Trois Monts PD+, 50, III, 1660m

Mathias, a mate from Copenhagen is training for Cph Challange, which is an Iron Man in the city centre this August. He thought climbing Mont Blanc would be a great way to test himself and some of the gear, that he uses on his ski expeditions.

The goal of the trip was to climb Mont Blanc over the Trois Monts route, which crosses Mont Blanc du Tacul and Mont Maudit, before summiting Mont Blanc. It was a great trip with great views and great winds. It is not technical, it is just long.

The headchef cooking up some very tasty freezedried stuff. There had fallen around 30 cm of new snow on the mountain, made for pretty hard bootpacking on the route.

Room with a view, tentcamp on the Col du Midi. Jumped in the bags at around 8, to get up and out around midnight. It was a very nice and clear night with lots of shooting stars.

Mathias resting on the Col du Maudit, just as the sun starts to come up. We did not feel the warmth, as the winds picked up.

Sunrise, Matterhorn, Grand Combin and Monte Rosa massif in the distance.

People struggling to get to the summit in the strong winds. We summited as the second team from the Midi, a lot of teams turned back.

Summit at 8 0´clock, in 50 kmph winds. But very clear weather, you could see the Grand Casse and Grand Motte over in Tignes. It was very cold, so we did not hang around for long.

Looking back at Maudit and Tacul from the summit, Kuffner ridge next weeks goal coming up on the right.

When we arrived back at the Col du Maudit, some guy was choppered off, quite impressive to see how fast and effective the PGHM guys work.

Mathias had some prototype of a new solarpanel with him, he wanted to give it a test on the hill before taking it on an expedition. You can read more about Mathias and his adventures on www.whiteout.eu

Some of the crevasses on Tacul has opened up so wide, that the PGHM has put up ladders to make the glacier passible.. Soon the gap will be to big, and you will no longer be able to cross.

There were quite a few people on the normal routes to Tacul and Maudit, a few came up from the Kuffner and Brenva spur as well as people on the Tacul Triangle. Pretty good conditions all over.