It's been another busy week with mostly excellent weather - just a few clouds on Thursday giving a slightly Cairngorm feel to the Blanc de Moming traverse.
We started on Sunday at Bréona with a traverse over the Couronne and Clocher. With the perfect weather this was unusually busy - with 1 other team going the opposite direction! Over to the Dix hut on Monday for a Mont Blanc de Cheilon traverse on Tuesday. Again this was busy (it's peak season after all) and we met another team on the summit.
Tired legs were coaxed into the long walk-in to the Grand Mountet hut on Wednesday, fingers crossed for the weather. An early start under a starry sky quickly turned to cloud then rain on the Blanc de Moming, ruining the amazing view from the summit.
A clear night and a good freeze left great conditions on Friday for the Zinal Rothorn north ridge. The sometimes terrifying Arete du Blanc is in easy snowy condition and the rest of the rock ridge is dry - perfect. The best guide for this is Martin Moran's excellent 4000m Peaks of the Alps. It's so accurate that the climbers on the back cover are still there!
