Arete des Cosmiques. Chamonix Mont Blanc

We met at the bottom of the Aig du Midi cable car at 6.15 am this morning with a plan to climb Mont Blanc from the first cable car, but we could see from the clouds that the weather was not as expected , so we headed up with the thought that we may be able to get up Mont Blanc du Tacul. However part way up that we met groups turning back informing us that the wind was very strong higher up, so we made an executive decision and turned around in the hope that we would have time for another climb instead. Chris and Joe had not done any technical climbs before so we decided to try the Arete des Cosmiques and it turned out to be ace! As we reached the top it became quite windy with light flurries of snow, sharp needle flakes in fact that were clearly visible on the sleeve of my Mountain Equipment jacket! Joe( in the black jacket) and Chris climbing.

Excellent mountaineering!