Zsolt Argenyi of Seattle, WA came over to climb with Kathy in the Mont Blanc massif this year. A friend of Larry True (see his Recent Trip page), Zsolt also had the typical mixed, cold and snowy bag of weather prevailing this summer.

Zsolt posing for a shot on our glorious second day, after a big storm.

On our first day, very bad weather made our climb of the Pointe Lachenal rather challenging, but we did manage to get to the top (though Zsolt had to take Kathy's word for that!). Here, Zsolt keeps his spirits high as he follows a steep snow pitch to the summit.

What a day! This is the top, truly!

The next day dawned clear and cold, with a very wintry coating of deep, cold, fresh powder snow on our objective, the Petite Aiguille Verte. A couple of skiers took advantage of the conditions to descend to the Argentière glacier, but very few climbers were on this usually crowded climb.

Zsolt "eats it up" in the deep snow!

The view of the north side of Les Drus was even more impressive than usual.

This shot pretty much says it all.

The following day, we headed across the Vallée Blanche, shown here from the Chamonix side, looking over to Pointe Helbronner and the Italian border. The Dent du Géant and Grandes Jorasses on the left.

Two rope teams beat in the track, one from Italy, and one from France. Much howdee doing, meeting and greeting in the middle, just as we broke out of the fog bank on the Italian side, and back into the warm sunshine.

Passing below the satellite peaks on the east side of Mont Blanc du Tacul, the glacier is heavily crevassed here and quite beautiful.

The track threads among deep holes, making for careful stepping and nice photo opportunities.

The crevassed "crux" section behind, we relax into enjoyment of a more leisurely pace and spectacular views, heading toward bluer skies to the north.

Approaching the Cosmiques hut, wraiths of mist cast beautiful shadows on the fresh snowfields.

We finished our traverse with the famous and impressive steep snow ridge leading back up to Aiguille du Midi téléphérique station.

We finished up with some (relatively) relaxing rock climbing in the sunshine.

Ah, the life of a climber in the Mont Blanc massif! I hope to see Zsolt again in the Alps!