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.

Andrea Ski's the Valley Blanche

Andrea [7 years old] enjoyed perfect conditions as she skied the Valley Blanche for the first time in under an hour.

Wildhorn 3247 m

Last week saw the most stable weather for some considerable time. Perfect snow cover, clear skies at night blue skis the next day which meant perfect spring snow.

Peter Folkman andI drove around to Les Diablerets cable car. After climbing the summit of Diablerets we skied down to the Cabanne Prarochet and spent the night.
Next day we left at 7.00am and toured over to the Cabannes des Audannes. It was a Saturday the weather and conditions were perfect but we hardly saw a sole.
The Cabannes des Audannes would go into anyones top ten mountain huts. The next morning we left at 6.00am and climbed the Wildhorn in about two hours. We skied from its summit past the Wildhorn Hut and on to the road head and down to Lenk.

Mont Velan 3731 m

At the start of the week We had great snow for off piste skiing but poor conditions for hut to hut ski touring. Eventually we got a good forecast and so Tom Becky Nathan and Me set off for Mt Velan. We put our skis on and started climbing from the road in Bourg St Pierre. Four hours later we arrived at my favourite hut in the Alps the Velan Mountain Hut.
Next day we set off at 6.00am just as dawn broke. It was a perfect day. After about 2 hours we had a challanging climb over the Col du Gouille. This involved putting the skis on our backs and using a series of chains to help us over the top. On the other side we had to absiel down to the glacier.
We arrived on the summit at 11.45am. Far below us we could see the Grands St Bernard Monastery.
An hour and a half later we were back at the car having enjoyed stunning skiing.

Col du Argentiere

So far in April we have had a day of snow followed by a day of beautiful weather. To day was good. Chris Dovell and I skied off the top of Grands Montets through the seracs zoomed across the Argentiere glacier and then climbed up to the Col du Argentiere. On the descent we had every type of snow from powder to sun crust to spring snow.

Le Buet 3020m

Chris Dovell & I set off from the car park at 7.00am and arrived at the summit of Le Buet at 12.00. Stunning views from the summit but cold and windy. We got some good skiing in on the way down but the legs were not quite as fresh as we would have wanted after 1800 meters of ascent.
The beer at the Hotel Le Buet was most welcome