Sissejuhatus
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It all started when Olavi wrote in Facebook in
April that he is going to Mont Blanc again, and
asked other people to join in. Since the only
place better than mountains is mountains where
you haven't yet been, I asked right away whether
I can join, and Olavi was kind enough to let me
in. The route was going to be 3 Monts Traverse: So the route involves descending 3 times just to ascend to another, higher mountain again. |
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I spent the intervening three months beating myself to shape, but in the early morning of July 19th I was in the airport to meet Olavi and Katrin. Flight Tallinn-Helsinki-Geneva, and by car to St.Martin to meet Kalle and Ivo who had taken the land route. |
Aklimatiseerimine
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Aklimatiseerimiseks sõitsime Itaalia poolele, kus ronisime
Monte Rosa piirkonnas Mantova hüti lähedal paari erineva asja otsa (kuni 4215m).
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For acclimatization, we drove to Italian side to climb some stuff near Mantova hut (up to 4215m) |
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We took 2 days of rest before the actual climb, but then the weather forecast started to look bad unless we took off soon. |
Esimene päev
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Hommikul vara üles ning köisraudteega Chamonix’st 3800m kõrgusele Aguille du Midi jaama. |
Woke up early in the morning and took cable car from Chamonix to Aguille do Midi station at 3800m |
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Varustus selga ja jalga ja… siis läksid jalad
nõrgaks. Aguille du Midi’st edasi pääsemiseks tuleb paarsada meetrit mööda
mõnekümne cm laiust lumist harja alla ronida, millele ma andsin maakeelseks
nimetuseks Persseauguäär, kuna kummalegi poole kukkumine tähendanuks koheselt,
et asi on sealsamuseski. Asjaolu, et sellistes tingimustes tuli vahel ka teisi
inimesi vastu, oli küllaltki närviline. Üks ettevaatlik sammuke teise järel ja
pidev valvelolek aitasid siiski lõpuks harja läbida. |
Put on the gear and... now the legs turned into jelly. In order to proceed from Aguille du Midi, one has to walk a couple hundred meters along a narrow snowy ridge. The fact that other people kept coming in the other direction made the situation quite nervous. One careful step after another, and staying vigilant finally helped to clear the ridge though. |
| Järgnes üpris rahulik jalutuskäik läbi Col du Midi ning
Kosmikute hütist mööda. Keskpäevaks jõudsime Mont Blanc du Taculi põhjaküljele,
mis läks järjest järsumaks ning nõudis juba tugevat füüsilist pingutust. Et
paremat hoogu sisse saada, võtsin ühe kofeiinitableti ning ekstra energiageeli,
mille tagajärjel tekkis küllaltki eufooriline tunne - laul lahti ja jõudu nii
palju, et kasvõi jookseks üles. Mingil hetkel tuli siiski käpp tõsiselt maha panna ja iga samm võttis hingeldama. Umbes selle nõlva keskel leidis Ivo, et jaks kipub lõppema ning Ivo ja Kalle pöördusid tagasi. Ülejäänud pusisid ikka edasi, aga selle koha nimeks panin Vanakuradi Vanaema Vasak Rinnanibu. Hilisel pärastlõunal oli Mont Blanc du Taculi hari ületatud ning jäime Maudit kurus laagrisse. |
A pretty calm walk through
Col du Midi and past Refuge des Cosmiques
followed. By midday, we reached the north slope
of Mont Blanc du Tacul that became steeper and
steeper, requiring a pretty strong physical
effort in the end. To pick up more speed, I took
a caffeine pill and an extra energy gel that
together made me feel quite euphoric; started to
sing and felt powerful enough to run up if
necessary. At some point it was necessary to put the hands seriously down though, and every step made us pant hard. Somewhere in the middle of the slope, Ivo thought that it's too hard for him, so Ivo and Kalle turned back. The rest of us kept struggling on. By late afternoon we were past the Mont Blanc du Tacul ridge and set up camp in Maudit pass. |
Soki Hotell
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Kuna minu saapad olid pärastlõunases lumesupis kõigist
ettevaatusabinõudest hoolimata niiskust sisse lasknud, panin esimese asjana
sokid kuivama, sellest ka laagri nimetus. "Hotell" asus paarisaja meetri kaugusel
