UKC

Hello from chamonix folks!

I'm planning to sleep at altitude (+3000m) tonight and the plan is to bivi outside at a site I am aware of (through contacting someone on UKC), however the weather may not be kind...

Does anyone know if the top station is left open overnight if I needed to sleep inside there as a plan B?

Thanks
Simon

In reply to LomondSiTi:

People often sleep up there, never done it myself but I'm pretty sure you can stay inside.

In reply to LomondSiTi:

Yeh, you can stay in the grand montets station easily enough.
There's also the winter room, if you look hard enough or are in the know

In reply to LomondSiTi:

Lots of climbers spend the night there. There's only one heated room, and it's the toilets (similar to the Midi station). Don't know why, I suppose they heat the toilets to keep the pipes from freezing

In reply to HosteDenis:


Pipes?

In reply to HosteDenis:

Don't sleep in the toilets however tempting. You'll stink of piss, and every time you move a waft of stale urine will issue forth.

In reply to LomondSiTi:

I once bivied just up the ridge from the station. There's a good spot in the rocks, very sheltered on all sides and someone had even put some rubber mats down, presumably " borrowed" from the station. During the night there was a terrific thunderstorm and I woke up to calls from the station "Everyone get inside before you get struck by lightening". I packed up most of my gear before I realised that it was just a dream albeit very realistic one. The storm however was real. Ah bivis, don't you just love em.

Al

In reply to LomondSiTi:

The winter room is at the upper level, behind the winding gear. Walk round to the right hand side.

I've stayed there a few times too - cracking bivi stops. TBH you'll probably get a better nights sleep up in the rocks and that skiing mat has been there years.