David’s blog reads, ‘Our third attempt to summit Mont Blanc was not looking good, the week before eleven people died in two accidents on our two probable routes, reminding us that this is a risky adventure, equalling in lots of pressure from both our families to give up. After 4 days acclimatisation we left our hut at 2-30am to go on a 3 hour rock climb in the dark through a snow storm. It’s took three years and many hours of training to get here. The views are stunning and after a few photos and a thimble of tea we were off again taking us over 7 hours. Over lunch the next day in Chamonix, we recalled the highs and lows of the last three years attempts. We remembered how we met on a work ski trip many years ago and laid down the challenge of Mont Blanc and Costa Rica. Our best days climbing were on Tour Ronde and Gervasutti Couloir on our second attempt, on the Cosmiques Ridge, a great route with some tricky technical sections Paul got stuck and I was left dangling from the rope desperately trying to find grip for my crampons. Chamonix will always hold a special place in our hearts. We’re agreed this challenge was going to be hard to beat but we now consider ourselves ex alpine mountaineers! ‘
David commented. ‘I am ambitious both in and out the office; I have high expectations of myself and the people we have at Chess. The constant desire to create and conquer new challenges is part of our culture. The Mont Blanc climb was a fantastic experience certainly pushed to reach new heights and performance, something I know our people strive to do.’