Four seasons in a week

Just finished a continuous 10 day stint of skiing in every type of snow and weather. At first the conditions had been very cold and this meant that the snow was preserved well. Although it hadn't snowed for a bit, with some effort a lot outstanding descents could be found. I spent the 1st 3 days with Reuben & Fiona Berg, a day at Le Tour then an exceptionally good day in Courmayeur and finally a stella day in Geittaz which if you know where to go has some of the best skiing in the alps.
Next Kevin Tuck and his pals turned up for some suffering. Ski touring with hangovers. We had a memorable traverse

of the Aiguille Rouge via the ski tour know as the Balcon Sud, capped by an outstanding descent to the col du Montets. This ski tour ended by what was probably the 1st British descent of a new line: The railway line to Vallorcine. [It was closed for refurbishment]

The next group of victims turned up on the Monday. Andy Chetwood, Tanya Thompson, Laurence Whyatt and Mike Dowling had an ambitious plan to traverse the Monte Rosa ski area over the col de Lys and down to Zermatt. Needless to say the weather stopped this idea even before they arrived. So the consolation was a perfect day of powder skiing in Combloux/Giettaz.
The bar was therefore set high in terms of what the group expected. However the wind picked up and increased the avalanche risk significantly which meant on our second day the descent of the Berard Vallee called for some careful route choice as there was a lot of spontaneous wind slab release.
On the Wednesday the wind was even stronger as we battled our way to the top of Punte Croce high above La Thuile.
Thursday , just when we thought the wind might calm it blew harder as we skinned up the Argentiere as the Grands Montets lift system closed around us due to high wind.
On Friday we awoke to tropical rain. Everything was shut in Chamonix. I decided to take a long punt on traveling through to Italy. We drove through the tunnel and it was raining even harder. The car-park was awash. The only glimmer of hope was that the descending cable car came down covered in snow. As we traveled up in the lift the gamble had paid off. We had a memorable day tree skiing with some very good snow conditions.

Conditions just got better and better as the week progressed

The snow of the previous week set up Russ Bragg and I well. Nevertheless the weather in Chamonix was grey and miserable for our 1st day. We decided therefore to head through the MT Blanc tunnel to Courmayeur , where there was blue sky and importantly it was 10 degrees colder and the snow was feather like . The skiing was the best I have ever known in Courmayeur plus there was know and no one about.
On Tuesday again the weather in Chamonix wasn't great so we decided to head through the tunnel once again- this time with the intention of skiing in La Thuile. Yet when when we appeared from the tunnel the weather wasn't great - but it was snowing! We had a remarkable days skiing in what was virtually our own private ski resort.
It continued to snow over night and it got colder and importantly it snowed with no wind.
Wednesday morning was one of those once in a blue moon days. The ingredients were perfect. 20 cm of fresh cold snow fell with no wind. There was hardly anyone about and so we headed for La Flegere. It was Russ best days skiing ever.[So far I suggested}
On Thursday the weather looked good again so we headed back up to La Flegere with the intention of making the traverese to La Col des Montets. However the honeymoon was over the wind had picked up and had destroyed the powder and also created a significant avalanche risk. We contented ours selves finding what untracked snow we could find close to the pistes. It did not matter because we were so tired from feasting ourseleves on the previous three days snow.

Bone hard snow transformed over night by 50cm of fresh

We have had a lot of good weather recently. Issue with this is that good weather doesn't produce snow and as time progressed it was necessary to go further and further away to find some un touched snow.

Last weekend I was joined by James Vernon and his two 11 year old sons William and Thomas primarily for some off piste training. We had a day at Le Tour and the next day my first visit to the top of Les Grands Montets so that we could ski down the Argentiere glacier. This was good but I was shocked to see how much the glacier has reseeded in the last year.

On Monday Mark Locke was back out for 5 days. We had a huge variety of skiing,and one trip we were joined by Walter the Bernese Mountain Dog when we went ski touring.
Just as it looked like we were not going to find any more un skied snow we received a big dump of 50 cm of cold fresh snow. We had no hesitation but to head straight to Combloux /Giettaz for some stunning tree skiing.

Early season descent of the Vallee Blanche

We were told by our friends Jeff and Faerthen that the conditions in the Vallee Blanche were exceptional. I saw this as an oppurtunity to ski with my daughters Sophie and Andrea. [Florence has her foot in plaster]

So on the last day of the year and the first time ever I have skied the Vallee Blanche so early in the season the 3 of us , accompanied by Jeff and Faerthen headed off.

The big issue is the Arete on the Aiguille du Midi because it had not yet been equiped and therefore it is essential that everyone has crampons. Unfortuanetly there were several cramponless idiots who got them selves stuck and created a bad traffic jam. Sophie was not impressed and sugggested that we climb around them on the north face [Sophie is 7 years old] This is what we did. Still it took an hour of stress to get down the ridge.

