I was supposed to be in Scotland now.  But as one good friend has always told me... plan early, plan twice.  Whilst finishing my work teaching cross country skiing in Chamonix I had been keeping a very close eye on the evolution of conditions in Scotland.  It didn't look entirely promising to be frank, and with one day to go before my flight to the UK I decided to delay and spend the week with Roeland in Cogne instead.

Now Cogne isn't short of good quality steep ice at the moment.  I've made several trips down there in previous winters but still have plenty of routes that I'm keen to get out on.  With a good long spell of settled weather forecast and the snow still a little deep and not well enough consolidated for higher alpine route, ice fall cragging in Cogne seemed like the best option both in terms of enjoyment and in training towards my winter test later in March.  The beauty of the Ice Climbing in the Grand Paradiso isn't just the variety and quality of steep ice routes but it's also in the fantastic views, the amazing wildlife and of course the great Italian coffee. 

Roeland and I decided to spend a few days down there and found a great little B&B in Epinel called Pavou.  This is just down from the village of Cogne itself which does an 'ice climbers' special for 23Euro per person a night and only 3Euros extra for a breakfast which is well worth taking.  The trouble with taking the breakfast though is that you can't get the kind of early start which is essential for some of the more popular routes... and this wasn't even at the weekend... when you can end up stading in line for routes!

The first day we chose a couple of routes we've done before with a short walk in the Lillaz valley, Tutto Relativo grade 4 and Eau de Cristaux grade 4, two climbs which easily link up by a short descent through trees.  The following day we finally got on a route I've been very keen to do for a while but the avalanche risk has always been too high on previous visits.  This year Cogne appears to have had much less snow than Chamonix and so we spent the day enjoying the almost alpine quality of Cold Couloir.  It starts with two steep and full length pitches of 4+ and then continues for almost 600m in shorter but atmospheric steps.  We decided to rappel rather than take on the full value adventure experience of the walkers descent making best use of abalokovs for the upper part before joining the main bolted rappel line.

 The third day we headed into the Valnontey valley with the plan to take on Repentence Super, but even after a pretty early start we were beaten to the base of the route by two Swiss Guides from Verbier.  We couldn't even get on Monday Money as there were already two teams waiting at the base of that one!  So with resignation we headed to the opposite side of the valley and Erfaulet a consolation grade 5 with one main pitch very steep at the top also often avalanche prone.  We finished early and decided to head round the corner and take a look at another great line which is directly opposite Repentence.  Di Fronte al Tradimento is another grade 6.  We bumped into a couple of British climbers coiling their ropes up at the base who were taking part in this weeks Alpine Club meet in Cogne.  Having just climbed it they sang its praises and inspired us to try to squeeze it in before darkness descended.   It had three good pitches with the second being a definite crux with a steep and awkward section that Roeland lead in great style. (Seen here on the left) 

We came off the final abseil as darkness closed in around us knowing full well that we had made the best of the day with 6 excellent steep ice pitches under our belts.  That night we drove back to Chamonix with only one hestitation... Repentence.

 One day of work and preparing various bits and pieces for my forthcoming adventures in Scotland gave us time to reflect and decide what we wanted to do about our unfinshed business.  I had never seconded a grade 6 before this week let along lead one so it really was Roelands decision since he would be taking on the two main pitches.  He decided we should go and since it was a popuar route, make sure we left early to be the first to arrive.  Five o'clock from Chamonix would see us start walking at 6am and be at the base of the route for just after 730am.  Everything was ready, gear checked, packed the night before, car outside... the journey passed smoothly, we were the first car to park at the trailhead and saw no other headtorches anywhere in the valley on the walk in.... until...

I couldn't believe it!  Just as we were 50meters from the base of the climb Roeland saw their headtorches.  Had they bivvied at the base or something?  No they hadn't as it turned out... they were the same two climbers that we had met two days earlier at the base of Di Fronto al Tradimento, Nick and Steve from the Alpine club!  Oh well... they'd started from the trailhead half an hour earlier than us and deserved their place first on the route.

We considered heading for Monday Money but after another look at the line Roeland decided that we could climb it close behind the Brits with safe belay spots out of the 'line of fire'.  The temperature wasn't so cold and hopefully the ice not so brittle.  We waited for the leader to finish the first pitch and Steve to set off whilst we enjoyed second breakfast and hot coffee from the flask.  As Roeland set off after Steve another team arrived, a French Guide called Stephan and his 63 year old client.  It was going to be a busy day.

