TAKING A MONTBLANC TO THE MONT BLANC
Halfway up Mont Blanc in Courmayeur’s impressive 360°-turning SkyWay cable car, we suddenly leave the sun in the valley as we enter a layer of clouds that are spitting out snow in a fury. Our small group of adventurers had been hoping for sunshine, but once at the top, the glacial wind and relentless snow seemed somehow more appropriate for mountaineering on Mont Blanc’s famous glaciers.
Our guide, Alberto, starts to rope us together and give us a safety briefing. The glacier has been changing rapidly over the summer and there has been an increasing number of crevasses appearing, so we need to be vigilant. We venture out, following in single file, stepping over deep fissures in the ice that seem to descend to the centre of the earth. We have three hours to make our circuit. I check the
