Things didn’t look very promising when I started to climb this mountain from the French village of Saint Pierre del Forcats. There were low clouds and the visibility was dreadful, but as I gained height the clouds gradually lifted, giving me the good fortune that, as I reached the summit, they finally gave way to the sun and I had unforgettable views. Moreover, I could descend the central couloir with reasonable visibility and good dry snow, something which wasn’t to be expected as it was well into April (22 April, 2012). Only two traces can be seen in the photo, both mine: the one I made as I struggled to open up the track in the deep snow and the descent, which gave me real satisfaction and literally made me whoop with joy. Eight hours later I was back in Madrid, feeling that cities simply weren’t built for me.
La cosa no pintaba bien cuando empezé a subir esta montaña desde el pueblo francés de Saint Pierre dels Forcats. Había nubes bajas y pésima visibilidad, pero a medida que fui cogiendo altura se fueron levantando las nubes paulatinamente, con la suerte de que al llegar a la cumbre las nubes dieron paso al sol y tuve vistas inolvidables. Además pude bajar la canal central con visibilidad y buena nieve seca, cosa que yo no esperaba porque el mes de abril ya estaba bien avanzado (esto fue el 22 de abril de 2012). En la foto solo se ven dos huellas, ambas mías: la que trabajosamente dejé al abrir huella en la nieve profunda en la subida y la de bajada, que me provocó verdadera satisfacción y gritos de dicha. Ocho horas después estaba en Madrid, sintiendo que la ciudad no está hecha para mi.
There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
ResponderEliminarThere is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the Universe, and feel
What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal
-George Gordon-