Girls on Tour

So Andrea had a 8.45am tennis match. She was then met by her Father and Lucy [Our Au Pair] and we then climbed the 600 meter Via Cordia in the astonishingly fast time of an hour and half. Andrea then went for another swim and then went for a two hour mountain bike ride and then finished the day with another swim.

First Alpine Climb

Oliver Nailard and John Fitt asked me if I could set them off in the right direction so that they could go off and climb some mountains on their own. We spent the first day on the Mer de Glace the second climbing the aiguille du Crochue and the third climbing Pt Lachenal 3613m

Emrich Brothers do thier first alpine climb

Tom and Luke climbed the route "La Tartiflette" at Le Brevent today. This afternoon Florence Seaton[6years] lead their sister Lize [7 year] up some of the classic climbs at Les Gaillands- Chamonix's famous climbing crag.

South Face of the Aiguille du Midi

Roger Cunliffe and I climbed this most famous piece of rock in perfect weather and only a couple of other climbers dotted around the face. Amazing for the height of the climbing season.

Alpine Rock Climbing

Roger Cunliffe and I been rock climbing in both Chamonix and Switzerland

Point Percee 2725m

Point Percee is so named because its south ridge has a big hole in it. Pierced. Peter Folkman and I decided to leave the big peaks alone because there is still too much snow and it still is not freezing properly. Instead we went to the Aravis and climbed the Arrete Doigt on Pt Percee a route that must count as one of the best in France.

Les Zero's Sont Fatigue

Finally the weather came good. However We felt that there was too much snow high to attempt a big peak up so we headed for one of Switzerlands huge climbing crags Sanetch which is above Sion. We climbed the fanastic route named Les Zero's sont Fatigue

Mt Mort

Peter Little and I started the week with the most awful weather forecast imaginable. Nevertheless We did manage to slalom around the worst of the weather and got a peak in on our first day Mt Mort. Or Mount Death! This is mountain above the Grand St Bernard Monastery. So named because it was [and is] the starting point for many avalanches that take out pilgrims on thier way over the pass in winter.

Ski Season is Back

This morning Chris Dovell and I left the Margheritta Hut 4560m at 6.00am. We skied 1500 meters straight run down towards Alagna.
We had spent the three previous days ski touring and acclimatising so that we were ready to spend the night in the highest building in Western Europe. This morning it was very cold minus 20 accompanied by a strong wind. Later when were down on the Italian plane it was 28 degrees! Chris took some great photos that can be seen in recent photos ski mountaineering folder; July 2007.

Chamonix Cross

This is hard work. A race from the centre of Chamonix to le Brevent at 2000m. luckily for me I could watch from the side and drink beer. Jane however ran the entire thing and tonight is very tired.

Clocher Clochotons

Mid Winter at the end of June

Turi and Agust went from summer climbing yesterday to full winter conditions on the Cosmique arrete high p on the aiguille du Midi. Nevertheless we got above the clouds and had really good climbing condiions and hardly no one around.

Remarkable Rock Climbing

Turi and Agust spent an afternoon at the local Chamonix crag Les Gaillands. They had never been rock climbing before. They learnt extrordinarly quickly because now armed with the "basic skills" they launched them selves at the most famous rock climb in the Aosta Valley the Bucce d'arancia. A wonderful 10 pitch rock climb.

Still unsettled weather

More poor weather is creating problems. Last night it snowed down to 2000 meters. This photo was taken from our kitchen window by my friend Alan Kimber.

Wendy Crabb becomes an Alpinist

We have just completed an imensely successful three days. Wendy, and I spent a day on the Mer de Glace Ice climbing. We then climbed the Aiguille du Crochue and ran down the snow fields to lac Blanc. On our third day we took the lift up to the summit of the aiguille du Midi and traversed Point Lachanael. Wendy is now a confirmed Alpinist and is going to buy her own mountaineering boots.

Difficult Conditions

The climbing conditions are not good at the moment. There has been a lot of snow followed by hot weather and it has not been freezing high up. Katie Penrose and attempted to climb the Tour Ronde but had to retreat because it was just too dangerous to continue. Later in the week we attempetd to clmb Mt Blanc but only got as far as te Tete Rousse Hut where the winds were horrendous. Once the wind dropped it started to snow. As we walked down to the valley the rain got heavier and it was like being attacked by a garden hose. Some weeks are better than others...

Nevertheless we did have better weather today and climbed the super long Via Cordia which is a unique climb /scramble which is ideal training for long alpine rock climbs.

The Yellow Gnome Awaits

To day Reuben Berg and I went to Les Contamines and climbed "Les Nain Jaune Attends." This is a route with a great name with a yellow Nome who is on hand to welcome you at the top.

Perfect spring snow in the "Combes des Mort"

At 2400 meters there was 50 cm of fresh snow the other night. It settled down very quickly so Andrea Florence and I skinned upto the Grand St Bernard Monastery to spend the night. The girls entertained themselves by jumping off the roof of an out house into a massive bank of snow.
This morning I had the best skiing I have everknown down the Combes des Mort

Plan B

Chris Dovell and I drove over to Grindlewald and headed up to the Monch Hut in glorious weather. The plan was to climb the Jungfrau and then ski down. But the next morning we awoke at 5.00am to blasting winds. We went back to bed. At 8.00am we were in the middle of a full blown storm and had no choice but to go back to the valley.
Instead we gave up the idea of skiing and went rock climbing for two days. Yesterday we finished by climbing in Italy just past Aosta at Arnad. We climbed the classic route of the area the "Bucced'arancia

Gran Paradiso 4062m

So we have had more snow coupled with high winds and mixed forecasts. Chris Dovell and I looked at the weather and decided to head to Italy. Yesterday we loaded our skis on our backs and walked up to the VITTORIO EMANUELE hut.
This morning we left the hut at 6.30am and battled our way through strong winds to reach the summit by 10.00am just as the wind dropped so that we could have a cup of tea on the top.
We skied back in half an hour. We would have been back home quickly but the Mt Blanc tunnel was closed due to a lorry full of milk that had overturned spilling milk all over the road.