Red Bulletin UK 5/21

VENTURE
Travel
Soar point: (above) Muskett flies above the heavily crevassed Glacier du Brouillard;
(below) approaching the landing field in the Val Veny, Italy
on Mont Blanc. We’re attempting a
second ascent of the mountain’s hardest
rock climb – a route known as Incroyable,
on the Pilier Rouge du Brouillard, an
imposing granite monolith that starts at
4,000m. The sun is out and the weather
is baking hot. Snow melting on the
slopes above and below us expose a
vertiginous red rock face, which we
manoeuvre up using our fingertips. After
a successful day’s climbing, we make it
to the tiny tin shack of the Eccles refuge
and a viable take-off on a hanging
section of glacier near the hut.
The position is awe-inspiring, and the
ever-steepening convex snow slope is
perfect for a take-off – or it would be if
the entire slope wasn’t still frozen. Paul
and Jake are standing on a hacked-out
snow ledge 30m to my side. It will be
Paul’s first flight under the command of
Jake on an ultra-light single-skin tandem
wing. What a place for a first flight.
“Para-alpinism
is becoming an
increasingly
popular pastime”
Wearing crampons to give myself
purchase on the snow, I make my
committing run to launch the glider.
The light fabric quickly and easily rises
above my head, and as the leading edge
touches the sun a warm valley breeze
inflates the canopy and gently lifts me
off my feet. Looking back, I see Jake and
Paul safely take off with whoops of joy
as they settle beneath their wing.
It’s shared experiences like these
that make para-alpinism such an
incredible sport. The descent was once
the boring part of the day, but now it’s
something to look forward to. As we
touch down in the valley, conveniently
close to that café, it’s time to plan our
next adventure.
Calum Muskett is a professional climber,
mountain guide, and ambassador for
Rab, Scarpa and Petzl. He provides
bespoke mountaineering and ski courses
at muskettmountaineering.co.uk
JAKE HOLLAND CALUM MUSKETT
76 THE RED BULLETIN