Day 5 - Refuge de Moede-Anterne to Chamonix - Bad Energy Trading

Forecasts were poor and turned out to be correct - we woke up in the clouds. We had a short day and we were heading to an incredible viewpoint for Mont Blanc, so this was a major disappointment. Some forecasts suggested things might get better in the afternoon, so we clung to this hope and did everything as slowly as we could. 

A wonderful view - bit is is also hidden

Finally, though, we were outside and walking in a Scottish style day; it wasn't raining or windy, just cold, damp and misty. For much of the hike we were just below the clouds but we had to climb up the Brevent and that took us into the clouds. The bit before the summit involved some ladders and was quite fun. I had been here skiing 25 odd years ago on a lovely day so I knew just how good the view was. But the others had to take my word for it. 

The official GR5 avoids Chamonix and descends to Les Houches; it is a long, steep, rocky descent with a reputation for harming knees. I thought it would be a good idea to preserve our knees and also to see Chamonix, so we had no compunction riding the cable-car down. You had to buy your ticket at the bottom, when it was to late to decide if the price was worth it. 

Well, it was an exceptional bargain for the cable-car company. We gave the company around 4.5 MJ (megajoules) of potential energy - enough energy to power an electric heater for an hour. They used this to raise another cable-car full of fair-paying passengers (one goes up as the other goes down). For giving this energy to the company, we were charged 90 Euros. Hmm...