Il Gran Paradiso

           Last summer, my father decided to take my brother and I on our first mountaineering expedition. That me us both very happy for we had been hiking with him all over the Alps, (French Alps, Italian Alps and Swiss Alps) since we were 4 but it was always hikes under 3000m and therefore, in summer gear which is very nice, but what we were about to do was much more exciting because it was more extreme. Our father had decided that for our first big expedition we would go up the Grand Paradis (Il Gran Paradiso) just across the Italian border, in the Aoste Valley. What was exciting about doing this mountain was that its top was 4006m above sea level and therefore we would have to hike on the glacier with crampons, ropes and the whole attire. The first day we left the car at the bottom of the valley and walked during 4 hours to get to the refuge, where we were going to spend the night. The next morning, we woke up at 4, along with the other people in the refuge, some of whom had come from all the way across the world just for this. We left at five, and at this time of the day it was completely dark so all the hikers in the mountain had headlights, making the mountain look like a giant chrismas tree. Around 7, we arrived at the bottom of the actual glacier. Then we walked during 3 hours in the snow with all our equipment on and with a freezing wind whiping us. When we were almost at the top, my father went back down with my little brother and i stayed with my father's friend who was a guide because the last 50m were too hard for my brother. Indeed, we now had to climb on rock with all our heavy gear on, which was fine until i saw the 800m cliff one metre away from me. Even thought we were attached to the rock, i can assure anybody that climbing on a one metre wide "path" with that big of a drop is quite scary. But then, I arrived at the top and hung on to the Virgin (mary) that was there. I was scared and tired, but at this moment, I felt proud and happy, and I felt my love for the Alps, which is doubtlessly the most beautiful mountain range on Earth.