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After a night on the Vallee Blanche; the Olympic Flame returns to Italy

featured in News & reviews Author Ellie Mahoney, Chamonix Editor Updated

After its 24 hour tour through France, yesterday (Tuesday)the Olympic Flame returned to Italian soil.

The 4000 well-wishers that gathered on Monday night to see the torch pass through Chamonix watched as it continued its journey to Turin, up and over the mountains. Accompanied by mountain guides from both sides of Mont Blanc, the team carried 3 separate torches to ensure the sacred Olympic flame remained alight during the night.

Starting out on crampons and then skins, the Chamonix guides climbed up the Vallée Blanche to the Refuge de Requin, right at the heart of the glacier where they stopped for a rest in the middle of the night. At daybreak a new team took over and continued up to the col de Toule and the Italian frontier where the flame was handed over to members of the Courmayeur Compagnie des Guides. From there, the 50 strong procession negotiated the powder on the glacier de Toule before descending into Courmayeur.

On Day 61 of its relay, the torch will continue along the Aosta Valley until it arrives in Turin on Friday for the opening ceremony.