Folks, I would appreciate your advice, please. I'm a alpine noob, so I hope you'll consider my ignorance if my questions seem daft.
Three of us are attempting Mont Blanc by the Gouter route in early Sept of next year. Apparently, temperatures are in the -7 to -12 range at that time of year. No huts - we intend to bivvy and will be taking our time, weather permitting. I have a few questions regarding clothing and sleep systems.
1) Clothing. For the cold bits high up, I was initially thinking of layering like this: base layer/fleece jumper/Patagonia Nano Air/softshell outer. Hardshell in my pack, just in case. But I'm now thinking I could simplify and lighten the load by going baselayer/down jacket. Silly or plausible?
2) Sleeping bag or a half bag with a seriously good down jacket? I'll be in a bivvy bag in either case.
I realise that everyone is different when it comes to cold perception, so I'm asking for personal experiences, please, rather than definitive answers - I know they aren't possible. FWIW, I tend to run hot when I'm moving and I sleep warm.
To give you some idea, I'm looking at this setup from PHD, without the full size sleeping bag:
https://www.phdesigns.co.uk/phd-minus-20-deg-C-alps-summer-sleep-system-1?o...
Post edited at 15:06