The Guide turned out to be someone that Roeland and I had met before in Stob Coire nan Lochan last year at the base of Central Grooves.  It established an immediate rapport and respect that came in valuable later in the day.  The team of British climbers had been climbing all week and this was their last day so they were probably a little tired and one of them, Nick was doing all the leading, which puts a lot more strain on you.  All three teams ended up with a very sociable although somewhat damp belay in the 'cave' after the second pitch whilst Nick made steady progress up the final column.  But it all proved too much.  A twenty meter fall later, a bruised but uninjured Nick needed a rest and Roeland decided to climb in paralell to get us out of the cave.

The Brit team and the French Guide and client decided to rappel after the third pitch, but Roeland and I were keen to do the final easier steps which were my lead.  Once we passed the Brits we were able to make rapid progress to the top and after a brief celebration we began to get our excessively frozen ropes ready for a series of steep abseils.  My heart was heavy with concern that they would freeze to the snow or ice and get stuck... the ropes were sodden and heavily encrusted with ice making belaying very difficult.  The thought of being stuck half way down as darkness descended did not appeal.

Fortunately the rappels proved uneventfull and we were down safe at the bags with enough daylight left to walk out.  With all the shenanigins on the third pitch it had taken us a lot longer than expected but we had finally found space to climb Repentence!  Although it wasn't the most enjoyable experience with the waiting, the cold water flowing down the ice and the bottle neck, it was good climbing, a great line and quite sociable.  Nick and Steve were effusive with their thanks and apologies but we all get helped out at some stage in our climbing lives, I know I have been.  We were all just glad that everyone was down safe and smiling.  I'm already thinking whether I can get another Cogne day hit in before heading to Scotland next week...

Over New Year I spent ten days training 22 Engr Regt in Cross Country skiing.  They had already spent over a month pre-Christmas training in Sweden but this hadn't been as productive as it should have been.  Training for them had been marred at first by a lack of snow and then due to a lack of good quality instruction.  It's easy to overlook how much more structured and specific learning to ski can be when guided by an experienced instructor.  I believe that during their time out in Chamonix they also became aware of how much fun cross country skiin can be, not to mention that it is simply brilliant for winter training!  A whole body work out that is low-impact on the joints and as demanding as you choose to make it cardio-vascularly.

The group of six soldiers were heading onto the Divisional races in Serre Chevalier in January where my own team Oxford University OTC are also going to be racing.   They were lead by a former student of mine and friend Naima Mohammed, herself a good cross country skier having previously been selected for National Development Squad.  Because they arrived as intermediate skiers I was able to coach them on performance skiing as well as race strategy. 

It was a real pleasure to be working with a stong and motivated team keen on developing their athletic performace as much as possible, and for the first time in weeks some of our training sessions began to work me physically a little too! 

During the period we visited Val Ferret, Cogne, Les Contamine, Chamonix and Argentiere tracks and on the whole benefited from fantastic skiing conditions.  For our day in Cogne we had perfectly pressed classic tracks with minus 10 degrees snow temperature... so perfect stick!  Their first real glimpse into ideal classic skiing conditions... and I do believe a few of them began to feel the love!

My time with 22 Engr Regt came to a close all too soon, and I wish them luck in the forthcoming races.  They have the potential to do very well if they ski hard and work as a team.  I certainly hope that they keep up with cross country skiing in future and that I get the chance to see how they have developed in future years.  Who knows... perhaps I will get the chance to work on the Royal Engineer ski training camp in Sweden next year.  until then thank you gentlemen and best of luck in Serre Chevlaier!

Today was my last day skiing with my students from Oxford University Officers' Training Corps.  We have been at Les Contamines for the last few days, on well groomed tracks and the best Biathlon range in the local area.  There is even talk of a roller ski track being built to cater for summer training in future years.

Both the female and male team have made excellent progress this week.  They have also started to show that they can analyse their own ski technique from video footage so have taken the first vital step in becoming their own coach towards better skiing.

They have done two races in the last two days, one using the classic technique and one biathlon race using the skating technique.  This was in order to help aid selection of the team that will go forward to the Spartan Hike championships in Serre Chevalier later in January.

There really is a turning point with cross country skiers about a week after taking up the activity for the first time.  Today it was clear to me that most of the group had reached that point... when their technique had progressed far enough to allow them to be really challenged physically by the activity too. 

