To see what happened, click on:

http://youtu.be/N3v2uOnXCjg

Until this year I had never got to the top of a mountain using my own power, other than when I walked up Snowdon in 1969.  But on 11th July, I got up at 4.15am and at 5am was in a car with Jean Marc, another of our group of three and the friend who suggested the climb, for the drive from Seyssins towards Mont Aiguille (6,841 feet), the ascent of which in 1492 is the first recorded climb of any technical difficulty and has been said to mark the beginning of mountaineering.

‘Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive’?  Perhaps, but I would have preferred not to have been up early enough to see the sun rise.  I was, however, happy to see, as we drove towards Saint Michel les Portes, a group of twelve wild boar racing along, in a field next to the road, towards trees and cover.

We met Christian, the guide, and went on to park the car.  The climb would not have been possible without Christian – calm, supportive, professional, good-humoured and determined to make me realise I should go at a pace I was comfortable with (and that pace meant we didn’t have time for a drink afterwards in the local bar!).  I also benefitted greatly from the encouragement that Jean Marc offered me – whether up or down, my progress was ‘superbe’.  At the time this was a huge help; in retrospect, Jean Marc was greatly broadening normal usage of the word, and ‘acceptable’ would have been more accurate.  During the climb, both Christian and Jean Marc also helped by pulling and/or pushing me at times:  my technique was at all times never more than ‘satisfaisante’.

We set off for Mont Aiguille at 6am, and the two hour walk took us along a trail through pleasant countryside but also up some 450 metres (approx. 1,500 feet).  Then we got prepared, roped up, helmets on (against falls, loose rocks) and off we went.  The ascent took approx. 4.5 hours.  You will see from the pictures that through the day I faded, from glad, confident morning to weary evening, but the climb and descent was a wonderful experience.  Christian led the way on the ascent, with me in the middle and then Jean Marc.  This meant I could get some sense of where to find handholds and footholds from watching Christian and Jean Marc could give advice from behind me.  There were, I understand and as you will see, gullies, chimneys, towers, ledges, crack systems, traverses, an overhang (to go under); and places to rest.

On the way, Christian said there would be a surprise at the top.  I hoped it would be a plane (between 1957 and 1975 Henri Giraud landed and took off some 52 times in a plane, as Mont Aiguille, being a mesa, has a relatively flat table shape summit) to take me down.  However, just as good, it was a bottle of the ‘biere du vercors’ to share.  I changed for lunch and we spent an hour by ourselves on the top, our only notable companion being a vulture – through the day, whilst on the mountain, we saw only 5 other climbers, until, near the end of our descent, we saw others going up.

We partly retraced our route on the descent and found that rock falls meant we had to divert from our expected route.  I found the descent more difficult – perhaps because of tiredness, but more likely technique, as I was less confident in where to place my feet than when going up.  For much of the descent, Jean Marc led, and could then advise me with footholds and handholds – and sometimes just take my foot and plant it.  There were two abseils – on neither of which I distinguished myself, but I felt I had a better understanding of what the technique should be after seeing Christian follow me down.

After the descent, the walk back to the car – excruciating!  By now I was very tired and Christian and Jean Marc found me a walking stick and, as importantly, water from a stream as I was parched and we’d drunk all the water we’d brought.

Eventually, 14 hours after setting off from the car, we got back to it.  My arms and legs ached - and ached until Wednesday; my legs were covered in cuts and grazes, and my knees were a livid red after being knocked and rubbed against the limestone. We drove back, showered, and had a wonderful meal where Jean Marc and Nadine, Christian and Sandy, Loic and Carolyn, Slavica and Alain, Anna and I celebrated the success of the three mountaineers.

But the reason for the climb is to raise money for Guy's & St. Thomas' Hospital Kidney Patients' Association, so any donation you make would be much appreciated by me and, more importantly, by the charity.

Thank you.

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