Mini Mountaineers

I suddenly found myself climbing with a bunch of budding climbers. On Saturday I headed up to the top of Brevent with Turi and her daughter Maria. This was Maria's first multi pitch climb.
The next day I was back up the Brevent with all the Dangerous Sisters. They are a handful so Jonathan Preston [fellow Mountain Guide and Floz's Godfather]came along to help keep them in order.
We climbed the aptly named Micky Mouse. This was Sophie's first multi pitch climb and Andrea's first lead on multi pitch climbing.
On Monday it was the turn of Chris and Arthur Boulton. We climbed the very long voie Caline.
On Tuesday we dodged the rain to complete the Via Ferratta above the Plateau d'Assey.

It's not normally like this.

This is what I kept saying to Michael & Kathy Howard as we stood on the Mer de Glace being lashed by freezing rain.
This was their first visit to the alps to climb. Luckly for me they just assumed the weather was always like this.
Fortunately the next day was spectacular and we headed up and climbed the aiguille du Toule a great peak for your first in the Alps
Next day we headed into the Aiguille Rouge to be confronted by more unwanted snow. In the end we used this to our advantage to learn how to climb steep snow and how to do Ice axe arrests.
On Thursday we climbed the Aiguille des Grands Montets battling through very strong winds.
Our last day we headed up the Aiguille du Midi and climbed Pt Lachanael

Alpine Climbing is never simple.

I enjoyed a very sociable week working with two of my best friends and fellow Mountain Guides Jonathan Preston and Alan Kimber. Alan is the longest serving British Mountain Guide with over 40 years experience. We were joined by James Thacker who was working along side us as an Aspirant Guide.
Our clients were all from Northen Irealand and were super keen and great company.
This is what happened.
We all met in Grindlewald and took the train up to the Jungfraujoch. We then headed down the glacier to the Konkordia Hut in the blazing sun.
It is the only Hut I have been to where there is a bar on the terrace and it was already doing a brisk trade and then we arrived and it went into over drive.
The next day we headed over the col to the Finsteraarhorn Hut and climbed a rocky ridge as by way of some training to prepare everyone for the big challange of the next day.
We arrived at the Hut which despite not having a bar on the terrace was sensational.
3.30 wake up is never easy but the prize for the day was the Finsteraarhorn- One of the finest mountains in the Alps.
We reached the top in just over 5 hours which was quite good considering the final ridge was icy and we wore crampons all the way.
That was the last day of good weather and like so often in this game we had to change our plan. Now the plan was to get out and back to the valley. The Finsteraarhorn hut is one of the remotest in Europe.
This proved to be a very big day with lots of twists and turns.
We headed out of the Hut in a brief rest bite in the storm and headed for the Oberaarjoch. It was not long before we were getting wet. We stopped at the Hut of the same name and refuelled on Rosti. We then headed down the glacier on the far side where rain became torrential and the glacier just went on and on and on.
We passed along the side of the Oberaarsee Lake finally arriving at the Cafe where we had booked a taxi back to Grindlewald.
But only if it were that simple! The road was closed because a bridge had been washed away!
The solution was to take a taxi as far as the landslide- then walk across the landslide before meeting another taxi. Again this part of the trip was not without incident as one of our group was attacked by a cow and we had visions of him being pushed into the swollen river and never being scene again.

A Writers Inspiration

I enjoyed a fascinating week with Nick Graham who came out to Chamonix for two reasons.
The first was to learn the basics of Alpine Climbing and the second was to research the back ground to a novel he is writing.
We spent the first day on the Mer de Glace looking at Ice climbing techniques. On our second day we headed round to Switzerland and headed up to the Saliena Hut. This was important because part of the plot of the Novel was to be set in this area. The hut was fantastic with about 8 people staying the night. The Guardian cooked a wonderful meal and then we all sat around drinking some rocket fuel which the Guardian had personally brewed.
Breakfast was at 5 o'clock we were away by 6.00am. Our plan was to climb the Grand Lui.
We ascended for a couple of hours but frustratingly it started to snow and the mist came in. There was no choice but to turn around.
On our final day we went into the Aguille Rouge and traversed the Crochue. All week we talked a great deal about all aspects of mountaineering both modern and past so that the details would be exact even making sure there was a place for the world famous Bhend Ice axe from Grindlewald.

Crevasse Rescue

We had very good conditions at the top of Grands Montets for a good crevasse rescue teaching day
Big open crevasse
Good snow for anchors
No wind
Sunshine

Alpine Rock Climbing

Alpine Rock climbing is about climbing long routes high in the mountains. It is even better when you can do these routes and have them all to yourselves. To do this in the Chamonix area at the height of the season is even better.

Roger Cunliffe and I spent 6 days together attempting to do just this. We even went on a road trip to the Aravis in Roger's magnificient Morgan Motor Car. Frustratingly the weather let us down and after the first on the pitch of arete de doigt on Pt Percee we had to back off. It was just too cold.
Weirdly the week had started with us complaining about it being too hot.