For the first time during the final few training sessions we were able to cover quite some distance and include a good amount of uphill work.  It only remained to empart some top tips for the forthcoming races and try to encourage them to keep persevering with improving their technique when they return to the Alps in January.

The group leave for the UK tomorrow, and I am sorry to see them go.  It feels strange to know that this year I will not see any of them race.  I will not be able to cheer them on to the finish, or celebrate with them their success.  I will be in scotland focusing on my forthcoming BMG Scottish winter test. 

Knowing that I will miss an event that I wholeheartedly believe achieves so much for the OTC and for the students who take part and at the same time find thoroughly enjoyable leaves me a little sad.  It also makes me determined to pass my Scottish test in good style and ensure that I can work with next years team throughout the whole training and racing programme.

Fortunately Cross country skiing isn't over this year for me just yet.  I have another Military team from the Regular Army coming out after Christmas that I will train for ten days.  The team Captain is a former student of mine and I am really excited that she has invited me to train her team this year. I'm going to do my utmost to make sure that they are all skiing as well as possible and have the best chance of winning the Regular Army competition later in January.

 This week I returned to a different Chamonix valley, one where winter has well and truly arrived.  When I left for Scotland the Aiguilles Rouges didn't even have a dusting of snow.  Now only two weeks later we are about to have our third day in a row at Avalanche category 4 or above!

Today the lifts at Grand Montets were closed due to high snow fall, very high winds and a very high avalanche risk.  I passed three Alpine Skiers on the nordic tracks in the Bois de Bouchet in Chamonix whose comment on 'what they had been reduced to' saddened me a little.  After all Cross Country skiing is certainly not a second choice for me!

I have been working with Oxford University Officers Training Corps Biathlon team this week.  I have worked with Oxford for the last six years and each year we have a new squad to train for the British Army competitions later in January.  This year, due to my Guides training and assessment in Scotland I will not be able to join them for the competition phase, which is a great shame.  This year we have 12 complete novices to cross country skiing... six of whom have not Alpine skied before either.  It is really very special to have the opportunity to introduce so many keen and enthusiastic young people to a sport I love so much. 

I am often teaching smaller groups or individuals but working with a large group, all of whom are going through the learning process at the same time is both stimulating and immensely enjoyable.

Over the last week we have covered an introduction to both Classic and Skate skiing, together with downhill techniques.  Although at times, with so much snow ariving on both the French and Italian sides of the Mont Blanc Massif conditions have been challenging. 

The magical valley of Val Ferret, with it's normally well groomed tracks and faultlessly warm welcome has for several days been empty of people and deep in snow. 

This deep snow makes learning all the different 'gears' of the two techniques particularly difficult for the novices.  Yesterday most of the Italian Val Ferret was closed with an Avalanche category of level 4.  We had arrived just before the road was closed and decided to restrict our training to the small loop at the start of the tracks.  Despite this, whilst out training we witnessed two spontaneous avalanches of moderate size.  As the wind picked up and it began to snow harder we decided to call a halt to the day before conditions deteriorated further.

This didn't dampen the students enthusiasm though.  Even after two long sessions they found enough energy to create a few 'snow angels'. 

Today we have had an excellent distance session on our classic skis.  It continued snowing well into the morning but unfortunately (as predicted) as the day progressed the snow slowly turned to rain.  We classic skied round the full red loop of the Chamonix tracks for the first time, and as we did so the diagonal stride and double poling of my novices was showing really solid improvement.  This afternoon, with the rain continuing without pause, we spent inside the team chalet looking at DVD footage of professional athletes and discussing ways to help the students improve their own technique further. 

The temperature is due to plunge tonight, so hopefully the snow will start to settle and the tracks will freeze solid making for a good skating platform tomorrow.  We have some more work to do over the next few days on both Classic and Skate technique, but when the group come to leave Chamonix on Tuesday morning they should all have a good foundation for the races ahead of them in January.

This last week I've been in Scotland with a good friend and fellow BMG Trainee Rocio Siemens.  I needed to renew my first aid training and since Rocio is now a qualified REC course provider I timed a trip back to the UK for early December in order to renew my first aid and get some Scottish Winter Climbing in if conditions would allow.

Fortuneately the mild November weather had moved on and things have been shaping up nicely in Scotland with a succession of freeze thaws moving in from the Atlantic.

After a weekend part classroom, part scenario based in North Wales, I was looking forward to getting back out into the winter hills.  Rocio and I drove north sunday night, briefly calling in on some friends of hers in Shap before completing the journey monday morning.

