North Face Eiger Storms

Charles Sherwood and I went round to the North Face of the Eiger with a perfect five day forecast.
We set off in good conditions and climbed really quickly. But as we got to the top of "The Difficult Crack" it started to snow. The weather came from nowhere.Thinking it was just a passing shower We pushed on and then it just dumped and dumped snow as if someone was emptying bags of flower over our heads.
We had really sketchy climbing to get to the Hinterstoisser Traverse where we just got hit by monster spindrift avalanches.We managed to get to the Swallows Nest bivy which is sheltered from above and slept the night there.During the night the weather cleared and the helicopter came in and took two groups off who were below and who were caught in "no-mans land" and had fallen off.
The helicopter reluctantly offered to pick us off at about 10.00pm and they were relieved when we said we were okay and intended to carry on in the morning. However when morning came it was clear that we were not going up.Going back looked like a Guides worse nightmare so we got a REGA helicopter to pull us off at about 9.00am.Sunday morning.

Perfect October climbing conditions

We now have perfect anticyclonic autumn weather with beautiful clear and warm days. Yesterday Mike Woolford Stephen Yates , Steve Trantum and I climbed Point Lachenal 3613m. To day we drove upto to the barrage du Emosson from where we climbed the imposing Aiguille du Van 2572m.

Introduction to Alpine Mountaineering

Roger Brookes and Martyn Read came to Chamonix with the aim of getting to grips with Alpine climbing. On our first day went to the Mer de Glace where we spent the day learning everything there is to know about ice axes and crampons What to do with them and what NOT to do with them. We finished the day climbing vertical ice out of a crevasse.
Next day we went through the Mt Blanc Tunnel to Italy and up the Helbronner cable car. From there we traversed the Aiguille du Marbrees 3389m in perfect super clear autumn weather.
On our third day we climbed one of the most spectacular routes in Chamonix the Cosmiques Spur. The climb finishes by climbing over the railings onto the viewing platform at the top of the Aiguille du Midi 3842m.
Our final day was frustrated by a change in the weather which meant we couldn't climb Mt Blanc du Tacul4248m. Instead we did one of my favorite routes the very long Via Cordia, a 600m multi pitch rock climb. Some how we completed it without getting wet. Just as we got back to the Land Rover the heavens opened.

Dent Du Midi 3257m

Peter Little and I started the week by climbing high above Montreux We climbed the Dent de Jaman a giant limestone pillar with stunning views over lake Geneva.
Then after some great climbing in the Aiguille Rouge above Chamonix and with a perfect weather forecast we headed off to the remote mountain range of the Dents du Midi where we were lucky enough to climb the spectacular Dent Jaune 3186m via "Vire aux Genevois."

Traverse of Mt Blanc 4810m

Roger Cunliffe has wanted to climb Mt Blanc for several years but each time he was thwarted by the weather or poor conditions. Today the wait was worth it because we traversed Mt Blanc from the Aiguille du Midi over the top and down via the Dome du Gouter. Conditions were perfect. We left the Cosmique Hut at 3.30am. We had a full moon no wind and snow that gripped crampons like cork. These conditions plus our good acclimatization allowed us to move very very quickly and we hit the summit at 9.00am. It was warm enough to picnic on the summit before running down the Bosses ridge past the Vallot Hut then on down to the Gouter Hut down the ridge and finishing up at the Nid d'agile "railway station"

Challenging conditions

The weather has not been good this August. Despite this Charles Sherwood and I managed to climb continuously for ten days. We started rock climbing in the Aiguille Rouge. It soon became clear that the weather in Chamonix was going to get really bad but good further East so we headed to Saas Grund. From the Hohass Hut we traversed the Weissmies [4023] and stayed at the Almageller Hut. The next day we traversed the Pizzo d'Andolla via the Portjengrat a route that is justifiably described in the guide as one of the finest in the alps.
Next day we managed to fit in a traverse of the Dri Hornli [3209m] before another big storm hit.
The storm put down a lot of fresh snow so we rock climbed below the snow line while we waited for conditions to settle down. Eventually we spotted a short weather window and headed up to the Albert 1er ready to make an attempt on the little known Gabarrou Couloir on the Grand Fourche [3619m]
This proved to be a big day out as the conditions underfoot and overhead made the climbing challenging. Having left the hut at 4.00am we were greeted 12 hours later at the door by Claude Charlet the guardian with steaming bowls of Tea and cake.

Tours of the Oberland

John Eastgate and I traveled through the Oberland climbing at different venues each day. We climbed on the Stockhorn which is above lake Thun. We visited the beautiful village of Kandersteg and climbed the imposing Gallihorn
We then went to Grindlewald and stayed at the world famous Kleine Scheidegg hotel before going up the Jungfrau train and trekking over the longest glacier in the alps the Aletschgletscher.
We finished of the week by going round the Furka pass and climbing on the Rhone glacier the source of the river Rhone.

Rock climbing

Andrew Montgomery and his son Chris climbed a variety of rock climbs in and around chamonix. We were frustrated by the weather which didn't allow us to get up high and climb a big peak but we did mange to climb some long multi pitch rock climbed in the Aiguille rouge which went some way to compensate for the indifferent weather.

Eiger

We had a perfect week. The weather and the plan came together marvelously. Chris and his sister Tamsin Dovell plus me and Chamonix Guide Jean-Christophe Beche climbed the Mittellegi Ridge and descended via the south ridge. Conditions on the ridges were as good as they can get.

