Next Up- to the Top of Western Europe

Wow! What a terrible blogger I have been this year. I think that this has been my most delayed post, and I do apologise- because it’s not like I haven’t had anything to write about. Maybe too many things occupying my mind and time at the moment, which I know is an excuse, and you know I don’t stand for those. In any case and in my true Kristyn manner, I have another big adventure coming up- imminently!

I hadn’t planned to do something of this scale so quickly after the London Marathon, but was coerced into it because the logic seemed good at the time (and still does for the most part, and is on the longer-short term bucket list of achievements).

I’m climbing Mont Blanc the first week of September- holy geeze!

I did think that I would trek another large peak in the first half of next year, but acquiring some Pole Vault Rio 2016 Olympics tickets threw a bit of a spanner in my travel sequence of events, hence September it is.

Again with my planning hat on, I would/ should have started blogging about this, the preparation of, and run up to my climb months in advance to bring you along; rather the whole event has been a bit of a “let’s fit it in and do what I can” ordeal/ endeavour? Not sure which word I should use. I think I’ll change frame to the positive and go with endeavour. Rest assured, this endeavour has not been without planning, more so, it’s been without the build-up that I created prior to my Kili climb… on all accounts; and including my training.

I have still spent the time researching the best-for-us climbing company (a company based in Canmore called On Top Ltd.), diligently have chosen the hotels, and the post-trek/ climb rewarding beach holiday. What I haven’t prepared for very well was the physicality of the endeavour, where my first reality check came when I went to purchase new boots…

First of all, I thought I could get away with my borrowed and well-broken-in boots that I have used the past four years. The salesman in the outdoors shop shot me an “are you kidding?!” one-eyebrow lift when I gasped at the price and explained I hadn’t expected to spend £300 on boots that I might only wear a handful of times. With some quick Google-searching to see how hard-core I needed to go, I realised that I wasn’t escaping these heavy-duty technical pieces of kit. I have since ended up in a pair of Mammut Monolith GTX boots, perhaps heavier and sturdier than any pair of skates I’ve ever owned.

Second reality check came again whilst shopping around for boots, and I decided to consult the rest of the kit-list and match it to items in the shop: crampons & ice axe. Hmmmm…. I am sure you can see from the picture that this will not be some steady plod up a large hill.

Reassuringly though, I have booked a tour that will teach and let us practice “ice climbing/ crampon use/ glacier travel” on at least two days prior to summiting. And to further question my judgment when thinking this was a good idea, some excerpts from the detailed itinerary:

“The approach from the Tete Rousse Hut to the Gouter Hut is the technically most challenging …  Roping on and early start the ascent to the Gouter Hut. A short glacier is followed by the traverse of the "Grand Couloir", the most notorious and objectively dangerous part of the ascent (45 min)”  Well, I like most things objective.

What have I got myself into?! At least On Top has managed expectations to tell us that the terror should only take 45 minutes of the entire trip. “Seb” our young French guide who is following his calling will surely look after me. To my defence as well, the bulk of the climbing companies suggest that the only training that you need is to be half-marathon fit. That should be a shoe-in for someone who ran the London Marathon this year. Yea- should be.

Bringing me to reality check number three: my fitness is not as it should be and I feel like I am sucking at running at the moment! In the run up to my Kili climb I had been diligent in training- although only three days a week, I prioritised a cross-training session with lunges and intervals + a 10 – 13 mile run on the weekend. This time and since April, I’ve probably only run longer than 10km a handful of times. My mileage time is increasing (although still slightly faster than 2013). My cross-training has been nearly non-existent.

What I have done as part of breaking in my boots, was some exploring in the Lake District at the beginning of August. Two long days of walking uphill in my boots with a back pack, some scrambling, and a teensy bit of altitude (800m, which is mountain standards in Britain; + 4000m more for Mt Blanc) made for a good basic check-in where I know that at least I shouldn’t end up with blisters and my Camelback fits in my backpack. That’s good enough to traverse the highest peak in Western Europe, right?

And as I continue to naively convince myself that everything will be fine because I have booked my specifically Alpine Mountaineering travel insurance, have a very colourful and bright selection of mountain climbing outer-wear including my B-2 Crampon compatible boots, and have “Seb, the young mountaineer” looking after us, I leave you with some beautiful pictures from Britain’s “mountains”: Helvellyn and Blencathra. Wish me luck!