Logan Traverse

What a fantastic expedition! It seems like I should learn how to packraft before I go skitouring next time... ;)

Logan Traverse, narrated, 12 min. from Luc Mehl on Vimeo.

Tromsø ice

Some pictures of my ice climbing trip to Tromsø in northern Norway. Enjoy!

A lost fishing boat

A view on Kvaløya island

An old, worn shed in Tromsø

Tromsø harbour with Tromsdalstinden (1238m) in the background.

Steven climbing a pitch in the quarry.

Pavel following a snowy mixed pitch

Climbing in darkness becomes a habit after a while...

Steven climbing ice in perfect Norwegian conditions.

Spindrift beard, a new trend for iceclimbers?

Jeroen and Steven getting ready to rappel into the night.

Jeroen placing pro!

Aurora Borealis

View on Blåmann from the house.

Antarctica Contest

Hi there!

I'm competing in a contest to win an expedition to Antarctica. Can you vote for me please? It takes  only 5".

You would do me a great favour! Thanks in advance!

Hey allemaal!

Ik doe mee aan een wedstrijd om een reis naar Antarctica te winnen. Ik zou graag van deze reis gebruik willen maken om mijn lessen biologie en aardrijkskunde rond de opwarming van de aarde aan te vullen met eigen ervaringen en foto's van dit prachtige, maar bedreigde continent.

Zou iedereen willen stemmen op mij en dit bericht willen delen? Alvast bedankt!

https://oceanwide-expeditions.com/contest/show/13159

Stage Bergbeklimmen Beginners - Glocknergruppe, Oostenrijk

Beste lezers,

Van 2 tot 9 juli 2016 begeleid ik samen met Bart Smets en Brenda De Fré een beginnersstage bergbeklimmen in het gebied van de Grossglockner in Oostenrijk.

Heb je een goede conditie en heb je een KVB 3 of gelijkwaardige ervaring en je wil graag beklimmingen doen in het hooggebergte, dan is deze stage iets voor jou! (voor verdere deelnamevoorwaarden, zie link onderaan)

Wij bieden je het volgende aan:

In België

• Twee voorbereidingsmomenten op 11 en 22 mei voor wat informatie en om al wat technieken in te oefenen.

In de Alpen

• Ijsscholing: stap- en klimtechnieken met stijgijzers en pickel, plaatsing van verankeringen in ijs. 
• Sneeuwscholing, dat is zowel stappen met als zonder pickel en crampons … én veilig leren jezelf afremmen na een eventuele val. 
• In rots gaan we jullie kennis en kunde wat verruimen op heel ander terrein dan je mee bekend bent van de vertrouwde klimmassieven, wat dan ook aangepaste zekeringstechnieken vergt. 
• Tochtvoorbereiding, te beginnen bij gebieds- en tochtkeuze, weersvoorspelling enz… komen meer dan eens aan bod, veelal ’s avonds of vlak voor het avondmaal. 
• Oriëntatie op basis van kaart, kompas en hoogtemeter zal zowel onderweg ingeoefend worden als bij de voorbereiding in de hut. 
• Ook het leren inschatten van risico’s hoort erbij, net als daar de juiste beslissing aan koppelen… en wat als het desondanks toch mis gaat ? De correcte benadering van een noodsituatie is ook elementaire kennis voor een bergsporter.

Voor meer informatie kan je terecht via deze links: http://www.bvkb.be/v2/files/toerski/Stage_Bergbeklimmen_Beginners_Glocknergruppe_3-9juli2016.pdf

http://www.klimenbergsportfederatie.be/stages/bergbeklimmen-voor-beginners-glocknergruppe-bvkb1601?id=521

Of kan je een mailtje sturen naar: bart.smets@telenet.be

Inschrijven kan via: klimschool@bvkb.be

©Helmut Van Pottelbergh

WAFA certification

A week ago I attended a Wilderness Advanced First Aid course by Wilderness Medical Associates and Outward Bound Belgium in Lustin, Belgium. This course really is a must for everyone who goes on extended trips, where help just might not be available, or for everyone who guides groups into the wilderness!

