In addition to my blog entry of November 12th, Mont Blanc SOTA F/AB-001, here's some more information from Gérald F6HBI. The photos below are taken with his kind permission from Gérald's Flickr pages. More photos can be found on the Flickr pages listed at the end of this blog entry.
Gérald wrote to me that indeed the F8UFT team for August 16th had planned to climb and activate Mont Blanc du Tacul SOTA F/AB-003 and Aguille du Midi F/AB-015 on returning, but the glacier of Mont Blanc du Tacul had dropped down and in its disastrous path killed three people, which made the F8UFT team decide it was better to cancel the climb and do a training session somewhere else.
For the SOTA chaser following the expedition from his "arm chair" and the comfort of his home, with the scenic picture postcards of the area in mind, it's easy to forget how hostile and dangerous the mountains can be. In the time the F8UFT team was there, in the area no less than 10 people have lost their lives in the mountains. Another OM that also wanted to climb and activate the Mont Blanc got stuck in a cable car at 3640 metres height and had to spend the night in there. The ordeal of OM F5OUX even got coverage on the TV news.
The breathtaking video of the F8UFT team descending the Aguille du Midi can now be found here, and definitely is a MUST-WATCH:
An expedition video and QSL cards are still in the making. I'll keep you posted.
Articles on the F8UFT Mont Blanc expedition also appeared in La Pioche (the news bulletin of the UFT - Union Française des Télégraphistes) issue nr. 121 4/2016, and Radio-REF (the news bulletin of the REF - Réseau des Émetteurs Français) issue nr. 903 November 2016.
Many thanks to Gérald, F6HBI for the information. Merci beaucoup, Gérald!
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| André, F6IGY with his VHF looking at the Mont Blanc summit. |
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| The UFT flag and the two CW stations on the summit of the Mont Blanc. Frédéric, F8DQY on 40m in the back. Gérald, F6HBI on 30m in the front. |
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| Gérald, F6HBI at the key at 4,810 m height on the summit of the Mont Blanc. |
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| The F8UFT team arriving on the summit of Mont Buet. The Mont Blanc can be seen in the background at the right. |
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| Cover of Radio-REF issue nr. 903 |
See also:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/geof6hbi/sets/72157674423614415 (activation Mont Buet F/AB-126)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/geof6hbi/sets/72157669975353914 (activation Le Brévent F/AB-258)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/geof6hbi/sets/72157673087919816 (activation Mont Blanc F/AB-001)
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