Le Grand Capucin

On my spare days in Courmayeur I usually go to the Bonatti Refugio and often just sit and ponder, in a place I hold dear, feeding the soul and making plans for the rat, looking at the ever changing Southern walls of the massif.
Today however I decided to accompany the clients and ride the new Skyway lift up to Point Helbronner (I would have joked that guides discount made this much more enjoyable, but to be honest it was a priceless experience). The lift betwixt Italy and France runs right past this magnificent pillar of pink granite - the scene of one of Bonatti's greatest triumphs, sending an implausibly vertical line up the face.

The weather played ball with a dramatic inversion in the valley and moody wispy clouds up high, and to be fair I could of picked any of a dozen potential blips, but in the end I settled for this one as it shows the Capucin, the rest of the East side of Mont Blanc du Tacul, Mont Blanc itself and the glaciers looking more ravaged than I've ever seen them.

Sat in the lounge typing this I can hear excited chatter from the clients, a day that's going to be remembered by them us all for a long time.