Chamonix family climbing trip

This weekend we went camping to Chamonix with the kids to make use of the beautiful "Indian summer" like weather and squeeze in some outdoor climbing.  We went to our fave spot "les Gaillands" where one can find plenty of easy and difficult routes, including a few shorter multipitch climbs.  The area is very easily accessible and has a nice grassy patch to rest/picnic on inbetween climbing.  There's even a small little hut with snacks/refreshments nearby for those who are thirsty or hungry.  Tommy is really getting into climbing now as he spent a few weeks climbing the sandstone pillars of Adršpach in Czech Republic this summer and he was quite enthusiastic to try some 5b and 5c climbing.

It was unbelievably hot and "some" people went shirtless.

This is the view from Les Gaillands.

Anna getting in the groove.

The view from the parking lot. 

Where is Tommy?

More views of the Mont Blanc Massif.

After a very nice chill out day climbing, we headed to a campsite where we set up our tent and enjoyed the sun set while eating (what else?) than Czech goulash with dumplings :)))

Sun set, glaciers, mountains.

Moon rise.

Kitsch photo from the campsite.

A new drink we discovered. The CUBANISTO, or Rum flavoured beer.  Sounds scary enough??

The next day we had a big project to do.  We decided to do the "via corda alpina sur les sents des chamois".  Which is essentially an easy multipitch climb suitable for kids.  It takes roughly 3-4 hours to get up 600m and then roughly 1 hour for the descent.  There were a few easy segments that did not require using a rope but the rest, we treated as regular climbing.  The difficulty was 3c max, and the routes were very well bolted.  The rock was mostly slab (gneiss or granite).

The start of the via corda alpina.

Looming in the background once again, the all mighty Mont Blanc.

Anna giving it a go.

Tommy on his way up.

At the top of the world.

The first real multi-pitch climb accomplished.

Anna was exhausted but happy and when she heard the refuge was open, she had enough energy to finish the last few hundred meters.

At the top, we happily ordered some refreshing drinks and enjoyed the views of the needle mountains, waterfalls and glaciers.

Just around the bend of this valley is the very famous Mer de Glace glacier, where I did my alpinism initiation course 2 yrs ago.

Maybe there is a reason why the route is called "on the paths of the mountain goats" because we were suddenly attacked by a very feisty group of four goats (however, domesticated) who seemed to have gotten lost from their farm and were very hungry and eager to eat anything and everything that was around.  First they ran to my beer.  While I was trying to move it away from their mouth, they almost knocked down the remainder in the can.... they even started climbing on the picnic table and then decided if beer was not available, they would chew off all the flowers in the pots.  Eventually it got out of hand and the lady running the refuge, had to drag the goats away as they even went inside the hut.  Our kids were trying to assist and grabbed sticks and herded the goats.  Finally the local lady had to herd the goats to her truck and drive them back to the farm.  What an entertaining ending to the beautiful day. :D

Enough of that crappy grass from the farm, gimme some beer.

Mmmmm, look at those juicy flowers.

Anna was thrilled.

My two little goat herders.

After hiking back down, it was getting late, so we drove back home with an ice cream stop on the way as this was promised to our two awesome climbers.

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Aiguille DiBona 3131m, arête Nord (voie normale)

Aguille DiBona.  A magnificent needle that we managed to conquer.

After aligning our schedules with Jakub for this summer, we figured out that we have two weekends together -- which means that no time wasting is allowed.  Our first weekend was definitely well spent in one of the most superb granite climbing areas near Grenoble.  The area itself is known as "La Berarde" providing an abundance of climbing opportunities including trad climbing, multi pitch crag, or sport climbing, of more than 100 routes, from 3c to 8a, spread over many crags.  Of course mountaineering is also an option for the more ardent adventure seekers.

Initially we were set out to meet some friends in the campsite and climb some multi pitch crags in the area, however, Jakub opened our "easy climbing guide" and found a very cool project for us called "Aiguille Dibona".  All of the planning was done on the go and last minute, pretty much when we arrived to the Veneon valley.  Even the dinners were planned to be done on the fire or involved a lot of prep, so all of this had to be modified and improvised for the new chosen destination.

We ended up sleeping at Etages the first night, where we made our final decision to hike up to Aguille DiBona.  We found a very nice spot to pitch the tent  and while Jakub dozed off to sleep I decided to snap some photos.

Sunset

These butterflies were dead asleep.  Nothing could make them move.

Veneon river.

 

Once the night fell I also crawled into the tent as we were planning to have a very early start in the morning.  At around 6:30 or so we woke up to the very cold morning and made ourselves a huge egg omelet (this was originally supposed to be the dinner but who wants to bring 12 raw eggs to 1200 meters?).  We then stuffed our tent, sleeping bags, food for 2 days, stove and climbing gear into a 60 liter and 30 liter backpack (I still don't know how we managed that).  And yes, both bags were super heavy.  And then we set off to do the 1200m hike to the refuge before the sun would catch up with us.  After some time, the pack didn't feel as heavy anymore and we enjoyed the fact that we were hiking in the shade, with fresh mountain breeze and a stream below us. 

Mountain orchid.

Finally, after more intense hiking we were rewarded with a view of the needle.  When Jakub pointed it out to me, I thought he was kidding that we were going to end up reaching its summit.  From the distance it just seemed too steep and tall.  Eventually, the sun caught up with us, but at that point we were more than half way through.  After roughly 3+ hours of hiking, we reached the refuge du Soreiller (at 2730m).

Aguille DiBona

Sun rise over the mountains.

A very determined person :)

Looking behind us into the valley below.

Once at the refuge, it was clear that this was a climbing mecca and a very popular destination for climbers/mountaineers.  There were climbers hanging around at the refuge sorting out their gear, there were climbers hiking to the face of DiBona, and finally, the face of DiBona itself was peppered with climbers.  It appeared there were line-ups on the routes.  It was quite a surprise to us, as we had no clue this was so sought out.   We took a small break for lunch before completing our quest and finishing the remaining 400 metres of elevation to reach the summit.  The access to the granite blade that was awaiting for us was a bit more challenging than regular hiking, however, we left some of our gear at the refuge, so the load was at least lighter.  We first passed over some loose boulders following a sheep path, and then had the choice between hiking through relatively steep slushy snow or scrambling over small cliffs.  I preferred option two, as the snow was very slippery and I had a feeling that a minor mistake in footing could result in some very fine body surfing in the snow.  When we actually reached the base of our climb, the air felt thinner and the exposure was evident.  At that point, some basic fight and flight response came about and I was hoping I could weasel out of the climbing.  I think the fear came from my loss of confidence as a result of my shoulder injury and the fact that I have not done any climbing for the past two years (inside or outside) and this was a big jump all of a sudden.  Jakub had to give me a pep talk and a stern look to convince me that it was all worth it.  While doing that, we realized that we would have to fight over the summit with the large number of climbers who were going up the face because the route we chose to go up, was also the route taken down by everyone coming up from behind.

The needle from behind (the right cliff is the summit)

Two pitches of climbing to reach the summit DiBona

The summit as seen from a slightly different view.

And so we took off.  The rock felt great to the touch.  After doing majority of climbing on limestone, the granite was very grippy and assuring.  The first pitch was totally fine - an easy traverse.  However, with the second pitch I got more shaky, as it involved using the edge of the needle for the right hand and below the edge was a gaping hole of course :).  I somehow managed to get up to the top where Jakub was already waiting for me.  The summit fit probably four people max, so we had a few minutes for ourselves before another party came up to boot us out.  I didn't mind because I wasn't feeling like hanging out there for ages anyway, but I do admit that I am glad I went up there to experience this and to see the spectacular view from the top and have the feeling that we achieved our goal.

The summit selfie.

Looking down from the summit of DiBona.

Another view of what we climbed up showing that it's very simple climbing.

Looking down into the valley.

One last look back at the summit.

After safely rappelling down, we chose the snow route to return because it's much faster to slide down on snow, than to hike or down climb.  

The snow patch was a fast route down.

Too bad we didn't have a sled or skis :)

Jakub's technique involved using several different body parts (sometimes unintentional).

