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GB Member to Climb & Snowboard Mont Blanc |
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 Posted by Starnzy on Monday 26th April, 2010 @ 11:47 GMT |
News Category: Miscellaneous | Visited 1098 times |
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If tomw_n is posting on GONEboarding at the start of May, we know there's 3G connectivety at the top of Mont Blanc.
GB member Tom, 30, has lived in Chamonix for four years and has this month set his sights upward, and plans to climb and snowboard Mont Blanc in support of the children's charity Great Ormond Street. With his friend Charlie Davies and a Mountain Penguins guide, Tom's route takes him from the Aiguille du Midi top station to the Cosmiques refuge, then onto Mont Blanc via the two summits of the Tacul and Mont Maudit on the way. |
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"It's a bloody long way", confesses Tom. "I've been doing some long hikes and snowshoe climbs around Chamonix to prepare. But you can't replicate everything - especially not the effects of altitude. I've been getting some funny looks carrying my board around on my backpack well below the snowline".
Climbing from 3842m to 4810m is significantly easier with a lighter backpack; the team need to keep to the essentials, and get as light as possible. "Whilst it's certainly easier taking a short, light snowboard up, I want something which will be able to maximise the amount of fun I'm going to have on the way down", he says. Tom rides a Lib Travis Rice 164.5 with large Burton CO2s, which are a good compromise at 5.12kg.
The route from the summit back to Chamonix will go via the Mulets hut on the North Face - basically, straight down the crow-flies route from Mont Blanc to Chambre Neuf.
The expedition costs are being funded by Tom & Charlie, but if you would like to keep them motivated as they train, you can donate some money to Great Ormond Street on the expedition's behalf, at www.justgiving.com/snowboardmontblanc.
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