ALPINE CONDITIONS, FROZEN BEARD BUT A WARM SHUTTER!

By Craig Hughes

The Puy de Dome is a 1465m (4806ft) mountain just outside of the city of Clermont-Ferrand. Although this mountain isn't particularly high it is said that the weather is the same as a mountain 1000m (3280ft) higher making it closely resemble alpine mountain weather conditions. Craig Hughes recounts a recent sunrise photowalk.

Saturday morning at sunrise. I sneak out before the family gets up leaving as early as 4am. The plan, to be back by the time they have woken, bringing fresh croissants from the boulangerie for breakfast.

I’d checked the weather the previous evening, leaving the house by 6am, parking my car at the bottom of the old mule route. I prepared for the 30min walk to the top of the Puy de Dome mountain in the chain of the volcanic mountains of my region (Volvic water is from this chain; random fact). I put on my snowshoes, the temperature is a ‘balmy’ -6C so I know it's going to be cold at the top. I don my backpack, head-torch and set off up the old mule route. After 10mins I'm too warm and strip off to a thermal layer and a merino wool top, by this point the steam coming off me freezes to my top and my beard, but I'm toasty warm as I labour my way up, gravity attempting to thwart my ascent, but the draw of being on the top in the blue hours drives me to keep going.

Just before I reach the top, I turn the last corner and the wind stops me in my tracks as it tears the heat from my body. I'm forced to put my Gore-Tex jacket back on before the wind freezes my clothing and me to the bone. By now the wind is a strong 60kph or (40mph) giving a bone chilling air temperature of -17C. I walk 500m and hide behind a building out of the wind to put on my salopettes, a down jacket, second hat, winter mittens and neck buff, because I need to psych myself to be up here for at least an hour and half in this extreme weather but I'm prepared for it.

I wait patiently in the blue hour for sunrise in the hope for some more visibility because I can't see more than 10m due to the freezing fog. The whiteout gives me some amazing ghost like photos of the Roman ruins; the temple of Mercury. After I have taken some photos of the temple and the museum building I decide that the weather isn't going to change, the sun has risen and not burnt through the freezing fog and it's still a whiteout. I might as well make my way down to the car and go home. I meet a guy who is also making his way down because it too cold with zero visibility.

We chat as we descend, but as we round a corner the valley opens in front of us. A hole appears in the fog and behold, we have a cloud inversion! The light is stunning, a golden pink colour, I slip my backpack off in a fever trying to grab a photo before the light retreats and we disappear into the fog again. I rattle off some photos, sling my bag back on to my back, bid a new friend good bye and run, jog, wheeze my way back to the top to see if I can get some photos of the temple in this stunning light. But a 10 kilo bag, snowshoes and winter mountaineering clothing doesn't make for a rapid ascent. It takes 10 mins of laboured run, jog, drag, but I’m back at the top. I start taking more photos but my camera becomes white with ice formed from my breathe and my beard also freezes to it from time to time!

I eventually can't see through the view finder and I'm forced to use the back screen but my Nikon D800 doesn't skip a beat, testament to a solid professional camera. I spend a half an hour capturing temple pictures, the observatory and the cloud inversion before I have what I think I need and start to make my way back to the car; happy to have seen this beautiful mountain once again.

Photographs copyright Craig Hughes. Not to be reproduced or used without express permission of the photographer.