The Mont Blanc Traverse

Mont Blanc is popularly regarded as the highest mountain in Europe.In actual fact it is actually only the highest mountain in Western Europe (Elbrus in the former USSR being in fact the biggest). It was this degree of fame that attracted us to climb it. I don't recall whose idea it was to have a go at it but no doubt the origins of the idea lie in the bottom of some long forgotten beer glass somewhere.
The plan for the ascent had gone through several variations, which ranged from the fanciful to the mundane. I had been in favour of some insane route, which, in retrospect, I wouldn't have had a cat in hell's chance of pulling off. Nick was in favour of the ordinary snow route via the Gouter hut. We compromised on a training climb on Gran Paradiso (the highest mountain within Italy) and the Mont Blanc Traverse. This route, took in Mont Blanc du Tacul and Mont Maudit as well as the main Mont Blanc summit and was to be completed in a purist way. In other words we would walk all the way from the valley rather that catching a cable car all the way to the Cosmique hut. The day-by-day account of the climb shows how this decision nearly proved very costly.