The challenge offered by Jesús Calleja, and the Cuatro TV program Desafío Extremo, to the Repsol team members Marc Coma, Dani Pedrosa and another rider Héctor Barberá was successfully completed yesterday morning. The expedition started out at 4am from the Gouter mountain refuge in adverse weather conditions to tackle the 1 000 metres that separated them from the summit. The peak was reached after a climb that took 4 hours and a half. Tonight the team will be back in Chamonix and will travel home tomorrow.
The climb prepared by Jesús Calleja had a three day margin to reach the summit as it depended on the weather, and so the arrival of a mass of polar air meant that the expedition had to bring their attempt forward as bad weather approached the area. At 4am yesterday the whole expedition left the Gouter refuge – at an altitude of 3 817 metres – where they had spent the night. After a short stop at the inhospitable Vallot emergency refuge on the way to the summit they began their final ascent.
The group climbed with ropes connecting them to each other and crossed narrow ridges, just 40 cm wide, with sheer drops on either side and a cold wind carrying ice hit them hard. The final ascent – equipped with crampons and piolets – was made with three different ropes; Jesús Calleja in the lead, with Héctor Barberá, Dani Pedrosa, and Enrique Calleja at the back. Marc Coma was in the second group with Emilio Valdés, the cameraman; and the third was made up of Adolfo López, Jesús López and David Martínez Pato, Head of the Repsol press section. The expedition reached the summit in two groups. The first two roped groups arrived at 8:30, and the third 15 minutes later.
The ascent was very complicated because of the bad weather. The riders, converted into mountaineers had to face gusts of wind up to 70 km/h and a chill factor of -35ºC. Those that suffrered most were Dani Pedrosa and Héctor Barberá as they both lost feeling in their hands and feet. Marc Coma, although he also had problems, did not suffer as much as his companions. That same night only 25% of the 74 people who set out to climb Mont Blanc, 4 810 metres, managed to reach the summit, and all of them were mountaineering experts, except the three sportsmen who carried on undaunted by the harsh weather conditions and the fact that it was their first ever high mountain.
After reaching the summit they had another tough 2 hour descent to Gouter, there they rested for an hour before tackling the gorge called ‘The Ravine of Death’, a descent that has the added complication of stone avalanches. This took them to the Tête Rousse refuge – 3 167 metres – where they spent the night. Today the expedition returned to Chamonix, there they will spend their final night before flying home. Dani Pedrosa`s impressions and anecdotes can be found on his blog at www.repsol.com.
Dani Pedrosa
“This was an experience that I was really looking forward to, from the very moment that Jesús put it to me, and the truth is that it went really well. We were part of a very experienced group and we were totally protected from any type of risk, and the truth is that we had everything put on a plate for us. We just had to put one foot in front of the other, and the great atmosphere between us meant we had a great time. The weather was quite bad; we got very cold up there, but the hard times were more than compensated by the laughs we had all the time. The atmosphere was incredible and the communication was very good. Even with the bad weather the expedition was a success and I am pleased because we did not have any problems. This was very good for me in particular because the physical side of things will make me fitter. Spending a few days at high altitude has helped me a lot, I got used to the conditions and it has been a great experience, with a great atmosphere among the expedition”.
Marc Coma
“Things went very well. This was great fun because Jesús [Calleja] formed a group which got along well and we had a great time; we were laughing constantly. Regarding the experience of climbing so high, it was more complicated than I expected because even though I had done some climbing before I had never been so high, I enjoyed it a lot though. At the end there was a more technical zone, with snow as well as bad weather, but the most important thing was to be accompanied by experienced people like Jesús and the Desafío Extremo team. It was worth all the effort and Dani [Pedrosa], Héctor [Barberá] and I got along like a house on fire the whole few days. There was a lot of team spirit and the truth is that we all had a great time from the very beginning to the very end”.
