On 24/09/2014 06:35, Cab wrote:
Andy Bonwick wibbled forthrightly:

I always favoured the beer & tabs approach to training for the Alps.

I used to get the BMC bus from London to Chamonix and arrive at about
9am, put my tent up in the site opposite the hospital then jump in a
cable car up to Le Brevent for a walk along the ridge and down into
the valley to shake off the horrors of the bus journey.

The next day would usually see a group of us going up to the Midi
then a snow plod up Mont Blanc du Tacul before either setting up a
bivi near the old Cosmiques hut or begging our way into the Midi
station to sleep in one of the corridors then walk down the Vallee
Blanche to Chamonix.

Once that was done I was normally acclimatised and ready for bigger
things and longer stays above the snow line. It's amazing how long
you can stay up there for when you're skint and don't want to be
constantly paying for telepheriques.

Heh. IIRC, Plod now frowns upon people camping near Cosmiques and they
do move them on. Officially speaking.

They've always frowned on it but they can't do anything about it if the
last telepherique has left the Midi and you're stranded. Leaving
anything resembling a camp site set up in the day time would see it
removed so you've always got to carry everything or lower it into a
crevasse. Allegedly.