kohast, kus 2 nädalat varem oli serac’i kukkumise tõttu tekkinud laviinis
hukkunud 9 inimest, värskelt varisenud serac’id kõik ilusasti näha. |
Since some of
afternoon's meltwater had gotten in my boots in
spite of all precautions, I put my socks up to
dry as the first thing, and that gave the name
to the camp. The "hotel" was located a few
hundred meters from the spot where 9 people died
after a
serac
fall and avalanche, freshly fallen seracs were
all visible. Although the weather was superb, completely clear and no wind, we built a high snowwall around the tent. A little time for eating and repacking the gear, and then sleep. |
Teine päev
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Teise päeva äratus oli kell kaks hommikul, aga pimedas ja külmas võtsid riietumine, pakkimine, toiduvalmistamine ja söömine arvestatavalt palju aega, nii et rajale saime alles pool neli. Selleks ajaks oli piirkonnas juba päris palju rahvast, kes kõik Mont Maudit läänepoolse nõlva poole trügisid. Just trügisid, sest üles pääsemiseks oli vaid üks kitsuke kuluaar, ja kui sinna jõudsime, oli kaos täies hoos. Vaja oli ronida üles jäätunud seinast, mis jääseinte standardite järgi oli ilmselt täiesti triviaalne, aga olukorda komplitseerisid:
Et vaiksemat momenti passida, pugesime bergschrundi sisse varju, mis oleks enamasti küllaltki jabur olnud, aga praeguses olukorras kõige ohutum koht. Üles ronimisel valitses täielik anarhia, ronijad püüdsid üksteisest mööda trügida ning tallasid pidevalt teiste inimeste ja nende köite otsas. Kuna tegu oli minu senise matkakogemuse kõige jubedama kohaga, sai sellele nimeks Savisaare Lõualott. |
On second day, we woke up at 2 in the
morning, but clothing, packing, cooking and
eating took long enough in cold and dark, so it
was half past three when we finally hit the
trail. By that time the area was full of people
elbowing their way towards the west slope of
Mond Maudit. Yes, elbowing, because there was
just a narrow couloir to get up, and by the time
we got there, a real chaos had started. One had
to climb up a frozen wall that was probably
completely trivial as far as icewalls are
concerned, but the situation was complicated by:
In order to wait for a quiet moment, we hid ourselves inside the bergschrund. This would have been quite silly in other circumstances, but the safest place in current circumstances. Climbing up was a real pandemonium, everybody trying to get past each other while stepping on other people and their ropes. This was probably the scariest moment of my hiking experience up to this point. |
Vt Savisaare Lõualoti pilte siit / see pictures here
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Suure rabelemise ja hammaste kiristamise järel saime siiski
üles. Ilm hakkas valgenema, kuid valitses praktiliselt täielik udu,
mõnesekundiliste selgimistega vahetevahel. Järgmised tunnid möödusidki nagu läbi
piimasupi ülespoole rühkides, rada oli õnneks küllaltki hästi näha. Siin kippus
Katrin vahepeal ära kustuma, aga tedagi sai energiageeliga turgutada, nii et
jaksu jätkus piisavalt. Lõin lahti reipate rännulaulude (tegelikult küll rännujorinate) popurrii, mis aitas viimastest nõlvadest üles rügada ning kella 10:30 paiku olime tipus. Ümberringi oli 99% ajast endiselt piimasupp, nii et mingeid väga mõistlikke pilte ei õnnestunud teha. |
After a lot of
struggle and gnashing of teeth we got up. The
day started to lighten, but weather was really
foggy, with a few seconds of clarity every now
and then. The next few hours we moved upwards as
if submerged in milk, but fortunaely the trail
was visible enough. Katrin got pretty tired
somewhere at this point, but I gave her an
energy gel as well, which gave her enough
strength to continue. I started a selection of jolly hiking songs that helped us up the last slopes, and by 10:30 am we were on the summit. It was still very foggy for 99% of the time, so it wasn't possible to take any reasonable pictures. |
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We congratulated each other, and moved back towards the camp. There was a nice anchor for rappelling on top of the Maudit ridge, so descent went a lot easier. |
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Laagrisse jõudsime just sel hetkel, kui tõusis tuul ja hakkas sadama
rahet – ilmateate järgi lubatud halb ilm oli jõudnud kohale oodatust varem.
Võimalikult kiirelt asjad kokku ja magama. |
We hit camp just when wind started to blow quite hard and it started to hail - the bad weather mentioned in the forecast had arrived earlier than expected. Pack up gear as quickly as possible and go to sleep. |
Kolmas päev
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Kogu öö puhus tuul, mis plagistas lumemüürist hoolimata telki
päris korralikult ning hommikuks oli näha, et ka lund ning rahet oli korralikult
kogunenud. |
It was quite windy all night that kept shaking the tent in spite of the snowwall we had created, and by morning we could see that lots of snow and hail had built up. |
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Järgnes viimane lumeoludes pakkimine ning julgestusvöö ja
kasside selga-jalga tõmbamine. Selleks ajaks, kui Taculi harjale jõudsime, olid
tuul ja sadu täies hoos, rada kinni tuisanud ja näha polnud suurt midagi. Kõige
hullemad olid tuulekeerised, kus tuuleiil tuli ühelt poolt, nii et pidid sellele
kogu keharaskusega vastu seisma, ning siis äkitselt sama tugev iil vastupidisest
suunast, mis sind jalust rabada üritas. Passisime üksikuid selgimisi, et aimu
saada, millises suunas suuremad liustikulõhed on, ning turnisime vaikselt mööda
Vanakuradi Vanaema allapoole, järsemates kohtades üsna ohtralt kirkat kasutades.
Umbes keskpäevaks olime tagasi Kosmikute hüti juures ja veel tund hiljem
Persseauguääre peal. Tagasiminek oli ühelt poolt lihtsam, sest rada läks mäest
üles, kuid teiselt poolt oli lumi pärastlõunaselt ülipehme ja kui sellise terava
serva peal vahepeal jalg ootamatult sisse vajus, oli tunne päris hirmus. Jalga hoolega jala järele tõstes jõudsime lõpuks siiski
Aguille du Midi jaama päästva piirdeaiani. Köisraudtee oli halva ilma tõttu
seisma pandud, kuid käivitati meie pärast siiski, nii et pool kolm olime juba
tagasi Chamonix’s, tsivilisatsioonis. |
Last time to
pack up camp in snow, and put on harness and
crampons. By the time we reached Tacul ridge,
wind and hail were in full force, the trail had
disappeared, and it was hard to see anything at
all. The worst were wind vortexes; a gust coming
from one side, so one had to push against it
full body weight, and then an equally strong
gust from the opposite direction that tried to
trip you. We waited for the rare moments of
clarity to get an idea where the larger
crevasses were, and climbed down slowly, having
to use the ice axe a lot in steeper places. By
midday we were back by the Refuge des Cosmiques,
and another hour later on Aguille du Midi ridge.
One one hand, going back was easier as we went
uphill, but on the other hand, snow was really
soft in the afternoon, so when my foot sank in
the snow unexpectedly, it felt quite scary. Lifting one foot carefully in front of another we finally reached the safety of the fence by Aguille du Midi station. Cable car had been stopped because of bad weather, but was restarted for us, so by half past two we were back in Chamonix, back in civilization. |
Vt
kolmanda päeva pilte siit
Kokkuvõtteks
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Enne minekut oli mitmesuguste tuttavate reaktsioon oli
peamiselt kahes lehes: osad ütlesid, et ah, MB on nii lihtne ja ainult üks lauge
jalutuskäik, teised katsusid mind jällegi tagasi hoida, et ma ei läheks, kuna
see on nii ohtlik. Asjaolu, et nädal enne väljalendu sai 9 inimest täpselt samal
rajal surma, suurendas mõistagi teise leeri häälekust. Tagantjärele võin öelda, et esimestel kindlasti ei olnud õigus,
kohti, kus tuli kirka, küünte ja hammastega kusagilt kinni hoida, oli päris
palju, nagu ka asju, mida ma polnud enne teinud. Ning laugest oli olukord kohati
ka päris kaugel. Samas ei saa ka teise leeri jutu järgi talitada, sest siis
jääks elus üldse kõik tegemata. Muidugi oli seal teoreetiline võimalus surma
saada, aga tõenäosus selleks oli siiski üsna väike, iganädalane Tartu ja
Tallinna vahet sõitmine on kumulatiivselt ilmselt ohtlikum. Saavutatud eneseületused:
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Before the trip, the reaction of my friends
was split in two, there were ones that said that
MB is just an easy and smooth walk, while others
tried to talk me out of it as it's so dangerous.
The fact that 9 people died on the same trail a
week before our departure made the other camp
louder, of course. After the fact I can say that the first opinion definitely wasn't correct; there were plenty of spots that required holding on with tooth, nail, and ice axe, just like there were things that I hadn't done before. And the situation was also far from smooth. At the same time, it doesn't make sense to follow the other camp's opinion either, as this way one can never do anything in life. Of course, there was a theoretical possibility of dying, but daily traffic is probably more dangerous, cumulatively. Personal achievements:
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Lõpparve / Final Tally
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Kaotatud:
Leitud:
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Lost:
Found:
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