During the course we learned how to asses patiënts, how to deal with life-threatning conditions, spinal injuries, wounds, burns, anaphylaxis, hypothermya and much much more.

This four day course was very practical but intensive, we switched between theory, exercises and simulations all the time. During the last day of the course, there was a multiple choice exam with twenty-five questions, who succeeded received his three-year valid certificate. Next time we can choose to do the three-day recertification or the four-day WAFA to WFR bridge course.

Photo credits: Pieter Maes Zenfolio
Websites: Wilderness Medical Associates & Outward Bound Belgium

Ice climbing in Iceland!

Ice climbing in Iceland! How cool does it get?

Eclipse

Bad to the Bone

Looks like a scary climb to me!


Bad to the Bone - North West face Mt Deborah, Alaska from Jonathan Griffith on Vimeo.

Review: Cassin Blade Runner

Cassin

The roots of this technical equipment date back to 1935 when Riccardo Cassin made the first ascent of the north face of the Cima Ovest di Lavaredo (now rated 5.11d). He established his innovative climbing company down valley from C.A.M.P. in 1952. C.A.M.P. purchased the CASSIN brand in 1997 and honors Riccardo’s memory by stamping his name on some of the most technical products in the line including Technical Ice Axes & Crampons, Big Wall/Aid Climbing gear, a selection of Harnesses, and Bouldering gear. Other select products with an established history under the CASSIN brand also carry his name.

Description

The Blade Runner represents a new era in technical ice crampons. A wealth of innovative features
combine to create a crampon that conforms to the ergonomics of modern boots, increases rigidity along the entire length of the crampon without decreasing dexterity or compromising fit, adapts to alpine conditions with a variety of front points and toe bail configurations, and naturally reduces balling with its inverted V-shaped front platform. The patented heel slide integrates the linking bar with the heel piece for better torsional rigidity. This allows the Blade Runner to offer the best of both worlds by combining the power and stability of vertical frame crampons with the precision and ease of adjustment of horizontal frame designs. The entire heel slide is constructed from proprietary Sandvik Nanoflex® steel: an amazingly strong and tough stainless steel that allows for a reduction in the thickness of the frame from 2.75 mm to 1.8 mm, thereby reducing weight while simultaneously increasing strength and providing the right amount of longitudinal flexibility for a precise fit on modern boots with more extreme rocker. The front platform is constructed from traditional chromoly steel alloy to absorb impact energy and maintain solid rigidity under foot. The elimination of connection joints leaves little room for play and reduces much of the flex that can make crampons seem less secure on technical terrain. The sophisticated geometry of the front points interacts with the secondary points on the main frame for easy penetration and superior hold even in the most fickle conditions. Switching the front points between dual and mono, centered or offset, is made easy with the hook and notch system on the rear contact point. The optional snow points convert the Blade Runner into all mountain machines with their beveled design and precise shape and spacing that maximizes purchase in ice and hard snow. Optional semi-automatic toe bails also allow the Blade Runner to be used on boots without rigid toe lugs – a great feature for alpine climbing where the bulky toe lug reduces sensitivity and performance on rock.