The highlights of the week were the Eperon Bayure which is situated in the Pas de Chevere. We also climbed in the Aiguille Rouge which has many fine climbs but none better than Kaboul above the Index at La Flegere. Truely stunning climbing.

The Dom

What a great trip this was for Peter Little and I . The Dom is the highest mountain in Switzerland and has the biggest ascent from the road head of any mountain in the alps. 3000 vertical meters.
The hut walk is about 4.30 hours. Breakfast was at a grim 2.30am and the ascent was 6.30hours to reach the summit.

The descent had various issues because the weather was so warm and the snow bridges were like butter plus the crevasses were massive. It was critical that we had lots of rope out between us even so there were a few heart in the mouth moments as we sank through the snow sometimes up to our waists.

Mind you any rope is better than no rope. We came across a rescue. Some guy had set off to climb the Dom on his own. He fell in a crevasse. The Hut Guardian reported him missing. Air Zermatt searched the glacier , found his foot prints leading into a big hole. Two Guides went down the crevasses and found him alive but only just. He was air lifted to Berne to "thaw" out.

After the Dom Peter and I were quite tired, we stopped at the Dom hut for a huge pile of Rosti before making our descent.

An Introduction to Alpine Mountaineering

I have just finished a great week with 6 very keen aspiring Mountaineers Andy Alistair Kirsty Julia Mike and Olivier.

On our first day we headed up to La Flegere where we spent the morning throwing our selves down the mountain side and learning how to stop using he Ice Axe. In the afternoon we climbed the Aiguille de la Gliere.
On Tuesday we headed up to the Mer de Glace where we learnt how to use crampons and had a go at some steep ice climbing.
On Wednesday we trekked across the Valley Blanche to Italy and the returned via the bubbles to the Aiguille du Midi.
On Thursday we had a very comprehensive day extracting each other form a large crevasse just below the Les Grands Montets. We finished the day by climbing the aiguille de Grands Montets and clambering over the railings and onto the viewing platform.
Our final day we headed to the Emosson Dam and climbed the imposing Aiguille du Van.
We all then met up for Dinner chez Seaton and finished with a football match in the garden.

Frison Roche Climb

I had a day off today so Andrea and I went to climb one of the most dramatic climbs which over look Chamonix. We took the lift up to the top of Le Brevent Cable car then ran down the snow to the foot of the route.
This was to be Andrea's first big multi pitch route. 5 steep pitches of grades 6a, 5b, 5c ,6a, 5c. complete with Rucksack. Not bad for 11 years old. We were back home for lunch

Perfect weather for a 1st visit to Chamonix

This is what Bob and Sue Rlloram got when they visited Chamonix to climb with me.
We had a very pleasant five days together sampling all sorts of alpine adventures.
On our first day we climbed the Aiguille des Glieres where we could get use to climbing steep snow and some simple scrambling.
Day 2 we climbed the Aiguille du Toule which over looks Courmayeur and has spectactular views of practically everywhere.
Day 3 We took the Aiguille du Midi cable car and we descended into the Valley Blanche before climbing Point Lachaenel.
Day 4 We were back in the Aiguille Rouge to get to grips with alpine rocky scrambling.
Day 5 With everyone feeling a little tired we opted for a day rock climbing above Le Brevent. This was Sue,s first ever rock climbing and I think she quite liked it.

MT BLANC 4810

The weather finally came good at exactly the right time for us. Reuben Berg and I climbed Mt Blanc at 7.15am this morning.
Nevertheless when we met the week before prospects didn't look good. It was cold and raining in the valley and high up there was stacks of fresh snow. However despite all this doom and gloom the long term weather forecast was good for the nights we had booked in to the Gouter hut. So our priority was to gain as much acclimatisation as possible because with out this Mt Blanc would be impossible.

There is probably a small book to be written about our novel attempts to get acclimatised in such terrible weather, but needless to say it worked. Tuesday everything clicked and we powered our way up to the Gouter Hut, arriving ahead of everyone else and bagged the best beds Wednesday we awoke at 1.45am and were away by 2.45am. Perfect conditions underfoot although a little windy. a great trip.

Windy Weather

Norrie & Jane Nicoll called me the other week [I climbed Mt Blanc with Norrie 15 years ago] and they said "what can we do for 3 days which will be fun, not to tiring and not too scary [Only a little scary]"
So on our first day we climbed the beautiful long Via Cordia. The next day I persuaded them to do the Via Ferratta at Plateau D'Assey [as featured in the MTMG video]
Then yesterday the plan was to go for an expedition on the Mer de Glace and learn how to use an Ice axe and crampons. However this didn't work because as we were waiting for the train it was announced that it had closed because the wind was too strong.
So we needed a plan B. As so often in this game there was no plan B, but we quickly came up with one: It was to go and climb the magnificent voie Caline.

Mark the Mountain Guide On You Tube

We now have Mark the Mountain Guide promotional video on You Tube. This was made by my very good friend Faerthen Felix. All the footage was shot by her and her husband Jeff Brown. They borrowed the Girls for the vertigo shots of the girls on the Via Ferrata

View the video on YouTube or watch below:

Wonderful Wonderful way to finish the ski season

On Sunday we decided to take the Dangerous Sisters up to the Grand St Bernard Hospice for the night. Andrea and Florence had already been but this was the first time for Sophie who is only 4 years old.
We set off from the road head and skinned up on our ski mountaineering skis while Sophie had her own personal ski tow [me]
When we arrived the girls spent the afternoon jumping off the roof of the old morgue.
In the evening Andrea gave a Recorder Recital during Prayers and then she had a "Master Class" lesson from Yvon [Top Monk]
In the morning after a visit to the Museum we had a fantastic spring snow descent back to the car.

Week of plan B's

Well plan A had been discussed for many months: Charles Sherwod and I were to attempt a ski ascent of the Aiguille Verte. But when we met the weather was so awful that we couldn't even get our skis on. So plan B was to climb the new route voie Caline
(near the Via Corda) This was quite an undertaking in the rain, but provided some "good sport" and was excellent preparation for Charles trip to the Lake District.
The next day was not much better. We headed to Switzerland with the aim of climbing the excellent --Dyure-le eperon near to Champex. But it started to rain. So we headed to Dorenaz where it was bone dry and got some good climbing under our belts.
The forecast was better but the reality wasn't. We got to the foot of our route and it started to rain. So it was back to Dorenaz where we climbed until our arms fell off.
Now the Forecast was good for Sunday so we decided we could get the skis out for an attempt on Le Buet. We met at 6.00am but still the sky was not clear and therefore didn't freeze. Mind you we still made the effort and climbed for over 3 hours until we hit zero viz and high avalanche risk so we reluctantly turned round and skied down. We didn't make any of our primary objectives but we still were well exercised and had an adventure.

Sea cliff climbing at Finale Liguria

I was in a major dilemma as what we should do. The weather forecast was awful and there wasn't a cat in hells chance of getting any ski tours completed safely. So I said to Chris Dovell " Let's ditch the ski touring idea and go rock climbing" Being super flexible Chris and always up for something different he jumped at the idea and we headed to Finale Liguria which is bout 3 hours drive from Cham. The only problem in this great plan was that it was still raining when we arrived. So we had a long lunch and then headed for Capo Noli which is a sea cliff about 7 km from Finale. The thinking being that the bad weather would pass over our heads. This proved to be more or less correct and we spent 3 days climbing on the cliffs

Stuningly Good Skiing in Zermatt

I drove over to meet Francis Bridgeman, Sahil Sinha and Angus Montgomery who were all staying in Zermatt. The weather was good and so was the snow so we headed up to the Klien Matterhorn the highest lift in the alps. We immediately turned right and dived of the side of the piste to make fresh tracks we then cut further right and headed down to the Stockli glacier. The skiing was exceptional with good snow and continuously changing scenary and a unique pier exit at the snout of the glacier.
The next day we climbed the Breithorn on skis. This was to be their first 4000m peak.
During the next night it snowed a little, but high up it snowed a lot and we were lucky enough to get some exceptional powder skiing.
On the Monday we moved back to Chamonix and ventured into the Vallee Blanche. We skinned across to the Italian side and then skied the Comb de la Vierge finding some excellent snow.
Change of scene meant Francis and I went rock climbing at Barbarine and on our final day together we climbed up to Col Cornu and then skied spring snow down the comb Lachenal. A very good week!

Gressoney Powder Verbier icy moguls Chamonix spring snow

Reuben & Fiona Berg and I started our 6 days together in Gressoney with fabulous sunny weather and dreamy spring snow descents. The next day it snowed a lot. It was cold and misty. But it was worth it because on the Monday we had 30cm of fresh snow and the whole resort to our selves. This was because the lift system had closed for the season just leaving 3 lifts open for the ski tourers. The top lift to Punta Indren was open which gave access to off piste runs with a huge vertical drop of 1600 m.
On Tuesday we moved to Verbier. The conditions here were not as good - it was like skiing down a sloping car park full of VW beatles.
On Wednesday we were back in Chamonix chasing spring snow descents and finally on Thursday we went for a tour up the Argentiere glacier again with good snow.

Breche de Berard

Very quiet in the aiguille rouge today. Part of the reason might have been the the train strike , which in the end was just a reduced service. Mind you my group had bigger logistical things to worry about. Imagine 3 women who are all mothers with 3 children each managing to steal a days ski touring together?
Most would say an impossible task but Marie-Claire,Lesley and Christine did it.

Dangerous Sisters Hit the Powder and then the rock

Great thing about the spring here is sometimes it is possible to ski bottomless powder in the morning and then spend the afternoon rock climbing. It was a rare opportunity for me to ski with Andrea and Florence. They had no race training and I had a day off work and there was stacks of fresh snow. Joined by Jeff and Faerthen we headed up La Flegere.
In the afternoon Florence went ice skating and Andrea and Sophie came rock climbing