Day 1 of my second attempt to summit Mont Blanc is nearly over and, so far so good. The flight into Geneva was uneventful and on time. The transfer to Chamonix by Mountain Dropoffs was equally smooth. Our base in Chamonix is Hotel La Chaumiere, on the outskirts, where I stayed before and nothing much seems to have changed. I am sharing a room with one of the chaps I travelled from the airport with and we hit it off straight away. After we engaged in the customary ritual of whether the right kit has been brought we repaired to Brasserie La National in the town centre for a Grolsch and to collect some snacks. In addition to some Kendal Mint Cake which was a birthday present from brother Richard and a Pret A Manger Love Bar which Clare gave me I now have a million Snickers bars. I should survive but need a bigger rucksack 🤣.

The view towards Mont Blanc from Chamonix was beautiful and inspiring.

I’m now packed for tomorrow but will need to confirm the details with the trip leader when we see him tomorrow. The weather still looks good and the excitement is building. I’ll send an update when I get back to Chamonix on Saturday although if, by some miracle, I have contact from Rifugio Torino I’ll check in with a quick update on how the training and acclimatisation is going.

Bye for now.