Details

• The most versatile technical ice crampons on the market
• Patented heel slide design integrates the benefits of vertical and horizontal frame crampon designs
• Interchangeable front points are easy to switch from dual to mono, centered or offset
• Optional snow points optimize the crampons for alpine terrain
• V-shaped chromoly steel front platform offers high rigidity and reduces balling
• The patented heel slide is constructed from proprietary Sandvik Nanoflex® steel for the optimal blend of strength, flex and lightweight
• Asymmetric design follows the contours of modern boots to ensure a more precise fit
• Semi-automatic toe bails allow for use on boots without rigid toe lugs
• Anti-balling plates included
• Available in two sizes for optimal boot fit compatibility

Points: 13/14
Frame Material: Chromoly Steel / Nanoflex® Steel
Antibott: Included
Binding: Automatic / Semi-Automatic

Weight 

Mono-point (vertical)

Size 1: 1015 g
Size 2: 1030 g

Duo-point (horizontal)

Size 1: 1130 g
Size 2: 1145 g
Srce: CAMP
 

My opinion

Fit

The Blade Runners came very close to a perfect fit on my La sportiva Trango Extreme’s. The front part follows the curve of the boot very well. At the back, the crampon has a weird bend between the heel part and the connection bar. It has to fit right in front of the foremost heel lugs of your boots. This tiny detail makes a lot of difference! It makes this crampon a lot more rigid than others, because this piece, together with the front bail, absorbs the impact while kicking the front points. This feature however can be disastrous for the fit on some boots, especially those with less pronounced heel lugs. If the heel of the boot is longer than the crampon heelpiece it can also leave some heel space uncovered by the crampon. This could be an issue, while descending a snow slope. On my boots there was a small part of the heel uncovered, but I never felt insecure while descending. Another difference with standard crampons is the connection bar. The connection bar is made out of one piece of flexible Sandvik Nanoflex steel together with the heel part of the crampon.  The first thing you’ll notice is the width of the connection bar. This makes the crampon more laterally rigid and it transfers the force to the heel bend, but it allows the crampon to flex vertically to allow a better fit on modern rockered boots. The second thing you’ll notice is that you can’t slide them in, like classic crampons. This makes them harder to transport, if you don’t want to adjust them every single time you put them on.

Fit of the heel piece

The bended connection bar fits very well on my Trango's

Fit of the front part. Notice the gap between the boot and the front-bail on the inside.

The binding system is very versatile, you can choose between a semi-automatic and a full-automatic configuration. I tested the full-automatic one. There was a good fit between the toe bail and my boot, but there was a gap between both on the inside of my boots. This means, the crampons will accommodate even more asymmetrical, wider boots.  I can’t say much about the heel piece apart from that the piece was sitting very flat against my boots and that it wasn’t very easy to adjust with gloves on. The buckle of the webbing existed out of two rings like on Grivel crampons. They are easy to use with gloves on.

Points

The crampon counts 13/14 ‘big’ points depending on the configuration. Ten of them are placed vertically and three or four are placed frontally. In addition to those ‘main’ points, there are some cleverly placed secondary points. The biggest are placed underneath the connection bar, the second biggest are two points placed on the proximal side of each replaceable front point and the smallest are some serrations sticking out of the anti-balling plates in the center of the front part of the crampon. They are very useful to keep grip while stepping onto cauliflower ice.

The frontal points are placed in a very clever way. You can switch the front points between snow points or ice points; you can place them centered or offset, dual or mono. This makes them very versatile in all sorts of terrain. I climbed with them in mono-point configuration and in this position, the small secondary points were visible and I wondered how they would work on ice and rock. Apparently the small points did a good job in stabilizing the crampon while climbing ice (I guess they’ll also prevent the mono-point from slicing through névé) and they didn’t interfere with the rock while dry-tooling, something where I was afraid of. When the crampons are in dual-point configuration, the secondary points are flat against the removable points, so they don’t interfere anymore.

Anti-balling plates

I never noticed any balling under the crampons. There are solid anti-balling plates in place on the crampon and the shape/material of the crampon can reduce the balling effect as well. CAMP says that the front piece of the crampon is V-shaped to reduce the balling; I can add that the stainless steel back part sheds the snow as well, because the snow doesn’t stick as much to stainless compared to chromolly steel.

Weight

The Blade Runner weighs just a little more than one of its closest competitors, the Petzl Lynx (1080g; duo-point), but the Blade Runner is a better crampon on ice for sure, because it is more rigid and its ability to keep grip on cauliflower ice. It is probably also a better snow crampon, because of the interchangeable horizontal front points. The trade-off is however that it is less compact to transport, it just might fit not as much boots as the Lynx and I believe the extendable front points of the Lynx  make them just a little better in dry-tooling.

Conclusion

If you want one crampon to do it all, this just might be something for you. A bit more versatile than the Petzl Lynx, but also a little heavier and less compact. Make sure you try them on your boots before you buy them!

Positive

• Versatile
• Rigid
• Great on cauliflower ice

Negative

• Pretty heavy
• Hard to fit on some boots

Review: Cassin X-dream

Cassin

The roots of this technical equipment date back to 1935 when Riccardo Cassin made the first ascent of the north face of the Cima Ovest di Lavaredo (now rated 5.11d). He established his innovative climbing company down valley from C.A.M.P. in 1952. C.A.M.P. purchased the CASSIN brand in 1997 and honors Riccardo’s memory by stamping his name on some of the most technical products in the line including Technical Ice Axes & Crampons, Big Wall/Aid Climbing gear, a selection of Harnesses, and Bouldering gear. Other select products with an established history under the CASSIN brand also carry his name.

Description

The X-Dream combines two tools in one – a fully optimized tool for technical ice and an aggressive
dry tooling machine. This amazing ice axe not only features three different T rated picks for various terrain, but it also incorporates a patented adjustment system in the ergonomic handle to fine tune the swing and torque even further. A quick turn of the Allen bolt above the grip allows the tool to be switched between Dry and Ice positions by changing the angle of the handle in relation to the angle of the pick. In the Dry position, the handle kicks upward for a more down and out pull. The Ice position drops the handle for a more natural swing. Climbers can further refine the X-Dream with micro-adjustable trigger finger ledges (choose from two inserts – the X-Finger Small or the X-Finger Large – that can be flipped over to adjust the position) and the X-Rest insert which adjusts the overall height of the handle. All three picks feature the refined beak and tooth configuration CASSIN tools are known for. They are designed to provide solid sticks with minimal penetration making them the perfect choice for brittle ice and technical mixed terrain. The Ice pick brings the tip 6 mm closer to the handle for performance similar to the popular X-All Mountain tool. It also features a small hammer that adds the perfect amount of head weight for thin and brittle ice. The Race pick features a sharp beak for grappling with rock along with more aggressive teeth both on the underside and topside of the pick. The Mixed pick is a blend between the two with similar angles to the Ice pick but only a small hammer plate and teeth reaching further down the shaft like the Race pick.

 

Details

• Hyper light, perfectly balanced, fully featured tool for technical dry, mixed and ice climbing
• Ergonomic handle with patented adjustment system to change between Dry and Ice angles
• The handle is constructed from extreme cold resistant polymer laid over the hot-forged aluminum alloy spine
• 3 different picks (Mixte supplied as standard, Ice and Race can be purchased separately) provide further refinement for different styles of climbing
• Micro-adjustable trigger finger ledges and X-Rest insert adjust the overall height and size of the handle
• X-Trigger pommel attaches to the shaft for a third ledge
• X-Grip 2 included

Weight

600g

Srce: CAMP

 

My opinion

(Note: the Cassin X-dreams were provided to me by the K2 profshop for testing purposes. This didn’t influence my opinion in any way!)

Picks

All the picks available for the X-dream are T-rated. This is very confidence inspiring, because they look pretty narrow and there are some holes cut out for weight reduction. It is also mandatory for mixed climbing, dry tooling and competitions to reduce the chance of bending or even breaking a pick while torqueing the tools.

I also noticed that the picks seemed to hold there edge very well.

