Struck by lightning on the Aiguille du Chardonnet - 12546ft (3824m) | ||||||||||||
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Introduction | ||||||||||||
-La Bosse | ||||||||||||
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Somewhere above on the ridge we would need to climb 'La Bosse'. La Bosse is the steep and exposed icy bulge that guards access to the Forbes arete itself. The guide book description gave the impression that it could be one of the toughest parts of the climb. The vertical ice step had knocked my confidence and I was pretty anxious about how we should fare on La Bosse. During our struggles to leave the cwm dawn had arrived. We headed for the snowy crest above and soon found ourselves on the steepening icy slope of 'La Bosse'. Our crampon points bit reassuringly into good frozen snow. Moving together and climbing carefully we actually made very quick progress. It was an even snow and ice slope with a reliable surface for our crampons. We felt no need to place protection. Just the points of our crampons and axe picks kept us attached. High on La Bosse, I discovered what an exhilerating place it is. All around smooth slopes dropped very steeply away towards the more broken and mixed terrain nearer the base of the mountain. I lifted my eyes from the intimidating drop. We had climbed above all but the highest peaks. The view to our right (west) was dominated by the north face of the Chardonnet. It was an impressive mix of plummeting ice slopes and massive rocky buttresses. Beyond, the rocky Aiguille Rouges rose high behind the still shaded Chamonix valley. The view east was spectacular too. We enjoyed an almost unobstructed view over the glaciated Trient plateau and the Saleina glacier, to a sea of snow capped peaks beyond. For the first time that day we gained a grandstand view of the crest of the Chardonnet, the Forbes arete. Like the gnarled back of a giant stegosaurus it rose higher still towards the summit. | ||||||||||||
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