A Sense of Occasion

Rob Wright

"Beep Beep Beep". Before the third beep was finished I had hit the alarm clock and the noise stopped. Peace! It seemed only a few hours since I had fallen asleep. Not quite peace however.

Around me the thirty or so bed spaces were empty or emptying. Their alarms had already gone off. And all was a scene of feverish activity carried out in a semi conscious state it was, after all, one o'clock in the morning! A strange time to get up out of bed you might think, but for Alpinists it is the norm when you are looking at climbing a 4000m high mountain. Here at the Gouter Hut perched on the Aiguille de Gouter, high above the Chamonix the target was Mont Blanc. ... (continues)