UM at the summit of Mont Blanc

Taking the University of Montpellier up to the roof of Europe is the project undertaken by students and teachers from SUAPS. Their ascent of Mont Blanc took place from September 10 to 16. Read the story.

"Climbing Mont Blanc is not only an incredible physical effort, but also a real mental feat. As far as I'm concerned, the end of the climb turned into a real mental challenge", Camille recalls.

Intensive course

Last year, the 6th year student at the Faculty of Medicine took part in an intensive mid-mountain hiking course organized by SUAPS, the university department for physical and sporting activities. 3 days and 2 nights at the Font Romeu high-altitude training center, with a single watchword: surpassing oneself in the face of cold, stress, lack of sleep and the physical and mental fatigue inherent in endurance effort in the mountains. " During this stay, we wanted to identify the most suitable profiles for the project, which was then in its infancy, of bringing together students from different parts of the university who had never climbed before, around a common goal: to climb Mont Blanc", says SUAPS.

Unforgettable ascent

At the beginning of September, Noémie, a student at theIUT Montpellier-Sète, Pablo, a doctoral student, and Justine and Benjamin, students at theUFR Staps, found themselves at the foot of the Alpine peaks alongside Camille. Two days of acclimatization at an altitude of 2,700 metres and a crash course in glacier walking later, the five students began their ascent of Europe's highest peak on September 14. The two-day ascent was supervised by three SUAPS lecturers and two experienced mountain guides. "On the edge of the Crête des Bosses, we sometimes had 20 cm of width to walk on, with a precipice on either side!" recalls Noémie, both nostalgic and moved as she recalls the immense joy, laughter, tears and general euphoria of the team's perilous arrival at an altitude of 4,808 metres.

Sustainability?

"Meeting people from all walks of life, learning to live together, supporting each other when the going gets tough... The benefits of this incredible human adventure are bound to benefit us in the future. During our internships, at the end of our studies and then in our respective professional lives", says the young woman who, almost six months after the climb, seems already to have forgotten the pain of frostbite, cramps and blisters, mountain sickness and the progressive lack of oxygen during the effort, to retain only the best of her experience. " Provided that new teachers get involved, this project could be continued in the future", explains the SUAPS management today, as if to respond to the massive enthusiasm of students from all departments for this unifying sports project, rich in emotion and humanity.

Camille, Noémie, Benjamin, Pablo and Justine's ascent of Mont Blanc was financially supported by the Fonds de Solidarité et de Développement des Initiatives Étudiantes (FSDIE).