The mountains are special places, and exploring them with friends somehow seems to make them more beautiful. I can’t seem to get these images out of my mind from a recent trip to the French Alps, so I figured that I would just share them. In Chamonix, it’s possible to walk out your back door and walk straight up into the hills, which will eventually turn into big mountains, which will eventually taper off into perfect, pointy peaks. Trains and busses regularly run through the valley’s main road, so even without a car, it’s possible to get there (wherever that may be) and back before it gets dark. After a big snow, my pal Andy and I took the train up valley from Les Tines, each of us sitting by windows to watch the world scroll slowly past their frosted panes.
Our destination that day was the Glacier d’Argentiere for a bit of ice climbing on the basin’s left side. From the top, we could see the glacier’s seracs on the right with the Chardonnet and the Aiguille d’Argentiere on the opposite bank. Little avalanches broke away on that side all day in the sun, and we shivered safely on our side in the shade.
After a short ski out of there, we got the last cable car back down to the valley. Orange light danced over the tips of the Aiguilles Rouges as we slithered downhill.
It wasn’t long before we were back indoors, hanging our dripping gear over the fire, drinking bowls of spiced tea, dreaming about when we’d get a day like that again.
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