I traveled to Grindelwald and met Colin Carnahan at the Monchjoch Hutte for an ascent of the Jungfrau (13,642'). Colin had traveled to Europe many times and always wanted to climb a classic mountain such as the Jungfrau. Conditions were perfect on the climb, which consisted of two sections of 50-degree ice, a 5.3 rock pitch, and thousands of feet of 30-degree neve. We climbed quickly since a storm was forecast to come in that afternoon and finished the climb around 11am, after a 4:30am start. Colin mentioned that he was preparing for his future goal of climbing Peru's Alpamayo (19,411'), and I assured him that his skill level was certainly acceptable for that peak.

After our ascent of the Jungfrau we took a train to Chamonix and met up with the third member of our team, Jeanne LaBerge. Jeanne had just finished an eight-day hike on the Tour du Mt. Blanc, and so she was in great shape and ready to stand on the summit of the great mountain. Her hike took her on low-level traverse around the Mt. Blanc area and through three different countries. She even caught a stage of the Tour de France bicycle race along the way!

To warm up for Mt. Blanc, Colin, Jeanne, and I did a climb on the Arete des Cosmiques. We climbed most of the rock portions in crampons, which added to the challenge but offered great training for the next day - the hut ascent to the Refuge de Gouter. In addition to climbing the Arete des Cosmiques, we also reviewed some ice climbing skills along the Midi-Plan traverse.

The next day we arrived at the Gouter hut in the early afternoon. We were just in time to relax for a couple of hours before being treated to the filling hut meal of sausages, lentils, soup, bread, and cheese. We went to bed at 8pm in order to wake up the next morning at 2am and begin our climb to Mt. Blanc's summit.

We encountered great conditions on the route, although it was somewhat cold with a strong breeze at 15, 000 feet and above. The snow was cold and firm, allowing us to stay on top of the surface and wear crampons the entire way to the summit. We were one of the first groups to summit that morning, and both Colin and Jeanne were awed by the views and very glad to be on top. Our early summit time allowed us a quick descent over still-firm snow, and we arrived back safe, happy, and ready for a good meal. It was a great day of climbing.