Ice pick

I really liked the way the picks stick from the first hit, without shattering too much ice. They really
cut the ice like a knife through butter. This is probably because of the tapering of the picks. The downside of this is that they can sink down deep into soft ice, what makes them very hard to remove. Especially when the big spike on the underside of the pick gets into the ice or when the serrations on the head contact an ice curtain.
I’m not sure why they are in place on an ice pick anyway. I suppose, the big spike secures the blade while hooking between icicles and behind pillars and the serrations on the head are for torqueing the axe. But then again, I’ve never experienced the need for anything like that while ice climbing. In my opinion, those extra teeth are more useful for dry tooling or mixed climbing.

I also used this pick for some dry tooling and I was very pleased with the first tooth, who is a little downturned and far enough from the second tooth. It felt very secure, even while matching hands and pivoting the tools. I found the serrations on the head of the tool very useful, while torqueing the tools. The big spike on the underside came in handy while hooking over big holds. It felt more secure.

Although I’ve never used them for hammering a piton I found the hammer very useful, because it places some more weight into the head of the axe, what makes for a better swing. But I think there is still room for improvement… I’d suggest Cassin to take off the hammer and to put the same weight in front of the head for less vibration of the pick and an even better swing with less moment force when the pick hits the ice. This will reduce the chance of the pick bouncing off while hitting a bulge of hard ice.

In addition to the extra weight the hammer brings to the head, it also makes it possible to use the tool into the alpine.

Mixte pick

Note: I have not used this pick in the field, but I’ll compare it with the ice pick by its few differences.

The mixed pick is similar to the ice pick, but there are a few adaptations for dry tooling and mixed

climbing. First, the serrations on the head reach further down the head. This makes the axe even better for torqueing, but worse for ice climbing.

Second, they have more cut-outs and no real hammer for weight reduction. Since the pick is going to be used more on rock, there is less need for extra weight in the head. The hammer is removed, but there is still some metal protruding at the back of the head. I recon it is (almost) impossible to hammer a piton with it, without smashing the head. Maybe it is more useful to pommel one axe into an ice- or frozen turf-filled crack with the other one.

Third, the pick comes down lower towards the shaft for better hooking around or over holds.

Comparison between the ice pick (bloted on the tool) and the mixed pick

Comp pick

Note: I have not used this pick in the field.

This pick is the most radical in the X-dream arsenal. The serrations underneath are bigger and more aggressively angled towards the back for even more secure pick placements, the tip is even more downturned, the hammer is totally removed, the head is even more cut-out and the teeth on top are almost running to the tip of the pick! Great blade for extreme dry-tooling, but not very useful on pure ice.

Shaft

Although I haven’t noticed it while ice climbing the shaft flexes a lot even compared to the Nomic, which already has some flex in its shaft. It actually felt pretty weird while dry tooling and it might affect the performance of the tool slightly, especially on very tiny edges.

Handle

The handle in the ice-setting

In the ice-setting, the swing of the tool felt very natural. It solves the problem of the Ergo tools, whose handle is almost parallel to its pick what makes it awkward to swing in ice. The swing felt more like a Nomic, but with a lower center of gravity. For dry-tooling on some vertical to slight overhanging walls, I’d suggest you use the handle in the ice setting, because there is almost no pick shift, while matching with the second grip.

In the dry-setting the handle became almost parallel to the pick, more like the Ergo’s. This makes the X-dream a great tool for overhanging dry-tooling. It makes it easier to hold onto the tool longer, because it straightens the wrist. The trade-off for this is a greater pick-shift while matching hands, because of the greater difference in

Notice the full-strength hole in the handle and
the serrations underneath the handle.

angle between the first and the second grip.

Overall the handle is very comfy and it is possible to customize it with a variety of different accessories. It provokes a comfortable, relaxed hand position.

