ABU DHABI // Bad weather has forced an Abu Dhabi resident to scrap her bid to climb western Europe's highest mountain to raise awareness about climate change.
Zeina Abdo, a Lebanese mother of two, hoped to reach the summit of Mont Blanc on July 22.
But 80kph winds forced her to abandon her attempt 4,000 metres up the 4,810m mountain.
"People have been asking me if I'm disappointed," said Ms Abdo, whose sons are four and six. "I'm not. I had a great mountaineering time. And it reinforced the fact that although we like to push ourselves to the limit, we take everything for granted.
"I prepared for the climb physically and mentally but it really depends on nature - if we're welcome or not."
Ms Abdo started her climb on July 19, and was scheduled to reach the top on July 22.
The weather in the days leading up to her climb had not been good.
Just a week earlier, on July 12, nine mountaineers were swept to their deaths by a huge avalanche along a "three mountains" route to summit.
By July 21, the outlook was still not promising, but Ms Abdo still hoped to make the climb. She took a cable car up to the Aiguille du Midi then headed to the 3,613m Refuge des Cosmiques. But there she was told she could not attempt to reach the summit.
Instead, she headed to Glacier d'Aletsch in Switzerland, considered the biggest glacier in the Alps.
Her mountain guide, Martin Nellen, took her on a seven-hour hike on July 24 to the Aletsch. It was not physically challenging but she was awed by the glacier's beauty.
"You see only a third of this massive glacier and you feel so small," she said. "You are so immersed in her that all you want to do is protect her even more."
Aletsch is likely to lose at least four kilometres and one third of its mass in a hundred years if no action is taken to preserve it. Glaciers react after years to climate change, and the receding of the Glacier d'Aletsch will be even more significant if global warning continues, said Ms Abdo.
"There is a clear tendency these past 40 years that proves the human impact on global warming and the greater concentration of greenhouse gases," she added. "Despite the natural trend, we humans are dramatically helping to accelerate the process."
Ms Abdo returned to Abu Dhabi last week and plans to begin work on a number of environmental initiatives, including fitting solar panels in the desert, and water scarcity awareness and prevention.
"Nature can take care of herself, but she still needs our help," she said. "If we take her for granted for too long, we might face very serious issues earlier than we'd want."