Once we were down and had our skis on it all seemed worth it, because the snow and the tranquility were as good as I have ever known it.

In addition we were able to ski all the way to Chamonix

Last skiing of 2012

Never have we had so much good skiing at this time of year. Just after Christmas Stephan Yeates , his nephew Chris and Steven Trantrum joined me for two days. We went to Courmayeur [my 10th trip through the tunnel this season]We had indifferent weather but at least it was colder than Chamonix and the quality of the snow was good.

On our second day we went to Le Tour where after a start in zero visibility the weather cleared up and we had some excellent skiing of the back of Les Jeurs and finished with a stunning descent of La Vormaine gulley.

Yo Yo Temperatures

One day its -15c and I'm using "T- Bag" footwarmers the next day its +5c and its raining.
Well it was raining in Chamonix but a quick trip through the Mt Blanc Tunnel and its snowing again. In fact I have been through the tunnel 4 times in the last week. 3 times to Courmayeur and once to La Thuile.

I kicked off the season with a visit from Mark Locke with an excellent day in Courmayeur followed by a very cold day on Grands Montets which was going just fine until I hit a dip, my ski came off and clipped my ear which then sprayed blood everywhere and resulted in 10 stitches.

The next day I was joined by Geoff Gosling and his daughter Aimee. It was raining and snowing on arrival at Les Grands Montets. In addition because the place is understaffed they hadn't got round to the avalanche controls , so it was closed.

We drove through the tunnel to Courmayeur and it was snowing. The skiing was good.
The next day it was snowing hard in Chamonix and everything was shut. Our attempts to return to Courmayeur were thwarted because the Mt Blanc tunnel was shut because it was threatened by avalanche from above. So we skied in Les Houches where we had some good snow. Geoff then had a meeting he had to fly home for.
On Tuesday Aimee and I

headed straight to Courmayeur and with lots of falling snow where had a days powder skiing , which would go down as one of those days that are called spectacularly good.

Geoff returned from his meeting and brought some good clear skies with him and we headed for Les Grands Montets. The only issue was so did the rest of the world and like normal it got tracked out quickly. Geoff unfortuantely twisted his knee just as we were finishing the day and frustratingly had to miss our final day together.

So today it was just me and Aimee and with the weather looking very grey we again zipped through the tunnel to La Thuile. We once again came across some exceptionally good turns and some outstanding tree skiing.

Anyone worried that the snow might not arrive should relax

The snow was predicted , but when isn't it predicted in a ski resort? Nevertheless this time the amount forecast was wrong.Yet

happily this time to the skiers advantage. We have had a meter of snow in our garden. At first it fell like polystyrene pellets - light and near perfect. Then the temperature rose and it almost rained turning the snow to a heavy mush which threatened to swamp the Chamonix snow plough's.

A Grand Family Day Skiing

Well sort of. To be frank it did not get off to the best start. We arrived in a snowy Cervinia and everything was looking very wintry. Then we discovered we had left Sophie's boots in Chamonix. After a mad rush we rented a pair for her.

Then I went to buy tickets - but the lift was closed for a "technical fault." We retired for Cappuccinos. Eventually they opened but, but only the Swiss side. So we rode the lifts and finally at mid day put our skis on at Testa Grigia 3479 meters.
Everything was good the sun was out the snow was fabulous the Kliene Matterhorn was open and fresh tracks were being made everywhere. These conditions lasted for one run. The wind picked up and closed the lifts leaving us trapped above Zermatt. We had no option but to use the Drags to get back over to Italy. This was Sophie's 1st experience of a T-Bar and she almost froze to death.

Andrea and I chose to ski back down to Italy while the rest of the family choose to go down by cable car. Interestingly the Police were waiting at the bottom of the piste fining anyone skiing who was not with a Guide because the piste was not yet open. Luckily for Andrea she was skiing with a Guide.

When we arrived home I asked Sophie to help unload the car. She said "No."

I said "Unless you help We are not taking you again."

Sophie said "Do you promise?"

A Grand Day Out.

Summer Season draws to an end

The leaves started to change colour and importantly the weather became un settled which thwarted Francis and my plans to finish the season with an ascent of Mt Blanc. In fact we only managed to get up high on one day when we climbed the Aiguille du Marbree along with a large and vocal group from the Italian alpine club [Milan Section]

After which we were continually forced to change our plans. Nevertheless we kept our selves well entertained with ascents of the Aiguille du Van high above the Emosson Dam and spent the rest of our time rock climbing. In fact for for details of our week and a look from a different perspective. Go to this link http://lottiedoeseverest.wordpress.com/2012/09/30/a-guide-and-his-dogwhy-you-need-them-in-the-high-mountains/

Working around variable weather

Nick Graham returned to climb with me after a two year break. We started our week together by climbing the Voie Caline. The slightly harder but shorter version of the now very well known route the Via Corda.