Bad luck for me that the UK germ circuit must be different from the French germ scene and I had begun to feel the worrying signs of an oncoming cold.  Nothing for it but to make the best of it and soldier on though, but I would have prefered a week of battling the Sottish elements without an internal battle going on as well.... particularly with a week of high winds forecast!

To keep things manageable for me... and not tip me over the edge into complete bronchial meltdown we decided to have an easy day checking out routes we could use with clients initally and then follow it up with some more interesting climbing later in the week.  In the end we had three good days in the corries with one rest day as the 'Windeferno' as The Sun newspaper coined it passed over Scotland and recorded windspeeds of 160mphr on the summit of Cairngorm.  I have to say that I was quite willing to sit that day out in front of the fire at a friends place in Aviemore.

The week prooved to be just what I needed though to brush the cobwebs off in preparation for the forthcoming Scottish winter and BMG test.  We climbed Sidewinder III 4 and the Hoarmaster V 6 in Lochan (Rocio above right), checked out the top of various other routes and then finished with Burning and Looting V 6 in Sneadre.  Burning and Looting has a great top pitch and I thoroughly enjoyed following Rocio up it... partly because I was suddenly feeling so much better and knew I had broken the back of the cold that I'd picked up at the start of the week.

Just as well since the next day I was flying back to France to work training the Oxford UOTC Cross-Country skiing and Biathlon team for ten days.  I'm under no illusions that I need my lungs working properly in order to do any kind of demonstrations for cross country skiing!  Great news that Chamonix now has snow down to valley level and that the ski tracks in Val Ferret over in Italy have opened and are in good condition.

With the most amazing November weather that I can remember combined with the return of my partner Roeland vanOss from Holland it seemed too much to hope for more alpine climbing but... we decided on making a short mini-break in Switzerland to explore the peaks above Grindlewald.  We had information that the Haston-Eistrupp route on the Monch was in reasonable condition. 

So we decided to go and take a look.  From the Kleine Scheidegg it is a relatively short 2 1/2hr walk into the Guggi hut at 2791m.  Perched on a dramatic rocky outcrop high abover the Guggi glacier.  From here the famous Nollen route on the Monch soars above.  I have looked at doing this route before, but had not really considered the north face routes further left.  Most of them involve the possibility of snowed up limestone slabs which are very hard to protect and tenuous... not my cup of tea.

The Haston Eistrupp starts from the glacial basin below the Monch Plateau which is part way up the Nollen route and then continues for 900m to the summit.  It is mostly a hard icey couloir, but in leaner conditions (as we found) the start traverses into the main couloir over some thin iced up slabs in several delicate pitches.  These pitches are reminiscent of thin ice climbing on the Ben in Scotland.

From the hut you climb over 300m to the Monch plateau and then downclimb northeast into the glacial basin below the route.  We reached this descent at dawn and possibly would have been better leaving the hut a little earlier than 5am... but this WAS our holliday! 

The devious traversing, tough ice combined with tired legs meant that we reached the summit of the Monch at sunset.  It was a beautifull and spirit quietning view, but we were both tired and it meant that we would be descending in darkness.  Fortuneately I have done the SE ridge of the Monch before so knew what to expect.  In the darkness I looked along the knife edge snow arete and my headtorch beam disappeared into the night sky... illuminating the first 100m or so. 

My heart sank.  Nothing for it except to take that deep breath and start a steady walk down.  A foot wide at best and sheer on both sides... like walking the spine of a church roof... just a very big church.  Sometimes it is hard for me to understand why I like mountaineering so much.  I didn't want to have to walk that arete but had no choice if I wanted to reach the warmth of the Monch hut that night!

After the knife edge ridge it is an easier walk steeper down a broarder flank, with metal posts for extra security if needed.  Then a few rocky sections, narrow in places before the final southerly snow slopes easing all the time.

We benefitted from a good clear track all the way from the summit... only slightly more ambiguous on the rocky sections.  But with the dark it still took us several hours to get safely off and into the fantastic winter room at the Monchjoch hutte.  What a welcome place to spend the night... even if at 3627m it was going to be fairly rapid acclimatisation for Roeland!  We quickly got the log fire going and started melting snow for rehydrating. 

Both of our bodies aching with the sustained effort... our shoulders having taken quite a pounding with the hard ice.  It was certainly no pushover.. and we were glad to know that we only had an easy kilometer downhill walk back to the jungfraujoch station in order to catch the train down the next day!  In terms of a walk out it really couldn't get much easier.

