Tag Archive for: Le Tour

The Madison Mountaineering team topped out on an acclimatization climb in recent days!

The Madison Mountaineering Mont Blanc expedition team has been hard at work over the course of the last few days, training and getting ready for the climb ahead. With a few smaller climbs under their belts, they’re heading back up and onto the Mont Blanc Massif for an attempt in a few days time. Good luck, team! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from the French Alps:

Hey! This is Garrett checking in for the Mont Blanc (4808m/15,774ft) program.

Our private team here has had a few nice days up high in the alpine zone. We hiked up above the village of Le Tour to the Albert Premier Hut, and the following day, climbed Petite Fourche (3512m/11,522ft)! From Petite Fourche, we traversed over into Switzerland and stayed in the Cabane du Trient, the Trient Refuge. (We) dad a nice meal there, and then the following day, yesterday, climbed Aiguille du Tour (3540m/11,614ft) and descended back down to Chamonix (1035m/3,396ft).

We are now heading up Mont Blanc for the next few days. Fingers crossed for good weather, good conditions! We’re excited for some spectacular views, and we’ll be back in Chamonix on Saturday or Sunday.

All is well here! We’ll check in soon.

Early morning sunshine in the French Alps

Early morning sunshine in the French Alps

Perfect climbing conditions

Perfect climbing conditions


In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions.  Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.

Instagram:

Technical training as we prepare for Mont Blanc in a few days time!

The Madison Mountaineering team has arrived in the beautiful Chamonix Valley, taken to the hills with eyes set on the legendary peak, Mont Blanc! Chamonix is a magical place with lots of mountaineering history. Treated with excellent weather and views so far, the team is psyched to be underway! They’ll spend the next few days acclimatizing and practicing technical skills before making their attempt on this famed summit. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from the French Alps:

Hey! This is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering Mont Blanc (4809m/15,777ft) program.

Our team is enjoying the Chamonix Valley. We arrived here yesterday. And today, we set out for Le Tour at the end of the valley and hiked up to the Albert Premier refuge. It was a great day, beautiful views of Mont Blanc in the valley. We got up to the refuge in the afternoon, had some cakes and coffee, and then went out and did some technical training on the glacier and on rock. We just had dinner, winding down here.

Great to be up here at the hut! The team’s doing well, weather looks good, spectacular views up here, and we’re looking forward to our climb of the Peak Petite Fourche (3512m/11,522ft) tomorrow.

So all’s well here in France. French Alps are magnificent, “magnifique,” as the French say! And we’re looking forward to more great days ahead. We’ll check in soon!

Excellent views of Mont Blanc!

Excellent views of Mont Blanc!

Beautiful day for climbing in the French Alps.

Beautiful day for climbing in the French Alps.

 


In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions.  Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.

Instagram: