Storm at 4300m

This photo was taken by my friend Barend as we turned back from our climb to the top of Mont Blanc.

We climbed 2000m to the Gouter Hut the day before. This put us at 3800m, where we tried to sleep for a few hours before waking up for breakfast at 2am. By 3am we were climbing. The weather was terrible and we climbed with another group of 9 before deciding to return to the hut, about 500m from the top. The wind was strong, there was no visibility, and the snow had covered our original tracks.

That same day we descended 2500m back to the valley and to our hotel, where we slept for 12 hours.