Back at the refuge we found out there is room for us, so at the end we stayed there for the night which also included a dinner.  The dinner itself was interesting because we sat at the table with two very hardcore Austrian climbers who have seemed to have done lots of crazy climbing in the past and some first ascents in Greenland.  They said they waited 5 weeks for good weather to come to DiBona to do the most popular route (visite obligatoire), and drove 10 hrs from Austria to do this one day climb and then were driving back home the next day.   We realized how lucky we were to come here in this particular time frame if other people had to wait so long.

The next day, we set out to do yet more climbing (even though I was totally dead after the 1600m from before).  This time around, we went to do the Breche des Clochetons which was five pitches of IV + climbing of 150m.  The approach here from the refuge was shorter but at the end turned out a bit harder because there was once again a very steep snowy section which involved scrambling onto a smooth slab and I found this a bit sketchy.  Jakub had to throw me a rope at the end to make sure I did not fall and slide down the snow.  We also thought we'd be here alone as all people go on the main needle, but to our dismay we had several groups ahead of us and a line up was starting to form.  We waited almost an hour to sart climbing and with the forecast of rain for the afternoon, I was worried we'd get caught by a thunderstorm in the middle of our climb.

Once we finally started climbing I had some doubts again.  The start was a traverse and I did not feel so comfortable with it.  I cheated a little bit once to get over a ledge but after this pitch I got in the groove and really enjoyed the rock and the moves.   As we reached the top, light rain came upon us...

The approach (the steeper snow section is not visible here).

Spanish dudes before us at the start of the climb.

Oh granite, how I missed thee.

Pitch four.

Goodbye to the needle...

We then re-packed our belongings and carried most of our food, tent and stove back down - a great muscle building exercise! :)  After the loooong descent (it felt much longer than the ascent).., we reached the car and lucky for us, it was full of beer.  The beer actually had a refreshing temperature, so we took our time to relax at the parking lot while I was being attacked by a butterfly.  Either he was really addicted to my post hiking odor, or he was out of his little insect mind.   After the beer session, we drove to visit our friends whom we were initially going to climb with to at least say hello, and finally, Jakub still had the energy to paddle down a III class section of the Veneon river on his kayak.  We then headed for home, as the forecast called for thunderstorms and persistent rain which is not compatible with climbing anyway.

I hope to have more weekends like this.  It's moments like these that are engraved in your mind forever. :)

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Anna's broken arm. First (child) emergency visit to hospital in France.

You may have wondered why I haven't made any entries for ages, well, life seems to be speeding up these days and the most recent excitement in our family was Anna's broken arm.

Each year Jakub's workplace hosts a very fun event for the family and we have not missed it once yet.  The event includes a very nice selection of (French) food, a chance to win prizes and activities for kids such as:  inflatable bouncy castles, acro bungee, foam pool, merry go round, etc. etc. Upon arrival, parents always just let their kids go and enjoy themselves.  We check up on them once in a while but generally there is no requirement for 100% supervision as the kids independently play and we've never had a problem with it.  UNTIL THIS YEAR.

The weekend itself was rather hectic as Anna had three dance performances (one each night).  The first night we went to see her perform but then we still had to drive her for the remaining two events.  On Sunday it was also the ESRF fun day, and on top of that, it was Tommy's final Capoeira exam (batizado). The day seemed to be unfolding quite well and in the afternoon, Tommy and Jakub left for Capoeira.  There was roughly one hour left before I had to take Anna to her final dance performance and just when I got up to check up on her in the bouncy castle, I saw a glimpse of her heading for the exit with a frown on her face.  As she walked out to my full view, something was obviously wrong; I saw her arm bent in the wrong direction and hanging limp as if it was made of rubber.  And that was when I realized her arm was broken.

It turns out that the larger bouncy castle that had a slide in it, also had a staircase structure inside, however, this was not made of soft inflatable material and it was just solid/rigid.  So it's probably not a surprise that once in a while someone will bounce off in a wrong way and fall on this....and now I don't like bouncy castles any longer.  I also found this article online:

Sharp Rise In Kids Injuries in Bouncy Castles

When I saw Anna though, I didn't have time to ponder about bouncy castles.  I took my little girl in my arms and asked people for a blanket to lay her down.  Then we called the fire fighters (apparently people here do that rather than calling ambulances which are private).... but there was confusion and a few minutes later we realized nobody actually called.  When they finally arrived, they filled out some information and then we headed off to the very famous Grenoble hospital where Schumacher spent some of his days...but the children's section.  The ride was unbelievably bumpy (like zero shock absorbers!?) and I wondered if they also use this to transport people with spine injuries, yikes!  We had the siren going a few times and my baby girl was so courageous.  She did not really cry once and said she did not experience any pain. 

