Adventureye

I'm happy to report a safe and successful trip through the Alps. Our party of 10 raised a whopping $63,000.00 for the Breast Cancer Fund. This money is going towards the BCF's work on the Ban Poisonous Additives Act, which would ban Bisphenol A from all food and beverage containers nation-wide. Bisphenol A, more commonly called BPA, is a synthetic estrogen widely used in hard, clear plastics and the epoxy resins that line food cans. Like many other hormonally active chemicals, BPA has been shown to increase breast cancer risk.

Now for the tale of the Tour du Mont Blanc. After a quick layover in Amsterdam I arrived in Geneva at 11 a.m., strolling through immigration without anyone giving me a second glance. No Swiss passport stamp for me. I met the rest of our group, only one of which I had met, piled into the waiting van and headed to our home base, the Hotel Priuere in Chamonix. We came a day early so that we would have time to get over jet lag and for a little extra bonding time before hitting the trail. Our first adventure was to hop on a cable car and soar rapidly from a 3500 foot elevation through a forest, across a plateau and straight up a friggin' rock wall to 12,000 feet on the Aguille du Midi! At the top (this type of thing continued to amaze me throughout the Alps) was a giant structure, complete with cafeteria, gift shop and an ice cave! Why the hell anyone would ever decide to put something like that in a place like that I will never know. OK, so I'm not a skier. But I'm glad that structure and the cable car are there because it was one fun ride.
















From the ice cave we could see the beginning of the route that 3 of us were to take to the summit of Mont Blanc.Unfortunately (or fortunately) the day before our climb there was a storm that dumped too much snow on that route for it to be safe for us so we had to go the regular woosie route. But I’m jumping ahead.
That afternoon we had a shake down meeting with our local guide Laurent and instantly took a liking to his charm and wit, as well as his vast knowledge of the Alps, and as it turned out the extra bonding time for our group wasn’t really necessary. We all hit it off instantly and shared several big beers and a grand first dinner.

The next morning we rose for our most excellent croissants and coffee before packing our picnic lunches. Every day our charming and witty driver Jean Marc spread out a buffet of lunch goodies for us to build our midday meal with. Savory charcuterie trays, creamy French cheeses, fresh fruits and veggies, smoked fish, freshly baked breads…..aahh, I’m drooling just remembering.

The following days all kind of melted together in my memory. Near perfect weather, except for a couple of very hot and muggy days,provided us with stunning views of the surrounding mountains as we ascended to various passes. One day was highlighted with wildlife and I added to my list of close encounters a marmot, a massive snow hare, ptarmigan, bearded buzzard, and a golden eagle. And of course there were horses, donkeys, sheep, goats and a calico cat hunting in a field.

After crossing the border into Italy we hiked steeply up for half a day before coming upon yet another mountain hut that served the best hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted!

We had several prayer flag ceremonies where we remembered our friends and family who have suffered from breast cancer, those who have survived and those who passed. Emotional and inspiring moments.
















After 6 days of trekking, eating, sweating, beer drinking and laughing it was time for most to return home and for 3 of us to climb Mont Blanc. We had seen it from all angles now and were prepared to tackle it’s glaciers and snow and altitude.However, as mentioned earlier, there was a storm the day we were to start the climb. Thunder, lightening and snow flurries kept us in our hotels for an extra day leaving us only 2 days to climb to the summit. The following day was still cold and cloudy but the weather was supposed to clear so we headed out with optimism. We hopped on a telepherique (another cable car) for a ride to the train which was a 2 car cog railway that wound it’s way up steep, precipitous cliffs to the trail head. We were a group of 5. Cathy Ann who organized our Sacred Trek is an experienced mountain climber having climbed Mt. Shasta about 10 times as well as Aconcagua, Cho Oyu, Denali and others. Matt and I were beginners, each of us having climbed only one easy mountain. We had 2 guides from Chamonix with us. Kathy roped to me and Adam roped to Matt and Cathy Ann. Early in the day we got to the most dangerous part of the climb, the Grand Couloir. There is a fixed cable that you hook yourself to for the race across the rocky gully. You stand and wait, listen and look for falling rock which is nearly constant. When you feel and hear a lull you go for it, scrambling across as quickly as you can on a narrow, slippery, talus trail. Yes, we wore helmets, no we didn’t get hit. Phew!!!



Once past the couloir we climbed and climbed, scrambling with hands and feet and ropes and cables up and up to at last…you guessed it…another mountain hut at 12,000 feet! We got our crampons and harnesses off and crawled into our bunks for a nap before dinner. Our dormitory consisted of two bunks. One upper and one lower. To get to the upper where we slept you had to step on the lower bunk and hoist yourself up over the end of the bed. Each bunk sleeps 10! There are no divisions between sleeping areas, there are simply narrow mattresses lined up side by side so that you sleep, hopefully, elbow to elbow with other sweaty, smelly, climbers. It was so hot and stuffy in there! After naps and dinner in the dining room we went to bed at about 7pm. I must mention that to get to the loo one had to don headlamp, go outside, around the building, climb down icy metal steps and go into the unlit unisex bathroom, past the men standing at the urinals to the pit toilet stalls. I’d rather go behind a bush but there aren’t any bushes up there!

At 3 am we had eaten a simple breakfast of dry crepes and tea and were geared up and ready to head up. The weather had cleared finally. We had a full moon sparkling off the snow to add to the beam of our headlamps. It was cold and windy and steep. It was a quiet slow slog up the mountain one foot in front of the other, following Kathy’s lead on the rope, zig zagging in the dark. Step breathe, step breathe, step breathe even deeper. Wow, the air is thin at 12, 13, 14,000 feet. Then the sun came up and with it a new burst of energy. We saw the shadow of the mountain on the valley below.

But mother nature wasn’t working with us. The wind had increased and made it hard to move ahead. Some other teams that had been ahead of us had turned back and were heading down the mountain. We came to a narrow ridge and agreed to cross it and then assess the situation. While crossing I was nearly blown off my feet and our guides decided that it was not safe to continue. To make the summit we would have to cross a knife edged ridge and a steep exposed face and Matt and I did not have the necessary experience to risk it. In Matt’s words, “It’s not worth taking an express elevator into Italy.” So we agreed that it was totally OK with us if we didn’t make the summit. We got to 14,800 feet, just 900 feet and one hour below the top.

The climb down was long and arduous, making our total time on the trail that day 12 hours with only a couple of 15 minute breaks. That night back in Chamonix Cathy Ann, Matt and I celebrated with fondue, escargot and champagne. I looked back at the summit of the mountain from my hotel room and wondered if we could have made it with a little more determination but I know that it’s not about the summit. It’s about the journey and staying alive. It’s about helping to keep others alive by supporting the Breast Cancer Fund and their work to eliminate the toxins that lead to breast cancer. It’s about doing my small part, in any way I can, to be there for my friends who have suffered. And I couldn’t do that without the support of everyone who donates so generously to this cause.