I am currently in Sydney. It’s a town that I’ve dreamt about visiting for a long time (and that truly lived up to my expectations)!

In a few days I’m flying out to Singapore to begin the third and final part of my journey: Asia.

I’ve just passed the halfway point of my journey, tipping the see-saw, where the countdown to the finish begins, where everything starts to speed up.

The remaining time for my journey seems like an eternity, and at the same time is slipping quickly away! very contradictory!

These first 5 months have been filled with 1000 discoveries, landscapes, feelings, emotions and meetings that I never get bored of. There has also been plenty of time to think during this journey – and that’s why I haven’t forgotten you!

So far we’ve been lucky enough to not suffer any misfortune other than insect bites… fingers crossed for the rest of the journey

Our website has been a bit out of date recently, mainly because of a lack of internet access and uploading photos, but make sure you check out www.unmondeautour.com which will very soon be up to date!

I hope that you’ve all had a great winter in France…

Bye for now

Sophie

We tried to climb the Huayna Postosi in Bolivia next to La Paz at 6088m.

It was snowing up there and you needed crampons.

I therefore didn’t go up there with the Novadry boots, but at least up to the refuge at 5133m….

To get there, my Novadry boots resisted well in the powdery snow. They are completely watertight.
Whilst everybody else had wet feet and were stressed out because they couldn’t dry out their stocks in the hut at 0°C…. my feet were completely dry… they were very envious!!!!

It’s now been 6 weeks since I’ve been wearing these boots everyday. I’m generally satisfied with them.

I opted for low upper shoe. A choice I don’t regret. They are a good compromise for walking around town and over rocky terrain. They deliver on both counts!

However there are 3 points worth improving:
-  The laces often undo themselves and tying them back with a huge rucksack isn’t practical. I don’t really like the two knots

-  the breathability of the boots could be optimized. I couldn’t take several pair of socks and I can’t wear them several days in a row, which explains the odour problem. In Peru, if it’s hot outdoors, my feet are also hot inside the shoe.

-  They squeak. When walking they have a tendency to make noise, which is sometimes disturbing: feel as if there several of us walking

She set off without any fuss as if she was going to the seaside for a weekend… clutching a Novadry jacket.

She came back on Tuesday morning on cloud nine and with a slightly red nose, saying with a euphoric smile “Yes! I did it! I climbed Mont Blanc!“.

She shared her feelings with us, and we were proud of her. She showed us a few photographs which we were all very interested in.

You could say that we all had a little part in helping her succeed in this challenge.

She took the Novadry Team Quechua Bionnassay 900 jacket with her, one of our star products in terms of protection against bad weather and breathability.

Marie showed us a few photographs to illustrate her climb, saying

“On Thursday, 30 June, I did some training in crampon techniques, abseiling and using an ice pick…

I found this very useful when climbing and descending Mont Maudit.”

“The Glacier du Tour, our training location. A beautiful playground but packed with hazards…”

“On Thursday evening, we slept at Refuge Albert 1^er at 2700m, that was our night camp before climbing the Aiguille du Tour at 3500m. This gave us two days to acclimatise to the altitude, essential before tackling Mont Blanc”.

“A pause with my two companions, Stéphane Dhume a former Oxylane employee and Grégory Facon our guide from Annecy during the climb of the Aiguille du Tour on Friday“.

The great day!

“On Saturday, 2 July around 2 pm, I was ready, sort of…

I said to myself: this is the last time, whatever happens

and what the heck am I doing here…

when I was at the summit of the l’Aiguille du Midi it was worse, I was feeling very anxious…

I breathed and concentrated”

“Up there, that’s the starting point for the Aiguille du Midi. I found the peak extremely steep. It was then especially that I was worried about the difficulty of the return journey”

“I took this photograph, to reassure myself perhaps…

Seeing another group, I told myself that I was not the only one who was completely loopy… !!! ;-)”

“In the evening we prepared our camp for the night at 3600m next to the refuge des Cosmiques, for those who know it. Well, I say we, Stéphane and Grégory really, they wouldn’t let me help them. They spoilt me and I’m very grateful. I was just like a real princess of the mountains… ;-)

That evening I must have drunk litres and litres of hot tea

but also delicious freeze-dried pasta with Bolognese sauce to keep me warm.

I had to eat, eat and eat… so that I went to bed at eight o’clock with a full stomach.”

“On Sunday, 3 July around four o’clock in the morning I started to feel that it was possible!

at the top of Mont Maudit, after Mont Blanc du Tacul, I admired the sunrise… it was magnificent but it was freezing and even worse it was windy.”

“I reached the top of the Mont Blanc at 8.15 am with Stéphane. We got there! I cried with emotion… how can I explain… lots of emotions and stuff in my head that would remain with me!”

Marie was moved and seemed to be reliving her adventure

“I let out my feelings and my happiness, and it did me good…

It was great, I was so happy, it was my third and last attempt and I was extremely proud of myself. I felt immensely happy. I really revelled in my success.

I then thought about my preparation. I had run two or three times a week since the New York Marathon in November: 8 months of running in all sorts of weather… but I like that… We stayed for a quarter of an hour. You can’t see it on the photograph but it was very windy. It was cold, -15° according to Grégory”

“And here’s my postcard souvenir for you”

“and also to show you that even at the top of the mountain I thought of you, the Novadry Team

Specially for you !!”

I thanked Grégory and he said: “don’t mention it! It was you climbing not me!”

OK but it was thanks to him that I succeeded: to his patience and reliability…”

“We left. I knew what was coming and the journey ahead of me… The weather was beautiful and we didn’t have to hurry, too bad for Novadry…

… I was elated and so ready for what came next.”

“I succeeded, it was a dream and I did it…”

Marie Moreira assistant with the Novadry team