Attending : Marks W and W, Richard, David, Mervyn, Steve, Peter and new member Mike Hempstead.
The team of eight, or rather two teams of socially-distanced 4, assembled at the Pétra Felix parking some 2km past Mollendruz Col, on a cold and cloudy February day, under guidance of Richard mentored by Mark Wn. It indeed cold again with -7C expected so we had wrapped up for it. Our intended challenge was a 360 metre ascent of the Dent de Vaulion up a trail through the forest almost due north from the parking. Team 1 and Team 2 had not been assiduously delineated and we therefore took a fluid approach, as is our custom.
Richard had some trouble with his sticks. They were sticking and would not extend having iced up from a previous expedition. Richard employed the stuck stick under your vest technique – which seemed not to work. Hot (mint) tea may have worked on one, and I believe we discussed urine. A sharp thwack seemed to work finally on the other.
Very soon all but Steve donned snow shoes as we ascended gradually through the hoar-rimed trees. The snow was good and cold, but there was a slight wind in our faces and the sun was hidden. Exiting the (Schilliger snow-clad) forest the cloud thickened and the cold intensified. Before long, or rather behind Long (who finally donned snow-shoes before the summit ridge), we were soon at the summit itself and sorting to the main task, establishing the bar on a snowy bench by the summit beacon. Polish Slimowitz inside us we unanimously agreed to eat our lunch there and then standing around our excellent bar now festooned with wines from South Africa (Chenin Blanc) and Switzerland (Fechy and Luins), and other stronger potions. It was perhaps the coldest lunch on record, but we were warmed from within and by the spirit of the two virtual teams at arms length, there assembled as one. Absent friends were duly toasted. The sun was ghostly and never came through strongly, and the expected summit views were indeed terrible, or rather just cloudy. Many subjects were thoroughly chewed over including Brexit, COVID19, vaccines, rugby, the EU and the state of the world. And dogs.
All too soon, or perhaps not too late that we froze in place, it was time to leave our summit summit. Both teams opted for a direct descent along the same route and after Long we were back at the cars. Mervyn duly brought out some reviving glue-wein that he had been portering.
A memorable outing with a summit summit meeting in real winter conditions.
Photos : Watts, Saynor, Long, Taylor