The handle is also equipped with a serrated pommel and second hand rest. This protects the handle from getting smashed-up against the ice or rock. If you like to use the tool into the alpine, the serrations are too small to give you any grip on snow, but CAMP announced a replacement handle for fall 2015 with a big spike to satisfy the alpine climbers. If you are an alpine climber or if you like some multi-pitch ice climbing, you may want a place to clip your tethers to… It is possible to clip a BD spinner leash through the hole in the handle, but it will be more comfy to put some cord trough to clip them to. There will be a hole into the spike of the new handles, so you can use them for clipping your leashes as well, I guess.

So, all in all it’s a great handle, but I noticed something disturbing! On one of the axes, the bolt that connects the handle to the shaft loosened very easily even after I retightened the bolt. This created some movement between the handle and the rest of the axe. Although it was not a safety issue by any means, it felt not very reassuring while climbing.
The second handle felt comfortable. The pinky-rest is the upper part of the first handle and Cassin added some skateboard-style grip-tape and it did the job.

The third grip consists of a removable pinky-rest and it is clamped around the shaft. I found it particularly useful in ice and snow. In ice because it makes it easier to reach higher or to match hands in a traverse. In snow, I noticed that this grip kept my hands out of the snow, while Ueli Stecking some firn snow. However the downside of the third hand rest is that you can easily hit it if you take a swing over a bulge. It happened to me a few times and it turned sideways once.  I also found the hand rest less useful while dry-tooling, because it creates a lot of pick shift, so use it on good holds only!

Handle customisation accessories

Removable hand-rest. Just below, you can see a part from the grip-tape.

Conclusion

The X-dream is a great all-round tool for steep ice, mixed climbing and dry-tooling. It bridges the gap between pure dry-tooling axes like the Ergo and the more ice-oriented tools like the Nomic. It is in a lot of aspects a better ice tool as the Nomic, one of its biggest competitors, but it has its flaws. I’d like a stiffer shaft, a clean ice pick without serrations on the head, without the big tooth and a more secure way to attach the handle.

Positive

• Great swing and sticks
• Modular handle
• Multi-functional
• Lightweight

Negative

• Flexible shaft
• Pick can get stuck into the ice
• Handle-shaft connection can loosen

Ice climbing in Rjukan, Norway ©Steven De Decker

First time alpine climbing with Daan

This is a little write-up from Daan Nijs. Last summer I took him alpine climbing for the first time. I might have taken him outside of his comfort zone, I guess...

Hi everyone,

Let me first introduce myself. My name is Daan, I met Bart last year at Don Bosco Wilrijk at the rope-access course. Me and Bart got along very well right from the start of the course. Bart and I share the same love for the mountains and climbing, though he is much better at it than I am.  

Last summer Bart and I went to Chamonix together. It was my first time in Chamonix and my first real experience as a mountaineer. Bart was planning on staying for two months, but because I had to work, I only had one week to climb.

The first week of July we drove from Belgium to Chamonix. Once in Chamonix we went to this cosy camping full of climbers. We arrived at the camping in the late afternoon. The same day we went to town to get the last supplies we needed to go climbing. The next morning we took the Flégère cable car to the Aiguilles Rouges. Here we wanted to climb 'La Chapelle de la Glière'. An alpine style rock climb with a beautiful ‘Razor’ pitch. After my first lead on this route, little experience with nuts and friends, multi-pitch routes and a first experience of terrible rope drag I suffered from a weird feeling where it was very hard for me to go on, better known as fear. So for the upcoming pitches Bart took the lead. We continued on the route with a break after the sixth pitch. After another demotivating confrontation with a chamois who apparently could make it to his point with ease, we continued to the top of the route. After a few minutes of enjoyment on the summit, I just realised we were only halfway and still had a small journey ahead of us. It was already late but we still wanted to make it to the last cable cart to Chamonix. We didn’t make it though. On the way down, which should have been an easy walk we stumbled upon a wall of snow that was blocking the path. But no worries, on the right of the path we found a belay point where we could rappel down to a ledge from where we could go down to the cable cart. At least that was the plan. Once on the ledge, we discovered that is was impossible to go down through a field of snow without crampons. When we discovered it was impossible to go down through the snow, we already pulled down the rope, so returning wasn’t an option either. We started to look around for an alternative route to go down. At first we couldn’t find a way down, but then it happened. I saw a small piece of paper. I picked it up, and saw it was a page from the guidebook of the wall we were on. Was this luck or was there something up above guarding us? Who knows. Anyway, we found a rappel route and got down just before it went all dark. Luckily for us, we brought our tent, so we camped near the lift. The next morning we took the first bin and went down. This first climb was already a great adventure, although the real adventure still had to come.

