Le Tour to Albert Premier Hut

We set off from the Col De Balme Cable car during the early afternoon in good weather. John explained that the weather had been poor for most of the season so far, and that we were the first group to have had good weather. The forecast was for three days of sun following which it could become more unsettled. The route began by gently contouring around some grassy slopes with excellent views across to Mont Blanc. As we walked along we were able to have a chat and get to know each other better. After a while the path became steeper and we made a final push up to the Albert Premier Hut. Here we took a break for some beer and cake before John took us down to the Glacier du Tour. Once on the Glacier we put on our crampons and went through some skills in walking in them and making sure we did not trip over etc. This also provided a good opportunity to ensure that boots fitted and crampons were correctly adjusted etc.

We went back up to the hut for our evening meal at 6:30 p.m. The meal was surprisingly good - soup followed by potatoes and some sort of stew with a creme caramel for dessert. I had expected the food to be a little like halls of residence or school dinners, but the hut seemed to do extremely well. John told us that there are a couple of huts which are not so good at catering, but that the majority are good. Following dinner Duncan and myself played a few hands of cards before going to bed at around 10:00 p.m. If you are planning to go on this trip I can highly recommend taking a deck of cards with you since the majority of days finish early in the afternoon. Sleeping in the hut was quite an experience. It was my first time in a hut (having bivvied on previous trips with Al). The rooms are Alpine dormitories which are basically long bunk beds with 6 or so people lying next to each other. It seemed particularly warm in the huts for most of the holiday, and this along with the noise of snoring (or shouting in my case) meant that sleep was limited.