After the x-ray we were informed that both ulna and radius were broken and Anna would be put under complete anesthesia in order to re-straighten the bones and get the cast on.  But we had to wait 6 hours in order for her to have an empty stomach for the OR.  Meanwhile, I drove home to pack up some things for the overnight stay in hospital.  Jakub and Tommy made their way over as well.  When Jakub finally had to leave for home, Anna got teary eyed and emotional (I admit I was also not doing so well).  I guess she wanted both mom and dad close by, but Tommy had to go to school the next day.  We were given a room and I had to wash Anna from head to toe with a disinfectant and then we waited yet again.  Anna spent the time sleeping, and listening to me read.  I also tried to really cheer her up even though we were told she'd have to have the cast for the whole summer vacation.  After reading about 50 episodes of a children's Czech comic book (čtyřlístek), we headed upstairs for the "repair" at midnight.

Everything went smoothly and all the staff and doctors were super nice.  After a bit of monitoring and warming up Anna with a fan, we were finally taken back to our room again.  But Anna was now alert and watched cartoons till 2 A.M.  I was so dead....  The next day we had another check-up X-ray if everything was in place.  And ideed it was OK.

Bones back in place and cast on.

We finally made it home in the afternoon, but that was not quite the end yet.  Anna's arm became very swollen and the cast was too small and too tight so she was experiencing excruciating pain for two nights and painkillers did not help.  We were basically both up for these two nights and I was slowly becoming a zombie.  I then decided this was probably not normal and we had to go back to the hospital.  There, a senior doctor who seemed he really knew what he was doing, cut the cast on the side and made more room for the thumb.  While he was going around Anna's thumb with the circular saw, she was super scared he would cut her finger off, so we had to keep calming her down.  (I'd be scared too! :)

Awww, my tough little girl.

After all that Anna's hand finally returned to normal size and she became very active again.  Almost too active at times.  We had her birthay party planned as well and when she started running around, I was wondering if she'll trip and also break the other arm.

Anna's birthday party.

We then had to go for another check-up but this one was really crazy.  It reminded me again of my favourite Asterix/Obelix clip "the place that sends you mad".

The place that sends you mad.

We already had a pre-set appointment to have the x-ray done and another appointment to see the specialist but we quickly realized that this was just some type of random thing and was irrelevant.  So this was actually the procedure:

we had to go get some type of ticket and wait in line for 20 minutes with other random people, then get registered into the hospital and receive bar code stickers, then go to the x-ray reception who said we were missing the doctor's recommendation, to be sent to the consultation reception, to be sent to the third pink door on the right, to ask the doctor to give us the recommendation, to be sent back to the x-ray reception, to wait for the x-ray, to get the x-ray done, to wait for the x-ray image, to be sent back to the consultation reception, to be told to wait for the doctor and then finally talk to him.  At 1PM rather than 11:15 as was previously scheduled!!!

Now we have to wait till roughly July 25th to get another x-ray done and possibly get a new cast or a splint but this will be done in Czech Republic as Anna is there for the summer vacation.

I also want to mention to anyone out there with little kids that break things that I bought Anna an impermeable glove for swimming that she can wear over the cast and it has saved us because we had a vacation already booked with swimming pools and by the ocean... and even though it's a bit pricey I do recommend it...!! 

Flipper. :)

Here is the link:

Aquatex

Obviously we did not make it for the last dance show, but I still managed to dress up Anna in her outfit to take some photos (even though she had the cast on).

On a final note, let's hope Anna recovers well and fast and that her bones get stronger.  This is actually the second time she has her broken arm.  Until now, I was under the impression it was the right one last time, but I was wrong, it's the left one again.  Last time it happened, she was 3 yrs old, diving off the stairs head and arms first and she managed to miss the pile of pillows, hitting the ground instead....  She's a wild one ;)

June 2010.

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