Three Ultras in France, Turkey and Romania

Gouter Panorama    (note: all pictures in this article are by the author).

2022's summer vacation centered around three Ultras in Western Europe, Eastern Anatolia and Eastern Europe.

We arrived at Mont Blanc (4807m, P4694m) between two heat waves and, after surviving a terrifying volley of rocks in the grand couloir on the ascent, were able to take advantage of decent conditions on the upper mountain to summit. Alas, it was in a whiteout, so none of Photos 1-3 are from the top.

Plenty of crevasses with weakening bridges kept us on our toes the entire day. I underestimated the difficulty of the Gouter Route, which forced us to spend a second, un-planned night at the refuge. Luckily, there was plenty of space with all guides having cancelled their trips due to what they had deemed unacceptable risk.

While the weather was outstanding almost the entire time, precipitation in the form of freezing rain did fall the night after our summit. This made the scramble down from the refuge icy the morning of the third day, adding to the challenge. We safely descended that, and crossed the couloir in a rare moment of quiet, hearts still in our throats. It was an incredibly lucky gamble to do this climb when we did - two weeks later the upper refuges were closed with local authorities having deemed the couloir too dangerous, thus essentially shutting down the normal route for the rest of summer.

We continued to Turkey, where we had a date with Ararat (5137m, P3611m).  Photos 4-6 below illustrate that ascent.

The services we arranged were outstanding and our guide (mandatory to be on the mountain) made the experience very memorable. I had planned a 3-day itinerary, however the route is easy enough that it can be done in just 2 - with proper prior acclimatization, of course. Other groups were on 4 or even 5 day programs, which is way too long.

The mountain is a complete zoo with people and animals moving up and down every day, and with no rules at all, waste and crowding are becoming major factors. The only moment of solitude we enjoyed was at the windy summit, where we managed to arrive as the second party, ahead of the day's multitudes. There was no snow to deal with until the last ~200 meters, to be on the generous side.

With extremely reliable weather, success is virtually guaranteed and depends only on physical conditioning. In summer, Ararat is nothing more than a trekking peak. We enjoyed local Kurdish hospitality in Dogubeyazit, which can be seen the entire time while on the mountain.

With my teammates returning to USA, I continued solo to Romania, where I squeezed in Pietrosul Rodnei (2303m, P1578m) after taking care of personal business.

This was a fun and easy hike, albeit also extremely popular. The views were truly incredible, as can be seen in Photos 7-9 following.

Drawing the line, what really stayed with me is how impactful global warming is. You can see it happening. It was abnormally hot in all four countries I visited (we flew into Geneva, Switzerland for Mont Blanc); someone was joking (only half-heartedly) that Mediterranean-like San Diego felt cooler than the Chamonix Valley. The impacts on the mountains are noticeable and significant. Mont Blanc baked under relentless high pressure, which created constant rockfall on exposed aspects and accelerated melting of the glaciers, increasing the dangers to climbers.

Without the retreating snow cap at the summit, Ararat is simply an enormous dusty volcano dominating a landscape very similar to California. Water availability is starting to become an issue, from what I could understand.

In Romania, previously healthy forests on the slopes of the Carpathians are starting to show signs of stress, with many withered trees poking out in what used to be blankets of greenery as far as the eye can see.

Between the more extreme climatic events and the growing popularity of climbing, I urge everyone to get your peaks done without delay, while the experience is still meaningful.

Mihai Giurgiulescu