remove my skis and boot in to the hut, I’m so tired that making the steep kick turns on the sketchy terrain is too hard!
Arriving at the hut we order beer and lemonade and sit drinking shandies for a while recovering! I’m so tired I stuff my transceiver into my pack then spend a few minutes panicking the next morning when I can’t recall where it is.
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