This was an ideal warm up and the day after we climbed the Cosmique Arete one of Chamonix's most famous and well travelled climbs. Late September was an ideal time to tackle this route because it wasn't mobbed by loads of other climbers.

On our third day we traveled through the Mt Blanc Tunnnel and then took the Helbronner cable car and climbed the Aiguilles Marbree. The approach was tricky because the summers hot weather had opened up some huge crevasses with some very thin snow bridges. I was very cautious but the 50 school children who passed us [on an outing from Paris] did not seem phased a tall.

The next day it rained and drizzled all day so we spent the day revising techniques for big multiple rappels and systems for crevasse self rescue. All stuff which is important but often does not get covered properly.

Our plan was to finish the week by climbing Mt Blanc du Tacul which would have been Nick's first 4000 meter peak. However when we arrived at the summit of the Aiguille du Midi two things made it obvious that this was not going to happen. Firstly there was no track in up the mountain and two there were very strong winds indicating that there was a significant avalanche risk. We therefore contented ourselves by climbing Point Lachanel where we were entertained by ENSA who were camped on the summit while testing belay strengths by chucking barrels of concrete down the slope and seeing if the rope snapped or the ice screws ripped out.

Week started with summer and ended with Autumn

Peter little travelled out from Keswick for a second week of climbing with me. We decided to go on one of our traditional explorations and came up with a gem of a route in the Aravis mountain range. We climbed the arete d'Marion. This route is situated high above the col du Aravis. It is considered to be one of the finest ridges in this particular mountain range. We were not disappointed a wonderful route for a first day.

We liked the Aravis so much that we decided to go back again the next day. This time towards the Plateau des Glieres. However we hit a problem- It took us so long to get there and we had big difficulties actually finding the crag that we ran out of time.

Wednesday it rained stair rods. Above 2000 meters it snowed 35 cm. We did nothing.

Thursday The weather was much improved but everything was either soaking wet or covered in snow. We had a brain wave and went on the very vertiginous via Ferratta at Thones.
This is the most challanging via ferratta I have done with the grade of Extremely Difficult. It follows an overhang that eventually leaves you swinging from your arms hundreds of meters above the village.

Friday was beautiful. Well everything looked beautiful because it was covered in snow. We choose to go rock climbing above the area formerly known [before global warming] as the Mer de Glace. This involves taking the Montenvers train and then walking down to Les Mottets. From there you rappel down the cliffs to the foot of the routes. Once you are in position it is hard to imagine a more spectacular back drop to go climbing in.

Alpine Classics

Charles Sherwood and I headed over to Andermatt and the Salbit Hut with some ambitious plans. Like a lot of mountaineering plans it was thwarted by the weather at about 5.30am the next morning. So it was back to the Hut to sit out the rain. In the afternoon it did stop raining enough to try and get out for a couple of pitches on the crag behind the hut.
The route we chose was greasy and I slipped on a thin lay back and fell off badly grazing my shin. I Hobbled back to the hut and patched my leg up.
The next morning was perfect and we headed off for a second attempt on the south ridge of the Salbitschijien. [Possibly the best route of its grade in the alps.] Word has certainly got out in the UK climbing press because all the teams on the route were exclusively British.
It was then down the valley in search of a doctor to patch up my leg. The weather forecast was in the long term poor but the next two days were okay. We therefore decided to go straight up to the Gleckstein Hut for an attempt on the Wetterhorn.
The Wetterhorn is famous because it marks the start of the Golden age of Mountaineering when Sir Alfred Wills climbed it in 1854 and ended in 1865 when Whymper climbed the Matterhorn.Wills was the High Court Judge - hence the 'Sir' - who presided over the trial of Oscar Wilde for "gross indecency". Became third President of the AC in 1863-5. When he climbed the Wetterhorn in 1854, he was actually on his honeymoon. Must have been seriously popular with his wife!
Another of the party was the local guide, Christian Almer. He climbed the peak a last time aged 70 on his golden wedding anniversary. But he did at least have the decency to take his wife with him.
We left the hut at 4.30 am in the pitch dark and alone. We headed up the path to the foot of the glacier where it was still dark and it wasn't easy to know where to go next. We eventually figured out the route across the glacier and towards the Wills Ridge[Named after Alf] The Willsgrat is more matterhorn like then the Matterhorn and the whole ascent is much longer and tougher. It took us nine hours up and down the route and we were shattered when we eventually got back to the car at 6.00pm. Then the heavens opened and it has not stopped raining and snowing since.