When we arrived back in Chamonix, we went to the tourist-office to check the weather forecast. We decided to take the cable car of the Aiguille du Midi. We went to buy the food we would need to stay up for 2 days and we left with the last cart. Once up at the station, we prepared to get on the glacier and pitch our tent between two or three other tents. There we ate something and went to bed. We had to get up very early to leave on our climb. We wanted to climb the Aiguille d’Entrèves. A route which is AD- according to Camptocamp but back then I thought it was PD. This was going to be my first alpine climb.  I was very excited. The next morning was painfully early. We left as the sun touched the horizon for the first part of the climb, a seven kilometre walk to the start of the route. It didn’t took long before I realised that I hadn’t eaten enough. When we arrived at the start of the route, I felt pretty empty inside. I ate some candy bars which gave me energy to go on. We started the climb, it was easy terrain to climb and I really enjoyed it. The view was amazing but when we were half way, the weather changed. It became very clouded and it started to snow. The wind started to pick up, A snowstorm was coming. And yes, a few minutes later the weather was terrible, but because we passed the point of no return, we pushed forward. After this climb we still had to walk back. The trail was snowed in and we couldn’t see the crevasses. At that point we realised why a good preparation is mandatory, which we hadn’t at that point. We pushed on and when we descended more, the visibility became better and we could see the trails again. On the way back I was completely out of energy. I tried to go on and pushed as hard as I could. I fell a few times, but Bart helped me to push on. After a serious struggle to get my empty body back to the location where we left our tent, I fell down in the hole where we put our tent last night. There we decided to put up the tent again because of my empty body and upcoming bad weather.

Daan on the Col du Midi

On our way to the Aigulle d' Entrèves, the third mountain from the left.

On the ridge

Beautiful climbing on the ridge, just before the weather turned foul.

Daan climbing the ridge in less than ideal conditions.

When we got in our tent, a snowstorm blew over. We had to stay in the tent for the next sixteen hours. These where some scary hours. The wind was blowing down on our tent which was only anchored with our two piolets and two ski poles. After these hours, we decided to go to the lift. The last push to the finish line. It was still much further than anticipated. Then we arrived at the last ridge to the Midi lift. On this last ridge, I almost fell down because my crampons where stuck in my pants (classic). Luckily I could plant my piolet in the snow, which saved me. When we arrived at the lift station, I was very relieved. Here there were the usual Asian tourists who were taking pictures of every mountaineer they could get an eye on. After some waiting, we finally could go down. The first thing we did, was going to the ‘Midnight’. A place with delicious hamburgers. After that we went for a drink and then to the camping where we relaxed after our adventure. That day we also met an Australian guy who was also named Daan, who was completely amazed by the fact that he met another person with the same name.

The next day we wanted to climb a multi-pitch route somewhere further down the valley, but on our way up, we realised we forgot our water. So we returned to get some water but by the time we got back, we were to tired (read lazy) to go back up, Also the weather was changing and it was already getting to late. So we went bouldering for a while, which we grew tired of pretty fast, although it was fun in the beginning.

The next day was my last day in Chamonix, but we couldn’t do a lot because of bad weather, so it became a last lazy day. The next morning I left Bart in Chamonix and drove home on a boring ten hour drive. It was a great week where  I learned a lot and did awesome things, I hope I can repeat this, next summer but then with better weather.