The gouter dome

At 2am we left the tete rousse hut. We were on our own. There was no wind and no cloud. The starry sky above us looked fantastic. Within ten minutes we were at the edge of the grande couloir. We listened for a few minutes and heard no rocks coming down the gulley. We knew how dangerous this place could be at the wrong time. At this hour however the couloir was unusually quiet..almost benign. All the loose rocks were frozen in place with the hard snow. We gathered ourselves and made a dash across. We were across in less than ten seconds but it felt much longer to me. We started up the gouter ridge. The next two hours would be proper hand on rock climbing. We all tried to help each other by pointing out hazards like ice, awkward steps or loose rocks as we spotted them. It was very quiet in the dark but we made a point of chatting to each other and encouraging each other as we went. In the black we were unable to see each others faces so we used our voices to reassure each other that we were managing and feeling ok. Within an hour we got a whiff of the gouter hut. It was rancid but at least we knew we were getting there. Another hour later and we were at the hut itself. We went in and untied. The place was quiet. Most folk had left for the summit two hours before. We got a drink and lay down for a bit. Julie was still feeling off colour. The state of the toilets did nothing to settle her stomach. After half an hour she was still lying in a semi foetal position so I was worried for her but she rallied big style and soon we were on our feet getting geared up once more. I thought that if we stayed here long enough then we would all be feeling rough with the musty stink of the place. Julie seemed to perk up once we got moving. As we headed up the gouter dome the sun started to come up. The thin line of torch lights up ahead began to diminish as the sun washed out the faint beams. It was now 5.30am.