The Mont-Blanc kit list, no South Butt stuff included

Not a South Butt in sight.  Definitely all bona-fide North Face type chaps, these Wilmington Mountaineers.

With fitness preparations well underway, time to start thinking about the kind of things they’ll need to take with them.  I’m not sure who’s got what so far, but fortunately there are shopping lists available.  So this is what they need, some bits more obvious than others, so I hope you don’t mind my interpretation.

Your every day stuff…
Rucksack	(to carry the huge number of things you need to take with you)
Waterproof Jacket	(because ice originally started off as water)
Waterproof Trousers	(because it would be a shame to have a wet bum)
Gloves: 1 thick pair, 1 thin pair	(no point in getting frost bite)
Extra Mid Weight Layer
Thin Thermal Top
Trekking Trousers	(presumably not of the pony trekking variety)
Thermal Leggings	(who said the recent fashion trend passed blokes by?:-))
Socks: 3 pairs liner socks, 3 pairs mid weight trekking socks	(personally I can’t believe they’ll be bothered to change their socks while away from home, so1 pair is enough surely?)
Sun Hat	(got to hedge your bets with both types I suppose)
Gaiters	(the calf protection sort, not reptilian)
Sun Glasses
Water Bottle
The bits that remind you it’s going to be cold, as the temperature loses 1c every 100m ascended
Neck Warmer/Balaclava
Fleece
Ski Goggles
Warm Hat	(well, yes)
The specialist stuff
Ice Axe	(boys and their toys, hey)
Helmet	(in case the chap above you dislodges some scree)
Mountaineering Boots	(stiff soled boots, many of the older versions being in comfortable plastic in some super garish colours)
Crampons	(to fix onto your plastic boots to act as spikes to dig you into the ice.  Apparently you need to walk like a robot when you are wearing them.)
Harness	(for attaching the rope between you and your companions)
Head Torch	(for some illuminating early morning ascents)
Walking Poles	(not just for the old and infirm)
And the niceties not to forget ….
Sun cream	(to make you feel as though you’re on holiday)
Lipsalve	(well there’s no point coming back too weather beaten)
First Aid/Blisters Compeed, tape	(for the nasty things)
Painkillers
Sleeping Bag Liner	(oh, so they do get some rest then)
Duvet aka body warmer	(now this one did stand out as rather odd, because duvets aren’t known for their ability to pack up small.  It turns out they are referring to puffer body warmers.  Aha)
Ear Plugs	(is that to block out the snoring of friends or the howling winds?)
MP3 Player	(well if the ear plugs don’t cover the snoring you’ve always got your tunes)
Camera	(I know it won’t be taken by my husband but hopefully one of the others will remember it)
Change of Clothing	(ah, so that’s why North Face sells these fancy ‘base camp’ bags
Insurance	(Ok, I was fine up until the point I read this bit.  Daren’t ask exactly what might need to be covered, but a sensible thing to take out nevertheless!)

Thank you Mt Blanc Guides for this useful insight and I’m sure they’ll enjoy their shopping.

Seb says that skiing conditions could be good until the end of May!

Well, for those of us that sometimes feel the ski season is too short, it seems you are in luck this year.  Seb Montaz’s latest Chamonix snow report (22nd April 2010) says that the snow “for this time of year is incredible.“  He reckons that we should be able to ski up until the end of May this year, wow!

Seb then goes on to show us what all the fuss is about with some fantastic shots of his friends descending vertical drops on the back of Brevent, having gone up La Floria. There are even some fresh tracks shots. – Snow conditions are still safe on the Valley Blanche and Grand Montets areas.

Seb of course is well placed  to offer advice, given that he is a highly experienced summer and winter mountain guide. His snow reports have been fantastic all season, but this is probably one of his last snow videos this year.  Shame, but roll on warm weather for the cycling etc.

We even get some insight into his favourite music.  The track to accompany his possibly penultimate snow report is Brad Sucks – dropping out of school.

And if you like Seb’s video’s don’t forget to come back again in June to check out our own personal video filmed by the man himself.  Don’t worry it’ll be on the boy’s Mont Blanc assent rather than cleaning the flat or something dull like that.

So whats the difference between freeride and freestyle?

Never a question I’ve really worried about, but clearly something that’s got a couple of people hot under the collar while reading the Guardian’s homage to the World Free Ride Tour held in Chamonix last week.

Well it seems that  “Freestyle is the acts of performing tricks; freeride is riding powder off-piste. The two are not mutually exclusive – obviously you can pull any trick you want in the middle of a big mountain line, but the definitions of the two words refer to entirely different things. If you wanted to talk about the aforementioned, you would refer to ‘big mountain freestyle’.” Thanks Rak 1v7!

And just to see the difference here are a couple of  video clips – Andreas Hatveit’s ski freestyle

And Thomy Henry, Dave Swanick and Ken Kritier’s freeride.

And finally some Chamonix freeride, with a touch of freestyle…

So you learn something new every day hey.

“Honey, I’ve learnt how to build a snow grave.” Should I be worried?

Maybe it was because he’d just come back from donating blood that made him consider his mortality, but building a snow grave, what’s that all about?

Googling ‘build a snow grave’ is not necessarily the most helpful either.  There seems to be snow falling over the desecrated grave of some chap who’s ‘lived by the knife and died by the knife’, snow grave novels, making snow angels in a grave yard, Grave digger videos and so on.  None of them particularly reassuring, particularly given their associations with death.

Thankfully, the BBC came the rescue with their h2g2 web page.  Fortunately ‘snow shelters’, as they are more affectionately known, are just a mear substitute for a night on the piste without your tent. Or are they? As you read on they go onto say ‘the snow grave is strictly for emergency only.’ Ah, so back to the death association then.

I then found his ‘Winter Skills, Essential Walking and Climbing Techniques’ book by Andy Cunningham and Allen Fyffe.  Page 223 was creased.  I must admit I briefly scanned it and wondered why you’d want to put yourself in that situation, but at the end of the day it’s better to know that stuff, than not, if being an aspiring mountaineer is your thing.

So I’m glad he’s learnt about it, but I’m hoping he’s not going to come back with photos of one too soon.