Never regret getting up early -especially when it comes to alpine climbing.

 Harvey took a job in London that actually ended up being in Paris.  Once he got over the intial shock it turned out to be a good thing.  What's more it's only three hours from Paris to Annecy on the TGV.  Then an hour to Chamonix.

This meant he could easily get his first taste of what alpine climbing is all about over a long weekend.

Our first day was spent on the Mer de Glace, which—despite its steady retreat—remains one of the finest places to learn essential mountaineering skills like using an ice axe and crampons for the first time. These fundamentals are not optional; without solid instruction from the outset, your mountaineering career could be cut short—or worse, built on shaky ground. Good crampon technique isn’t just useful—it’s mission critical.

On our second day we made the traverse of the Aiguille Crochue in the Aiguille Rouge.  This is a wonderful rocky ridge  traverse in a spectacular situation.  

Harvey on Aiguille du Crochue with Mt Blanc in the background

The weather was beautiful, but it was extremely hot and the walk back, after the climb was brutal.  I think I might have even got mild heat stroke.

On our third day we had an early start and we left the Chamonix valley at 5.30hrs so that we could meet our reservation on the Skyway cable car through the tunnel in Courmayeur.  

Although such an early start was not really needed, it was because the only reservation I could get was at that time.  Mind you once you finally step out onto the pristine glacier in the early morning light, you never ever regret getting up early.  We climbed the Aiguille Marbree and then continued along its south ridge. 

Harvey on the summit of the Aiguille Marbree.

 At the end we were meant to rappel from the ridge and down a gulley onto tthe glacier, yet there were parties of incompetents infront of us being slow and dangerous.  The prospect of them kickicking rocks on our heads, made me decide to reverse the ridge and climb down the way we had ascended. This worked well.

Back drop of Dent du Gent

It was then back across the glacier to the lift station.  The early start meant we were back just after mid day, which was a good thing because it was already getting uncomfortably hot.