Struck by lightning on the Aiguille du Chardonnet - 12546ft (3824m) | ||||||||||||
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Introduction | ||||||||||||
-Crevasses | ||||||||||||
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Leaving the rimaye behind JC and I moved slowly down the slope. The angle was easing and to my surprise it wasn't very long before the Dutch appeared from the mist behind us and we all descended together. The slope became increasingly crevassed. As we lost height the slope broadened and in the dense mist that surrounded us it was impossible to tell which was the correct line. I checked the compass. We seemed about right, so hoping for the best we headed down the fall line. Shortly after, a massive crevasse blocked our progress. It had sheer walls 20ft apart and no snow bridges in sight. We had to walk quite a way to get round it. Then not long after, another similarly sized crevasse appeared below us. In the thick mist we could not see far enough to tell which way we should walk. The crevasse didn't contour the slope but ran diagonally across. It was easier to walk downhill so we tried that way. No joy, the chasm ran undiminished into a sheer rock wall. Climbing back up the slope to try the other way pointed up how tired I'd become. It was hard going uphill. I sincerely hoped we had not gone wrong. We might be entering a complicated maze of crevasses that could trap us for ages. Thankfully the problem crevasse narrowed and we could cross but a short walk beyond brought us to yet another monster. The visibility was terrible. We spent more time moving side to side and retracing our steps than descending the slope. I feared that we might reach an impassable section because we could not be certain that we were on the correct line of descent. By trial and error we picked our tired way round several big crevasses. As we lost height the slope became less broken. We were able to move more easily and suddenly emerged into clear air below a well defined cloud base. At last we could see where we were. We were almost onto the Tour glacier and past all the technical difficulties. A great deal of tension left me and I experienced a tremendous feeling of release. A straightforward glacier crossing would return us to our gear by the Albert Premier hut. | ||||||||||||
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