Alpine Training

After a long time and children grown up Helen and Martin Whitehouse had decided to restart their mountaineering careers. They hired me to brush up on their skills and look at how equipment and techniques have evolved.
The weather was blisteringly hot and conditions in the mountains were poor because everything was melting and falling apart.
We started our 3 days together by kicking off on the Mer de Glace making sure Helen and Martin knew all there was to know about modern crampons axes and ice screw belays.
Day two: We headed up the Grands Montets where we spent the morning working on crevasse rescue. In the afternoon we climbed the spectacular Aiguille du Grands Montets Ridge.
Day three : We traversed the Aiguille du Crochue. We moved very quickly and so I decided to hand the rope over to Martin and Helen so that they could perfect "moving together" under their own steam. Finally in what has become a bit of a tradition Helen and I swam in Lac Blanc. Unfortunately Martin was too much of a whimp to join us.

Cryotherapy Alpine Style

Ariel and Antony enjoyed a cloudless windless traverse of the Aiguille de Crochue - Antony had climbed it before but this was Ariel's first introduction to alpine ridges. It is difficult to say which he enjoyed most the climbing or the swimming in Lac Blanc on the way down.

Father & Son Climb Mt Blanc 4810 m

Jason Donavan and his son Lloyd joined me for a week of perfect weather and perfect conditions. We started our week with a visit to the Mer de Glace so that we could have some detailed preparation using ice axe and crampons . We talked a lot about what would happen in the week ahead as well as working on short roping techniques.
The next day we headed off up Les Grands Montets and climbed the Aiguille de Grands Montets before scrambling over the railings on to the viewing platform. In the afternoon we made our way over to the deliightful Argentiere Hut. We sat on the terrace drinking beer and soaking up the impressive situation. It was a very relaxed evening the hut was only half full despite it being Saturday night and the busiest week of the summer season.

We were away by 5.15am the next morning and climbed up to the Col du Tour Noir where we enjoyed stunning views east into Switzerland. From the col we returned back to the Hut and then headed down the Argentiere glacier and were down for 2.00 pm. Our acclimatisation completed plus , plenty of time for a good rest before the challenge of the next day which was going to be the climb to the Gouter Hut.

The climb was even longer than expected because unbeknown to me the 8.40 am train had been cancelled. So an extra 2 hours on what is already a long day. We arrived at the Gouter Hut at 3.00pm. Even so the conditions in the Gouter Couiloir were very good. There were no falling rocks and virtually a foot path across.

Breakfast was at 1.30am and we were away by 2.15am. We had perfect conditions and we summited at 7.15 am. After some photos it was straight back down. We were extremely quick back at the Gouter Hut in under 2 hours. Then the long descent - over 2700 meters.

Staff Training

The best out door shops have the best staff. Staff who know what kit does what how it works. This way they can recommend the correct equipment. With this in mind Adrian & Jad from Stamos Sports in Argentiere joined me for a day on the Mer de Glace
a dry glacier where they could learn everything there is to know about Ice axes, crampons, ice screws, rope management, steep ice climbing, rescue and route finding.

It was their chance to evaluate the latest gear and gave them a much better idea of what works easily and well and what does not!

An Alpine Road Trip

Reuben Berg and I planned a trip where we would climb in a different mountain area through out the week while taking in some of the finest roads Switzerland and Italy have to offer.
We drove from Chamonix to Andermatt then walked up to the magnificent Salbits Hut. The next day we climbed the stunning route "Paralleler Ostgrat" above the hut before moving onto via the impressive Oberalp pass the via Laax to Pontresina.
The weather on the Wednesday was a bit mixed so we headed on and over to the Stelvio Pass which at 2785m is the highest road in Europe. From there we drove to Bolzano where we stopped at the Mesner Mountain Museum where we got to see the great man himself.
Thursday we drove through into the heart of the Dolomites and climbed on the iconic Cinq Terre.
An early start on Friday was needed to make the most of seeing the mighty walls of the Cima Grande before traversing a fascinating war time via Ferratta which passed through a series of tunnels before gaining a ridge line.
It was then time for a dash back to Chamonix, this time via a very hot and sticky Milan with temperatures hitting 38c.

South Ridge Of Salbitschiijen

Peter Little decided to go and climb the South Ridge Of Salbitschiijen. We were not disappointed. It is possibly one of the best climbs of its grade I have ever done. Each pitch was magnificent. We were lucky with the weather too. The previous day had been very windy but for us it could not have been better. The down side was that we were not alone. Another 10 teams on our route. Peter and I managed an out flanking move and got to the front and therefore had an uncluttered run all the way up the route.