p18 Outdoor Baz:SGBGolf_NEW_template 22/09/2009 10:25 Page 18
Baz Roberts
A Mountain Love Affair
C
hamonix is my spiritual home. It’s a place I can easily get to through such an
often for adventure, high mountains and inspiration. I met my ordeal – perhaps as
wife there too despite the competition. It’s quoted that there is they might wonder
only one woman for every ten blokes. The actual summit dome of why others fly off or
Mont Blanc is set back from the town and not that impressive, climb big, cold Baz with chum and polar expert Tim Burton
nevertheless the massif dominates the valley. At 4810m high – nearly mountains.
4000m above the bars and boulangeries – Mont Blanc is truly We needed a light wind (north to north easterly) to take off safely which is
Himalayan in scale. I’ve climbed it five times over 20 years, from something not generally associated with high peaks. The forecast looked
three different routes on the French side, including a traverse with promising and we were reasonably fit having climbed the Gran Paradiso near
my future wife when I proposed on the summit. (On hearing our Aosta to acclimatise.
news her dad quipped, “Are you sure he didn’t say “will you carry On summit day, 8th September, my wedding anniversary, we started out
me?”). I’ve also skied up and down it with my much younger chum with a hundred other climbers. A radiant full moon lit the way. The wind
and polar expert Tim Burton. Another puffed lightly on our left cheeks, from the
ascent beckoned but this time my goal north-east, as we toiled up the west ridge at a
was to fly off by paraglider. Barry Roberts waxes lyrical 5m/minute ascent rate, careful not to top out
In September ’08 Tim and I were poised to
about Chamonix, and his
too early when the light would be poor for
photographs. It is a big hill and the crowds
attempt this but were foiled by the weather so
latest adventure…
soon dispersed. At 4365m we rested and it
we tried again this year. While 5600 turned much colder. We togged up in duvet
competitors were battling their way around jackets and big mitts and fired up our hand
Mont Blanc in The North Face Ultra-trail du Mont Blanc at the end of August, warmers. Climbers were already descending past us as we neared the
Tim and I were firing emails back in forth getting ready. I was already in town summit. The wind freshened but neither of us mentioned this as if to speak it
to witness this endurance spectacle. It’s mind boggling that 21-year-old would guarantee it would be too strong to fly (20km/hr max is
Catalan Kilian Jornet, the winner, for a second time, of the UTMB, covered recommended). Suddenly, a glider wing reared up into view over the summit
166kms and 9400m of ascent in 21 hours 22 minutes. The cut-off time is 46 crest and the pilot was airborne. It was flyable!
hours and it is stirring stuff watching runners cross the finish line on the wire Just below the summit, Tim got away first with an excited yelp. As I
after two nights of sleep deprivation. I wonder why they put themselves prepared to follow, the wind picked up and my glider sloshed around on the
slick snow surface. The lines tangled and I descended 100m to sort them out
in lighter wind. After an hour of flailing I was finally in the sky into silky
smooth lifting air. I beat back and forth in front of and 200m above the
summit, alone.
After 20 minutes of soaring, I settled back to savour the 40 minute glide to
the landing field, with the occasional burble of turbulent air to remind me
how vulnerable I was. The panoramic view was immense across into Italy and
Switzerland and I thought about those 5600 runners who only a week before
pitted themselves against this mountain too. Perhaps I have more in common
with them than I thought.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Martin Nemec at SKY Paragliders for my CIMA mountain glider.
All photographs © Tim Burton www.timburtonphotography.com
18 SGB OUTDOOR SEPTEMBER 2009
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