Chamonix-Mont Blanc, France...The Americans have Arrived!!

Arrived on Tuesday at 7:35AM, local time, into Geneva Switzerland on a United flight via Newark, NJ with Francisco.  Read the book, "Unbroken", on the way over.  A great book to read before an event like UTMB, makes such an effort seem so small.

So back to the weather before I talk about the race preparation.  The weather here is very volatile.  Sunny, then cloudy, then raining, then cloudy, a little bit of sun, then cloudy, then sunny, the hot, then cold and raining again.....all within an hour.  Do you get the picture.  You can see the weather forecast below for today(thursday) thru Sunday, the end of the race.  Of course this could all change again, and if so it can only get better.  With rain looking certain for a good portion of the race, my game plan/racing strategy has got to change a little bit as it relates to my gear.

The start/finish line in Chamonix

Yesterday we all (Francisco, Curt, Ray, Laura, Tim, Scot and Barb) all met up at the health club(after going up Mont Blanc via gondola) where sign in and packet pick up was.  We were able to get our BIB #'s, cool UTMB shirts and have our "obligatory gear" inspected.  I failed inspection with my wind proof jacket trying to get by as a being "water-proof".  So I grabbed a taxi and wen track to the chalet and grabbed my North Face Summit Series jacket, which I used in Leadville.  Initially they rejected this jacket as well.  I pleaded with the old french lady and she let me on through.  We then got our backpacks chipped our bibs and complimentary fluorescent green UTMB shirts.

After getting all of our stuff we gathered outside and tried to decided on where to go for dinner.  As luck would have it the skies opened up on us and we threw on our rain gear that was just inspected.  I gave my NF Summit Series jacket to Laura while I put on my NF wind proof (the I thought was waterproof) jacket and waterproof pants.  What I found out is that after standing in a torrential downpour for about 15 minutes that neither jacket was actually waterproof!  Thank God for that rain.  If that happened out on the course I would have gotten damp, wet and cold.

13,000+ feet a top of Mont Blanc via Gondola, breathtaking!!

Next we gathered at a local hotel where Patrick, a Denver native and friends with Ray, was staying for a beer and snacks waiting for the rain to stop before heading back out for dinner.  We had dinner as Les Moraine with everybody, less Tim, Scot and Barb, plus Patrick and Kim (from TX who is doing the CCC, which is a 100k trail run starting on Friday morning).  I had cod a glass of wine along with the some funny, light conversation.


It was about 10PM when we made it back to the chalet.  A long day out sight seeing, getting gear and discussing race plans/strategies.  After making a few biz calls I skyped the family to say a quick hello before crashing at about 12:15AM.  

The game plan today is to grab breakfast, head into Chamonix to pick up some souvenirs, have a nice lunch back at the Chalet before heading out to the airport to pick up Daley, who arrives at 4:40PM.  By then  should have all of my gear organized and ready to chill out for the evening.  Starting to get excited......

Cheers!

Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, France Weather

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• 54^°F
• Cloudy
• Feels like 54°F

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5 Day Forecast

Updated: Aug 30, 2012, 7:08am Local Time

TodayAug 30

60^°F

46^°F

Rain / Thunder

CHANCE OF RAIN:

80%

 

WIND:

WSW at 6 mph

Details

FriAug 31

57^°

45^°

Rain

CHANCE OF RAIN:

90%

 

WIND:

NNW at 8 mph

Details

SatSep 1

61^°

44^°

Rain

CHANCE OF RAIN:

70%

 

WIND:

NNE at 6 mph

Details

SunSep 2

68^°

44^°

Partly Cloudy

CHANCE OF RAIN:

10%

 

WIND:

NNE at 4 mph

Details