Reverse Mountaineering, Chamonix, France

Around 9am we took the Aiguille du Midi cable car up 3,842 meters (12,604 feet) to do some reverse mountaineering.   We got off the cable car and strapped on our helmets and crampons.  It was a technical day, a day to practice rock scrambling and balancing along narrow ridges. 

We walked through an ice tunnel to an entrance to a ridge, in groups of 2 along with a guide.   It was a rocky start for me, the narrowness of the ridge and the long drop debilitated me mentally and I quickly burned through too much energy.

Once down the first ridge, it got less narrow and I picked up the pace to a normal clip.   Surrounded by mountains, we saw skiers, rock climbers, and mountaineers making their way- Italy ahead of us to the left and Mont Blanc to our front.  

Down we went over the Glacier du Grant towards the ascent that would take us to the top of Needle of the South: Edge of the Cosmic and bring us to the Cosmique Refuge.  

We began our ascent to the top that would bring us to another narrow ridge that would force us to scramble around jagged rocks, at least 6 of them, before reaching the refuge.  

Slowly we went navigating the terrain.  Knowing this to be one of my weak spots, I was surprisingly calm and remembered what my coach had taught me. 

Find a firm grip and trust yourself.   I did just that and soon enough we were at the refuge.  

Out of our boots and crampons we rested at the refuge for a bit, eating lunch and drinking coffee before it was time to begin our descent that would take us back to where we needed to ascend again in order to pick up the cable car to take us back to Chamonix.