“Forbes Arete” The Endless Summit

“The Forbes Arête is an established classic, one of the finest expeditions of its class anywhere in the Alps”

"Forbes Arete"

We jumped onto the “tour vallorcine” cable car at just past 1000hrs Sunday morning. Heading for the Albert Premier Hut. The hike was about 90mins and the views over towards Mont Blanc were stunning. Arriving at the hut we chilled out, hydrated and waited for the mid day sun to disappear so we could make our way across the “la tour glacier” to the foot of the “Forbes Arete” where we would bivvy for the night and make an early push for the summit.

After a few cups of coffee, cake and plenty of water we started to move across the glacier, Scott took the lead and we moved fast avoiding crevasses and any doggy ground. It’s a little nerve racking knowing the floor could cave in at any point, hence the reason we are attached  by rope and travelling 15ft apart. On arrival at the foot of the Forbes we dug a trench and set up our bivvy.  Tommy got the gas out and boiled up for dinner, we had hot chocolate, fig roles and chilled out playing a little Jack Johnson however this wasted the battery on my iphone  big time.

 “Jack Johnson and the most amazing sunset, a magical moment in the mountains”

My first nights sleep in the mountain and to be honest I don’t recall dropping off once. I tossed and turned all night trying to stay warm and staring into the star covered sky, I even saw a few shooting stars. Knowing we had a big day ahead I really wanted to get sleep.. The alarm went off at 0400hrs with the plan to leave the the bivvy spot at 0500. Hot chocolate and more fig rolls and I was ready. Just before departure I had my first alpine No2, that was a experience on its own!! Say no more....

We started our accent of the steep slope and followed a snowy ridge to where we began our traverse to the summit.  The terrain was varied and required a few ice traverses which made this quite challenging. As we pushed on we slowly caught up with the group ahead. We had around a 20minute wait before we could get going again, the cold was setting in and we lost momentum.  When we eventually started moving again we pushed hard for the summit and ridge after ridge we climbed thinking it was there and it was not. This route was starting to be bigger than expected. I had to be back to Chamonix by 1830 for my transfer to the airport so the clock was ticking. The summit was taking alot longer than expected and water was running low. Getting dehydrated on the mountain is a really bad idea so eating snow on the move was our only option until we had the opportunity to melt it down.

The summit was finally in front of us, it was 1630hrs and the weather was starting to come in.  I knew from here I was going to miss my flight as it was a long way down, but did not anticipate what the descent was going to throw at us. We spent around 5 minutes on the summit had a packet of Pick and Mix and some more snow and pushed on.

The weather changed fast, it started to cloud over then it started to snow, it was a white out. On one  traverse across a ridge I made a school boy error and dropped one of my gloves. A lesson I will hopefully learn from and never do again. I had to Ice climb with one exposed hand until it was safe to get a spare out of my back pack and the cold and ice really took it out on my hand. I’m just glad I had a spare and that the temperature did not drop too low. The descent t in a white out was a nightmare, around 10 abseils, some ice climbing then some down climbing got us onto the Col. Here we rested and made phone calls. My phone was however dead as I had played Jack Johnson watching the sun set, Scott's was running low and had no reception and Tommy's had one bar. We needed to let people know that we would be spending another day in the mountains. Whether it was on the glacier, the hut or if we made good time we might have managed to descend all the way back to the Apartment but this was wishful thinking. I called my mum told her I did not need picking up from the airport as I was still in the mountains and asked if she could let work know I would not be in for my 10 clients tomorrow!! We tried to melt some snow down while on safe ground to hydrate but the stoves would not fire, the dehydration was hitting us and the only option was to eat more snow.

We had a debate whether to spend the night on the Col or push on to the glacier, it was still snowing and the visibility was very low. We decided, as the foot marks from previous climbers were still visible that we could follow the tracks down. We could hear the helicopters in the valley so assumed as we descended the visibility would improve. We moved fast and descended onto the glacier, Another decision, do we cross the glacier to the hut or stay on at the foot of the Forbes.

We decided to move to the hut and hopefully get water and some food. We were all dehydrated and this was becoming a worry. We needed water. We pushed fast across the Glacier and made the hut at 2330. Moving up to the hut we found a stream and made immediate use of the cold water. Filled our water bottles up and glugged!!! Water never tasted so good.  We decided to bivvy outside at the hut as it was so full, so got our kit out and got some well earned Zeds in.  This 2nd night in the mountain I did sleep, not surprisingly after the day we just had.

We awoke awoke about 0600, took on water packed up and headed back to the cable cart. At the bottom of the cart we found a nice little restaurant had a few coffees and a well earned breakfast and discussed the journey we had just undertaken. 2 days in the mountains with limited water really took it out of us.

Big Happy Birthday to Tommy, what a way to spend it!!

Overall though a really challenging route that got a big tick and a day in the mountains I won’t ever forget . I thank Scott and Tommy for their company. I feel I have again learnt alot from being with two such passionate and knowledgeable mountaineers.

I’m back at the apartment and have just re booked my flight, the cheapest is BA’s 2130 to Heathrow coming in at £400.... an expensive trip taking into consideration, losing my first flight, my glove and a days work..... ... but the experience was priceless.

Tommy making friends on the bus to the “tour vallorcine” cable car

Me on Trek to "Albert Premier Hut"

Tommy Pulling off B3's and shorts and being anti social with ipod

Scott and I crossing “la tour glacier”

The 3 of us at Bivvy

Resting before a early start in the morning

Scott and Tommy preparing dinner

Me tucking into first Alpine Dinner

Feed and ready to get into sleeping bag and sleep..... wishful thinking

Tommy with a late sunset glow

Watching the sun set, Jack Johnson in the background

Early start and Scott making his way up the mountain

Tommy Traversing Snow Ridge

Tommy pushing for the summit

The group that held us up...

Me taking a break before the assent

Making Good Ground

Tommy leading another traverse

Nearing the Summit

Me on the Summit - 3824m

Tommy at Summit and weather changing

Scott on Summit

Scott traversing ridge, weather coming in

Tommy setting up 1/10 abseils

White out!