Maxime Chaya - Mont Blanc to Mont Cinto

Let's all start climbing !

nospam@example.com (Maxime Chaya) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:37:40 +0300

When Daron first spoke to me about the “Mont Blanc to Mont Cinto” project almost a year ago, for a moment, I thought he was plain mad. I certainly loved the idea, and was eager to undertake the formidable journey by ski, bike, kayak and foot, but the logistics required for such an event seemed too complicated to be able to carry it out especially with so many different sports, participants and venues involved.
Yet he pulled it off perfectly and in style. I for one, and undoubtedly every participant who completed the journey or part of it will surely agree to this, and will carry fond memories of MB2MC ‘08, together with a useful bundle of interesting information and ideas to make our planet a better, more peaceful and sustainable one.

For my part, namely the mountaineering stages, I am sorry that we weren’t able to complete them as originally planned. We sure tried our very best, but time and again, mother nature seemed to want to remind us -in a gentle way thank God- that it is not exactly pleased with the way we have been treating it of late, and that it will invariably have the last word. Ironically, this is precisely one of the more important messages we discussed during this trip, and one that we would like to convey to others, especially the young generation.

Well done everyone ! Well done Active Earth !
On behalf of myself and the youth of my country and region -who are undoubtedly those who will ultimately benefit most from the MB2MC lessons learned- I sincerely thank all those who made this event possible, and reassure them that I will indeed do my part in “raising awareness for peace and sustainability through sports and adventure”.

A wise man once said: “it is when you reach the mountain top that the climb begins”, so although we didn’t quite reach the tippy-top this time, let’s all start climbing !

Yours in sport,

Max Chaya
max@thethreepoles.com

The final goodbye of the last Active Earth group leaving Nice airport. "Ce n'est qu'un AU REVOIR!"

Hurry-up & wait !

nospam@example.com (Maxime Chaya) — Mon, 26 May 2008 11:06:22 +0300

Sunday afternoon, Mark came in as planned. His Koga Miyata will follow by courier, hopefully on time.
Ralph spent much of the day resting, and by late afternoon he was back on his feet again, and began filling up his empty stomach slowly but surely.

Ralph and Daron setting up the support van with Active Earth "Mt Blanc to Mt Cinto" visuals

Still rain here in Chamonix, and high winds up on the mountain. The forecast doesn't look good either. There seems to be a low pressure zone looming on the area, and it just doesn't seem to want to move away!
With all our bags packed, and ready to go, we all gathered for a Monday morning brainstorming session to decide what to do until the weather Gods decide to smile on us.

All packed and ready, but nowhere to go!

The high winds mean that not only is it dangerous, but pretty much impossible to reach the top of Mont Blanc. Those same winds may prove to be a blessing as they may chase the clouds away. Fingers crossed!

More Red Blood Cells please!

nospam@example.com (Maxime Chaya) — Sun, 25 May 2008 16:08:58 +0300

We all trained hard for this, but a few extra red blood cells may make the difference between summiting and vomiting, so we all decided to spend a night at the "Refuge des Cosmiques" (3,613m). The weather wasn't exactly what we had hoped for. Still, the hypoxia was the same, thus stimulating our bodies to acclimatise to the thin air.

Steph didn't have her crampons on her, so she waved farewell, and left us at the ice cave. She spent a night camping just outside the toilets at the "Aiguille du Midi". As an "Extreme chicken", Steph is a tough cookie but is sensitive to the cold. "I'm usually very cold, so I have 2 down jackets with me for tonight" she said. Just a while she was telling us that she wanted to ski Cho Oyu (8200m), so I wondered how many down jackets, suits, sleeping bags, etc. she would need up at 8000m!

The night -and the food- at the refuge was great, but Ralph's stomach didn't quite agree with the Coq au Vin... I had the misfortune of sleeping next to him, and I counted a dozen trips to the Loo... The next morning, Ralph was dehydrated and weakened. He's 1m90, and has a strong mental, which is what got him back to the Aiguille du Midi, albeit after a few stops...

Yves watches on as Raph gets rid of more chicken between his skis...

The Weather Gods are still not smiling down on us. Wind and driving snow were on the agenda, and if the local weather forecast is anything to go by, the next few days don't look that rosy either. Ralph was happy to make it back down to the rich Chamonix air, and hit the sack as we all got ready for the big climb.

Skis on our backpack, and crampons on, we brave the elements to get back to the Aiguille.