Ascent of Mont Blanc
The first 4,807 metres are always the most difficult

Two inhabitants of Geneva subjected themselves to several months’ personal training to sample the joys and difficulties of the high mountains for the first time. Their initial summit was Mont Blanc; a difficult ascent not to be taken lightly.

TEXT : Marie de Pimodan
PHOTOS : Yannick Flugi

It’s unquestionably a veritable performance, better still, an exploit, to have succeeded in placing a foot on the summit of Mont Blanc. This was the case, last summer, in what was a very first ascent in the high mountains. “If you can make a comparison with the working world, starting out in mountaineering with Mont Blanc is like beginning a career with the position of managing director!” stresses the guide Yannick Flugi, who accompanies the two pretenders to the summit. It certainly wasn’t a gentle start to the high mountains, but even so it required several months’ training ultimately geared towards scaling the 4,807 m roof of Europe in as painless a manner as possible.

In principal the idea of taking novices to the highest summits in Europe seems incongruous. In the end though it isn’t as strange as all that, as long as the physique and mental state manage to keep up. In order to do this, the Geneva-based company PPC (Physical Performance Concept)* prepared a few particularly motivated people for this large-scale objective. “We train people all year round who wish above all to maintain good physical fitness but who in no way apply this to any sort of sporting performance, explains one of three PPC associates, physical trainer Sébastien Grossini. We offered some of our clients the incredible challenge of climbing to the summit of Mont Blanc. The idea was to prove that any challenge is achievable.”

From the training to the reality
Strain tests, training on the plains with running or cycling races, muscle development sessions, trips to the mountains… For four months, around ten clients from PPC worked on their physical fitness with the same goal. In the end, only two of them, Jérôme and Marc, set off on the assault of the summit… and reached it. To accompany them, PPC joined forces with the Atypeak guides. A first ascent took place at the Pointe de Lachenal and at the Arête des Cosmiques two weeks prior to scaling Mont Blanc. “It was necessary that they became acclimatised to the altitude, specified Sébastien Grossini. Any exertion in the mountains, where there is less oxygen, is managed in a totally different way from that which you get accustomed to working with when you’re on the plains.” This is similar to the relationship you have with height, which is something the two pretenders to Mont Blanc weren’t used to until that point.

Thanks to advice from the PPC personal trainers as well as a great assiduity to training, Jérôme and Marc reached the summit of Mont Blanc without too much difficulty. “Neither the legs nor the stamina were lacking, observes Sébastien Grossini. However, it’s really very interesting to see the reactions of these two personalities, who are used to controlling everything in their professional lives, once they were faced with having their points of reference taken away from them and having to endure the full force of the elements in the mountains.” To be candid about it, the fear of heights was something the two new mountaineers found difficult to deal with!

The practice of mountaineering in general and the ascent of a summit like that of Mont Blanc in particular, is not something to be taken lightly. Besides the matter of physical stamina, that of mental stamina must also be taken into account. The two are closely linked in their contribution to the success of the project. “Poor preparation can lead to serious safety issues”, explains Yannick Flugi, evoking the current climate that makes mountaineering accessible to the general public. Indeed, a host of characters wrongly believe that it’s enough to employ a guide to make an attempt at an ascent which ultimately they’re not capable of, either physically or mentally. “The main goal of an ascent is to enjoy yourself. If you have to hurt yourself then frankly there are other solutions”, emphasizes the guide. It’s worth remembering that before you can benefit from the pleasures of high altitude, you have to make sure you have stamina, resistance to the cold and a steely mental state, because without them you won’t make the summit. A word to the wise…

*PPC, in collaboration with the Atypeak guides, offers personal training for the ascent of summits across the region.
www.p-p-c.ch or www.atypeak.com

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