Wake up 4:30 and arrive at Lac de Montriond 7:30. I estimated four hours for the 1170 m of climbing. The foot path in the forest is covered by leafs and sometimes difficult to find. Arrival to the summit at noon. The weather forecast promised sun shine, but the sky is covered with clouds. Wind becomes stronger and carries some snow flakes. I try to make a fast activation.
1148 UTC call CQ on 10118 kHz. I decide to stay there for ten minutes to let the chasers find me. At 1158 UTC I am ready to go to 40 m, but G4ELZ finally replies. Thanks for spotting. I manage to press the key paddles though my fingers are freezing. After a few QSOs the pen stops writing and I need to tell the chasers to wait so that I can get a new one. The snow fall has become more intense and the summit is being covered by a cloud making the visibility bad. So I decide to skip the other frequencies and modes and I pack everything into my rucksack. I arrive to the car 16:50 as planned. The local sun set time is 17:10.
APRS: http://aprs.fi/?call=F5VGL-7
(note strange altitude reports, too low battery?)
Radio: ATS3B, 8 x AA alcaline cells (nw abt 2 W on 30 m), T1 ATU, loop 6 x 10 m
Photos: f5vgl | Flickr
Map: IGN 3528ET