Hi Martin,
I have some pictures on my flickr albums, still waiting for the video (!)
Gerald
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Thanks for the pictures Grlerald, looks like plenty of room to set up a small operation.
Relu
Great, I will program it in my radio
Yes, but the top can be very, very crowded at times and you might encounter many exhausted and not-so-competent fellow climbers, because Mt. Blanc is so popular and some guides and agencies attract inexperienced climbers with questionable promises.
Maybe a vertical EFHW is a safer bet, because others will not run into or feel disturbed by your antenna wires.
Edit:
Here are a few links to illustrate what I mean:
Please note that due to unusually high temperatures at the moment, for safety reasons, the townhall of St Gervais and the Prefecture of Haute-Savoie say that the ascent to the Mont Blanc by the voie normal is strongly discouraged. The dangerousness of the Couloir du Gouter is the main reason for that warning. If people insist on going they remind them that they should very early and come back before the temperatures reach their peak of the day.
For information, the mountain guides associations of Chamonix and Val Montjoie have suspended (for now) their climbs to the summit via this route.
If the situation does not improve, authorities may shut the access to the Gouter mountain hut (they did that twice in the past during the summer of 2015).
This is info taken from a French newspaper and published on the 22nd.
Hopefully the situation will improve when you go there so that you can enjoy a nice climb and activation.
Safety 1st!
73,
Arnaud
Very nice pictures, Gerald!
Who was it who said âthe mountains will be there tomorrow, the trick is to make sure that you areâ?
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Merci Amaud,
That seems like a big concern and if the mountain or the access to the hut is shut down by the authorities, Mont Blanc activation may have to be scrubbed .I will wait a few days in Chamonix to see what happens.
Indeed Brian.
http://www.gainingelevation.com/content/climbing-quotes
I like this one:
âThere are old climbers, there are bold climbers, but there are no old bold climbersâ
The warnings for hot temps are being lifted in some departments, so it looks like you have a pretty good chance of conditions getting better. Fingers crossed!
Iâm proof of that, I always had an infinitely retractable neck!
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Relu,
Is there any chance you will have HF, 20m? If so conditions permitting I would consider trying to activate Mt Kosciuszko, SOTA Summits, the highest mountain on the continent of Australia with the thought of a S2S with the highest mountain in Europe. It would be a very difficult S2S at both ends and reliant on so many, factors many out of our control, but totally brilliant if we could make it happen.
Compton
That would be something Compton but no I donât have any HF gear with me, was not able to get my hands on anything portable enough like a KX2, KX3 or FT817 so I am only bringing a 2m/440 HT. That is unless I can borrow one from someone in Verona or Milan.
While not possible this time around that sounds like an interesting idea. Take a trip out to VK land and maybe we can activate it together. HI
Always wanted to visit Australia.
Relu
OK, next time.And if you ever come this way we can certainly find a few summits.
Good luck with your activation.
Compton
By the way, it may make sense to talk to DM1LE; he activated Mont Blanc last year in July.
@NJ9R
Relu,
I have Stephanâs DM1LE email address as part of the registration process. The MT do not give out anyoneâs email address to anyone, you gave it to us in good faith so we keep it to ourselves. If your email address is correct on here then I will forward that Stephan and ask him to contact you if that is OK with you?
Yes please.
73 Relu NJ9R
OK, message sent.
Thank you Andy.