280. Fact finding

Chamonix

Chamonix, the home of the ski-gods who pioneered steep skiing in the seventies and eighties. I have known this for ever since meeting Glen Plake with Big Was during a ski week at Craigieburn, the southern hemisphere's steepest field, about twenty years ago then watching The Blizzard of Aahhh's.  Steep, has been a permanent film on my iTunes for the last nine years so this morning the Iris, Fyfe and Roman watched it as it documents how Chamonix was where it all started. To me it was a pilgrimage, even though it was officially the first day of summer.

I struggled to find reliable information on what to do in Chamonix so decided to do a fact finding afternoon trip. I was not disappointed, so many glaciers within sight of the town, lifts and chairlifts everywhere and a cog railway from the middle of town.

A gondola goes up 1,282m the the bush peak in the centre then
a cable cargoes to the left to 12,392 ft, Aiguille du Midi.
A total of 2,747m height difference 

This picture doesn't do it justice, the snow melt was racing through 

Even for a Kiwi, glaciers are always spectacular 

How could they replace this.... 

.... with this?
Watched the cog railway come in full of climbers with ropes, crampons and ice axes.
Talked to a Swed and a Scot for about twenty minutes who training for an accent on Mt Blanc next week

The steam cog loco was complete and remarkably unvandilised.
You could turn handles, open the firebox and I even wound of the log, which ticked away beautifully - see movie below.
Took Roman about forty minutes to explore everything and mashed fingers twice.

Chamonix, we'll be back next week.