Traverse of the Trient plateau

Viv, Fiona, Stephen and Stephen set off from Le Tour and walked to the Albert 1er mountain refuge. For three of the team it was to be their first night in a mountain hut. The next day we awoke at 5.ooam and set off for the Trient plateau. Again this was to be their first time walking on a glacier. We crossed into Switzerland over a col at 3200m and then traversed the Trient glacier before arriving at the wonderful Trient Hut in time for lunch and cold beers on the terrace.
The next day we walked down to the village stopping at the Orney Hut for morning coffee. We arrived in Champex having completed the first part of the famous Haute- Route and [depending on which member of the team you talk to] potentially setting up the walk to Zermatt next summer.

This trip was described by the participants as "Seaton's Saga tours" the moto being brilliantly summed up by Stephen Yates as: "guaranteed to get Everyone Everywhere.... Eventually."

Varied climbing around Chamonix

Last week Reuben Berg took the opportunity not only to do some varied climbing but also to catch up with his adult children. Firstly he was joined by Emma for some rock climbing and then a few days with his son Antony.
We started by climbing the longest rock climb in the Chamonix valley the "Via Cordia."<http://perso.orange.fr/lionel.pernollet/mottets.htm>. This is a great climb to get use to the concept of moving quickly over a variety of rock.
On Monday we climbed the Eperon Sublime above Flegere
We then did the traverse of the Aiguille du Crochue in the Aiguiile Rouge.
Next we had a change of scene and went to climb a Via ferrata at the Col Des Aravis

On Thursday we went and climbed Point Lachenal in the valley blanche.
We finished the week by climbing the clocher- chlochotons above Brevent. The Tyroean Traverse left a lasting impression.

Weissmiess and Monster Trottis

Peter Folkman and I have been climbing above Saas Grund. On Tuesday we traversed the Dri Hornli. A rocky ridge made of perfect grannit. Of its kind it is one of the best routes in the alps. On Wednesday we traversed the Weismiess 4022m. We left the Allmergella Hut at 4.30am and climbed the south east ridge arriving at the summit at about 9.30am.
The descent proved to be tricky. The snow had not frozen and as we descended the snow turned to mush. Near the bottom the snow bridges across the crevasses felt as if they were made of cloud and there were a few heart in the mouth moments. It needs to freeze hard before this route becomes viable.
On Thursday we climbed the spectacular via ferratta on the Jagihorn. Soon to be even more stomach churning by the completion of a wire walk way between the two peaks.
We then hired two "Monster -Trottis" Oversized scooters with moon buggy wheels. We used these to cruise down the track back to Saas Grund. This would have been a wonderful 50 minute descent IF it hadn't started to lash it down just as we saw our ruck sacks and waterproofs loaded onto the cable car .

Snowed off Mt Blanc 4810m

Yesterday a group of us "strolled" up to the Refuge du Gouter. It wasn't quite the hell- hole it normally is because the train was not working. Why the train wasn't working nobody seems to know [or care]. Consequently far fewer people were prepared to walk the extra hour and a half.
This morning the 2.00am wake up call came and went due to a huge storm, fresh snow, and very strong winds. We were left with no choice but to descend back to the valley - where as so often the weather was sultry and hot.

Aiguille du Chardonnet 3824m

Certain routes are in perfect condition, not least the Eperon Migot on the north face of the Chardonnet.
yesterday we walked to the Albert 1er Refuge from the village of Le Tour. [It is still too early for the cable cars to open for the summmer.]

This morning Stuart Bygrave and I had breakfast at 2.00am and set off at 3.45am The climb was in perfect condition and the neve was like cork. We arrived on the summit at 8.00am. We were totally alone

Skiing is still very good

Chris and Kim Dovell and I had two days ski touring around the Emosson Dam. Yesterday we climbed the Point de La Terrace and to day we climbed the Bel Oiseau
The skiing conditions are still very good especially today as the skiing was as good as it gets.

Late May skiing.

Andrea and I climbed up to the GD St Bernard Monastery on our ski mountaineering skis and spent the night. Andrea met the Monks and was introduced to Justy the Avalanche search dog who is a Golden Retriver not a St Bernard. [They are too big to climb into helicopters.]
This morning we skied back down on beautiful spring snow and back to the car.

Emosson Dam

Last Friday the road to the Emosson Dam was opened for the summer Mark Hanson and Robin Tarling and I left the car park at 6,30am while the snow was still frozen and to ensure that we got good spring skiing on the descent.
We Crossed the Dam and climbed up to the Point de La Terrace.

Snowed in at the Grand St Bernard Monastery

Rogue report from the High Sierras, California, USA

Mark's friends & clients call in to test out the new audio blog, fresh from a weekend trip down to the spectacular High Sierras. They climbed & skied a couple of nice corn-snow descents. Hear what makes the High Sierra such a great place to spring ski...

The picture shows Beth tromping up the very large Mt. Wood (no ski lifts here!)

Perfect Spring Touring Conditions

Patrick Keatinge Mike Tothill joined me straight from skiing across the Hero's of Telemarks route in Norway. Last year Patrick trekked to the North Pole, so this year they wanted something steeper.
We started with the Col du Argentiere. The next day we climbed up to the cabane du Velan in indifferent weather. The next day we climbed Mt Velan in just under six hours. We skied perfect snow all the way back in about 45 minutes. We spent another night in the Hut and the next day toured over to the Super St Bernard Ski station.
Finally on May Day we finished the week with an ascent of Le Buet. The ski from the summit was perfect. Not a bad turn on the whole descent.