Mountaineering in the Alps | Gran Paradiso & Mont Blanc – with Adventure Base (part one)

Mountaineering in the Alps | Gran Paradiso & Mont Blanc – with Adventure Base (part one)

[Music] [Music] Hello all and welcome. Welcome to another video. As you may have seen from the video title and the short intro, we are about to embark on my most ambitious adventure to date by climbing to the top of the tallest mountain in Western Europe, Mod Block. Currently grabbing some quick breakfasts in the airport lounge of Manchester airport, eagerly awaiting my easy jet flight to Geneva. Once there, we’ll be catching the bus to Chaman where we’ll be meeting the experienced guides from a company called Adventure Base. for an 8-day course where we’ll be attempting to climb two 4,000 meter alpine mountains, Grand Paradisa and Mont Blanc. I am beyond excited to document this epic trip as best I can and I can’t wait to take you along for the journey. On that note, we best head towards our gates as we’ll be boarding soon. [Music] [Music] [Music] Hello. [Music] Behind you. [Music] [Music] So, here we are in the French town of Shaman. And already I could tell it’s an absolutely stunning place. Considered as the birthplace of alpanism and the sport of mountaineering, this bustling town acts as a central hub for hundreds of thousands of outdoor sport enthusiasts every year. From backcountry skiing, mountaineering, rock climbing, mountain biking, and throughhiking, just to name a few. The first ascent of Mont Blanc was achieved on the 2nd of August 1786 by a local crystal hunter named Jacqu Balma who was hired for his skills within the mountains by Michelle Gabriel Packard, a Shamni doctor. This partnership was also the creation of the profession of mountain guide. I have a better time to kill before I head to the adventure base chalet where I’ll be meeting the rest of my team and the guides that will be leading us for the week. So, I’ll pick back up once we’ve checked into the chalet uh once we’ve met everyone and got our kit sorted. Oh, really? So, we’re all checked in at the adventure base chalet. We met our guide, Roger, who ran us through the itinerary and plans for tomorrow. There’s a few more bits of gear to quickly sort tomorrow morning once we’ve had breakfast. Uh, and then we’ll be meeting at 10:00 a.m. being picked up by the minivan and taken over the Italian border uh to start our Grand Padiso hike. I’ve got a few more bits of kit to sort now and pack my actual hiking day pack uh for tomorrow. Uh and then we’ll be clocking in an early night to be fully rested. So, I’ll see you all in the morning. Thanks. [Music] You feel me? Yeah. I’ll jump the front. Yeah. The footage. [Music] after a spirited did a 2-hour drive through the winding mountain roads. It felt good to stretch the legs and take in the beauty of the Grand Paradiso National Park. Good to go. Good. Located between the regions of Piamonte and Validster, the park is the oldest national park in Italy and was first established in 1922. The area boasts a wealth of hiking trails suitable for hikers of all levels and experience. The park also encompasses some of the most beautiful scenery in the Alps. [Music] [Music] [Music] So, we’re straight into the steep ascent. from leaving the Grand Paradiso car park, making our way through this gorgeous woodland. So, it’s roughly about a 2hour hike to the Shabal Hut where we’ll be spending the night there in preparation for an early start to climb Grand Paradiso. [Music] First glimpses of Grandpariso. Getting a lot closer now. And you can really tell by the scale. Maybe not so much on this GoPro camera. Let me switch to my Canon. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Then [Music] on the afternoon, just a nice rest. Usually dinner is at 7:00. So just before dinner, I will teach you some roping technique and stuff for tomorrow and go for tomorrow. So now it’s told me just press it number one. Nice. We have our little baskets to put our stuff in. places to dry your clothes after the summit day. Runs hard gear. first. No worries because when you put this lever and push, it will fit. Now, when it’s on, it’s still too large. You see it here? So, what I will do, it’s go maybe half a size less. And I’ll push. Now, it goes. There’s no space here. It’s touching the bottom, so it’s not sitting on top of those pins. So, that brings the end to day one. Uh, we’ve had a lovely evening meal. We’ll be up at 3:30 a.m. Uh, ready for breakfast at 4. Be really exciting day. Uh, so I’ll catch up in the morning. Cheers. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Got it. Edging like we we’ve been doing before with program. Just put the whole [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] From now on, because we all the time on the same side, I want everyone with a rope downhill. You good? Did not expect this. [Music] I feel up. [Music] Nice. Where does the matter? Did you say this one in the middle? Left. Oh, big one. Left off. Yeah. [Music] The summit. I’ve got P. [Music] What’s up? [Music] Okay guys, so now you can take a nice picture from there. Now you see there’s a pin there. When you clip there, you stop. Wow. Oh my god. You got these guys up. Yeah, dude. I’ve never seen a view a drop like that. Good job. [Music] Cheers. [Music] Well, good morning. It’s day three, so it’s just a steady day descending from Shab Hut back to the car and it’ll be a 2-hour drive over the border back to Shamani where we’ll have a restful afternoon, recharge the batteries, have plenty of food. So, there’s not much else more to film today. So, I’ll pick up again when we are setting off to climb Mount Blanc. [Music] So, after meeting with our guide not so long ago, uh there’s been an update with our plans for tomorrow, and it’s not good news. The current heatwave across the region means that there’s not been enough overnight refreeze on certain sections on the climb up to the Gucci hut. This means that the risk of rockfall is just too high and we’d be unable to safely cross the Grand Corwa. A very tough decision to call and extremely disappointing, but it’s the nature of the beast and there are always going to be factors out of our control. We still have 3 days left of the trip, so our guides will instead be taking us to different locations within the valley to practice mountaineering techniques through rock scrambling and a few other interesting activities. I’ll just have to come back next year to conquer the elusive Montlo blog. It’s getting quite late here now, so I’ll cut the video and I’ll pick back up once I know what we’re doing tomorrow. Cheers. I’ve decided to end this video here and we’ll split the remaining 3 days of the trip into a separate video. So, join me next time for an action-packed part two where we’ll be tackling some challenging rock climbing routes, walking across huge snow glaciers, and soaking in more incredible mountain views as we take the cable car up to the famous Aguilidi and traverse down onto the Mont Blanc Masif. Once again, thank you all for watching. The next video will be up on the channel soon.

After close to a year of planning, training and eager anticipation, I travelled to Chamonix in the French Alps to embark on my most ambitions mountaineering challenge to date – attempting to summit two iconic 4000m+ mountains (Gran Paradiso and Mont Blanc).

This epic trip was organised by a Chamonix based tour agency called Adventure Base. Who hosted us in their spacious chalet accommodation, whilst also arranging all the logistics behind transport within the valley and overnight bookings in the mountain huts.

Under the expert leadership of IFMGA certified mountain guides, our small team was taken on a week long course to prepare us for the challenges that high altitude mountain climbing would inevitably bring. By acclimatising on the more attainable Gran Paradiso, our aim was to put ourselves in the best physical condition to successfully achieve our goal of summiting Mont Blanc and standing at the highest point in Western Europe.

Adventure Base – https://adventurebase.com/

Roger Mountain Guide – https://www.rogermountainguide.com/

► Follow my page on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/chasingpeaksuk?igsh=dXl0NjY3ZTRsdGhr&utm_source=qr

► Filming/editing
Canon EOS M6
Gopro Hero 12
iPhone 12 Pro
Editing suite – CapCut