04-May-2003 -- There are five confluence points in our home country of Switzerland....
but this was the last and therefore the best! We prepared hard: It took
Oliver three years to optimize his sock performance. He tested
watertight versions but found they got wet from the inside. In the end a
specially fabricated long-sock version did the job and lasted all over
the trip. Reto's planning went more towards the right handling of the
GPS system which in the fourth season he became a master of. Eva had to
practice for the peak photograph (see photograph #3) it is difficult to
move your foot above your head and make it look as if you don't feel
the pain. Saskia had to learn to navigate those ice cracks. We made her
watch ice age over and over again (The part with the squirrel!). Andreas
had to learn not to fall off his bed at night when there is no rail.
Thus, extensively prepared, we started our trip in France on May
2, 2003 where it was raining like hell. But then we knew: "The goal is
not the path since the path is where we go!" From the beautiful
skyscraper resort of Argentière we took the cable car to Grand
Montets even though it had snowed a lot over night. While the force was
not yet with us at this early hour, we had plenty of fear of
avalanches. On the way up we discussed that it might be good for the
two women in our group to turn back due to the difficult conditions.
But they just wouldn't listen. Later on, a mountaineer of another group
commented our female leaders: "...ce sont toujours les filles qui font
la trace...".
When we came out at the top, the snow was cold and the sun was hot, we
were still sleepy but we gave it a shot! We mastered the steep climb
down a long flight of icy metal stairs and finally put on our skis
together with about one hundred other brave touring cracks. On the first
downhill run (passing the Glacier of Rognons) we were for the first
time grateful to the extensive crack-knowledge of Saskia who led us
safely down. The problem was that Andreas, with his insubordination,
went after one of the mountain guides who did not prepare as
carefully... But nothing bad happened. After crossing the Glacier of
Argentière we put on our skins (the ones on the skis) and started
the steep climb up Glacier Chardonnet (not to be confused with the
infamous wine grape, Photograph #2). When we arrived at the top (Col de
Chardonnet 3321 m.ü.M) there was a bottomless drop ahead of us.
The same guide which had not prepared for the downhill challenge turned
out to have expert knowledge of rope technique and allowed us to use
his crappy old rope (after Oliver stepped on it extensively) to make a
sliding descent down the drop. The time had come to eat some lunch (The
looks of our reindeer meat & gruyère sandwiches were not as
fresh as they had been in the morning but hunger is the best cook) We
watched our watch and saw the window of Saleina close: it was time to
move on. We made it and arrived on the plateau of Trient from
where we could already see the hut for the night (Cabane de Trient,
photograph #4). After our excursion to pointe d'Orny and great dinner
(including desert) we quickly went to bed. However, we could not close
an eye since the whole hut was snorkeling through the night.
The next day at 5am we were served a healthy Birchermüseli
breakfast. Unfortunately the early hour was accompanied by the loud
monologue of a German mountaineer on Aftereight cookies: "dieser
Geschmack von zarter Schokolaaaade zusammen mit Minze, das ist ja so
geil erfrischend...". Nevertheless, the morning hour had gold in the
mouth since the motto of Oliver, who led our group, was: “who digs the
other a ditch must fall self inside”. Saskia, as usual, did not think
that the straight route was the best one and decided for the steepest
one instead. We had to stop for Retoto rid himself of some blood
through the nose and for all the others tohonour the "col du pissoir"
which was quickly approaching. Despite the mastery of his GPS Reto
missed the confluence point and headed straight for the next peak. When
we realized what he had done we decided to still take some photographs
and climb along to the next peak just so Andreas could at least test
his rental crampons. From the map we expected the confluence point to
be directly at the border between Switzerland and France but our GPS
(Garmin Summit) told us that it is 100m north of the border. We decided
to believe Garmin (and the US Satellites) and finally arrived at the
point (Photograph #5). The point was the picture (Photograph #1 and #6). After that we had 1500m of great powder ahead of us. Only the last
bit was more like surfing than skiing and we had to walk for a couple
parsecs in the end. On the way we stopped at a glacial river where we
dropped everything and took a swim even though conditions were somewhat
chilly. The hikers that passed our material depot did not seem to
bother the smell of our socks too much but the arrangement which Oliver
had chosen for his super-socks did seem to irritate some of them
(Photograph #7). We rounded off the day with an ice cream and a beer
while waiting for the “Postauto” to take us to the next train station.
We have prepared an extended
photo album of the trip and a quicktime VR version of the confluence
panorama.
Tschou zäme!
Andreas, Eva, Oliver, Reto, Saskia