We are in no hurry in the morning. The Aiguille du Midi gondola will take us to 3842m in 10 minutes only at 2pm. This day is still considered a regeneration day (yesterday we conquered Gran Paradiso ). In the morning we walk around Chamonix . I buy new gloves because I was cold the day before on Gran Paradiso in double layers. Strong winds are forecast for Mont Blanc. I'm worried about how cold it will be, so I buy another undershirt. Then I feel ready for the adventure. We eat lunch right in the parking lot, where we also put on winter clothes, even though it's about 25 degrees in Chamonix. On the gondola, we mix mountaineers with all their combat equipment (ice axes, poles, ropes, some even have skis and body armor) and tourists in mini skirts.
When we arrive at Aiguille du Midi, we get ready in the tunnel to enter the glacier. This means putting on gaiters, crampons, and a harness and waiting for the guide to tie you into the harness. I walk in the middle. For today, all we have to do is descend to the Cosmiques hut, where we will spend the night. We only catch a glimpse of the view and then the fog sets in, which later persists until the evening. We chat in the hut. Andrej shows and explains the Mont Blanc crossing tour. It is a magnificent tour. By 6:30 p.m., the entire hut is already full and we are all impatiently waiting for dinner. Half board is €77 per person. Dinner is GREAT: soup, polenta, and goulash, plus dessert. Then we go to bed right away. At 9 p.m. Wake-up call is in three and a half hours… Oh, God!
Those three good hours were better than nothing. The watch showed me 19% sleep quality. Yeah, nothing, but I can do it, even at 19%. We have breakfast at 1am. He doesn't go down . I drink tea and eat a piece of cake. Then I go to bed. I pull on practically everything except the jacket. We turn on the headlamps and start the climb in pitch darkness. It's beautiful. I enjoy it. I only see a few lights ahead. It goes by quickly and around 5 am the day is already starting. And so is the wind. Our tour is up and down several times. During the crossing, we first climbed Mont Blanc du Tacul , then Mont Maudit (the steepest and most exposed part) and only then Mont Blanc . The many ups and downs only mean a greater challenge. I accept it and it seems fine to me. We are making good progress. The only thing I worry about is Maudit, how I will get down. Up always seems easier than down.
Below the summit, the wind is even stronger. I put on everything I have, but I shiver every time we stop. All the chocolate bars are frozen. Thank God for the thermoses and hot tea. The last part of the slope below the summit drags on. I watch it and watch it, and then I look at the clock, 4550m, then 4620m, and then again only 4710m. A little more, a little more, a little more… And we are up! YEAH! 4809m . Dad, we did it! Proud of both of us. We take pictures and set off into the sun. I'm cold and I hurry to drink tea, soak cookies. We decide to wait for another connection. We greet them with congratulations and then hurry back down. A few minutes after nine o'clock we reach the top. The descent is going well until my period starts . Oh, God... not now.
It goes all the way to Maudit without any problems. But there the ground is already quite rough. heated and everything melts. The crampons don't hold as well as they do for climbing. Andrej and Marija are studying protection. Dad goes first, I follow him. Now the sun is scorching and every move I make is at 110%. I'm getting sick. I hold on to my ice axe so tightly that I have to rest several times because my hands start to hurt. The steepness (according to our layman's assessment, it's at least 80%) is endless. I look for steps, drive in my crampons and drive in my ice axe. Smaller lumps keep falling. Then a bigger one, right on my head - BOOM! - good thing I have a helmet. Dad reaches the end of the slope and I follow him. Ugh. I breathe a sigh of relief. Then another lump flies straight into my palm. AV ! Then I hide under the snow and wait for the others to come down. We stop a little further and have a drink and a meal. It's already noon. At 5 pm the last gondola goes down to the valley. We still have ⅔ of the way ahead of us. Let's sing.
In between, there is a part where the guides warn us not to stop and to cross as quickly as possible because a serac might collapse. Our gondola, Aiguille du Midi, our destination, slowly appears. When we are on the last glacier, under the hut, somewhere at 3600m, we realize that the last part will be steep. 200m of uphill climb at the very end. At 3pm, when we are already tired and hungry. Torment, injustice, excess! But there is no other, finish as befits such a magnificent tour. The other team rushes after us to catch the gondola down. And what happens in the end? There are so many people that we only get in line for transportation to the valley at 6:30 p.m. All the restaurants and bars are closed. We are wet, our skin is irritated, our legs are tired. We wait in the hallway. We don't see the time we will be in the valley. And this also happens.
We are back safely. We drive through the tunnel to Italy and spend the night there (at the Rifugiolila hotel). The next day, after a six-hour drive, we arrive in our hometown, toast, hug our family and have wonderful memories of a great achievement. Yum!!!!