The route is a great line with some interesting climbing at the start, but I think we caught it in acceptable but not great condition.  It was lovely to share another route with Roeland and to climb out of the valley for a change.  I have so many ideas for routes in the Bernese Oberland that I would like to climb and I was pleased to do another route on the Monch.  The north Face direct looks like an amazing line, although harder than the Haston Eistrupp and not in condition at the moment.  Very direct!  Once again I can't believe we have such stable weather and still no snow in Chamonix.  It has been an unusual November and as my time at home draws to a close so too does my Alpine climbing for this year I think.  I head to Scotland very soon for the start of my  winter journey, BMG training and ultimately of course another test!

The last few weeks have been a welcome routine of training and enjoying some home-time in Chamonix before a winter in Scotland.  It`s difficult for me to do as much running as I would like in the summer months, what with work and moving around all the time.  With the return of Autumn I can once again begin to built up the miles on the beautiful Chamonix trails.

It is a wonderful place for trail running. Particularly with the Autumn colours as the trees turn orange and gold.  The pine needles drop and coat the trails with a soft carpet, normally just in time for the first winter snow... but this year the hills are still dry and clear but very frosty!  The days are noticeably shorter now and there is a real chill in the valley each morning, but the weather has stayed remarkably stable- anticyclonic.  This last week, having imagined that alpine routes were over for me for the year, the settled weather proved too much of a lure!

I teamed up with new friend Ben Tibbetts for the Colton Brooks on the North Face of the Droites.  Ben and my partner Roeland vanOss had been up to look at the Matterhorn a few weeks ago, without success, but as Roeland headed to Holland for family time he encouraged me to look up Ben and climb with him.  Roeland is a great judge of character so I knew that Ben would must be good company and safe to tie onto a rope with.  He is also planning to head onto the British Guides Scheme for training in the next few years.

We went for a leisurely run up to Montenvers and then spent some time dry tooling before leaving the idea of the Colton-Brooks hanging in the air for a few days.  The forecast for the whole of this week is stable and conditions in the moutains haven't been changing all that much and most routes on the Droites face are in excellent condition.

Too much of a good opportunity to miss really, so on sunday we made the long walk into the Argentiere hut in plenty of time to scout the face.  There was one other team in the hut, a Swiss pair off to do some ice smeers to the right of the Tournier Spur.  I was relieved that we would once again be the only people on the route.  Although I have previously done the Lagarde direct and the Ginat on the Droites this route would proove to be a little longer and more difficult than either of those... agravated by less than optimal acclimatisation!

The route itself is excellent... a fantastic line, and a memorable experience.  It proved to be a throughly enjoyable partnership, and I found great faith in how Ben goes about his business in the mountains.  Since so much about Moutaineering for me is about who you share a big route with, this was quite important.

The conditions of the face for the most part are excellent. The photo on the left shows me leading off in the lower ice gullies towards the upper icefield. 

Instead of traversing into the upper gully Ben picked a line direct across some pretty thin ice, with a cool and steady lead (The crux of the route).  The traverse looked grey and brittle... so perhaps wouldn't have been much fun either.  The rest of the gully, though a little brittle in places was much more enjoyable and relaxing climbing... Although the top slopes were easier, the sugary snow lead to less than perfect security at times.

The photo to the right shows Ben leading on the thin ice at the crux, avoiding the leftwards traverse by going direct. Although a few days earlier I had run up to the Albert Premiere hut and slept there to help my acclimatisation there was no doubt that in the latter stages of the climb I was beginning to slow down. I found myself regretting my loss of fitness since training for the Biathlon a few years ago.  It has fired me up to try to regain that level of fitness that I once took for granted!

The route also proved an excellent opportunity for me to test out my new Haglofs clothing.  I used Actives Merino base layers, with an actives Warm Q Zip as a mid layer fleece, and Bungy Q tights.  This proved an excellent base layer for the cold temperatures.  Then Flint Q softshell pants with Weasel Q Hood top, my Barrier Q vest as extra insulation and topped off with my Spitz Q jacket.  For most of the route I used Helix gloves but Fang gloves for the approach and descent.... and for truly cosy belaying... my new Belay Q Down hood could be whipped out of my bag at a moments notice.  A shamefull plug for Haglofs but as I wind my merry way through the BMG Guides Scheme training I am truly grateful for their continued support!

We summitted after 13hrs of climbing, moving together for all bar 2 or 3 pitches at the crux.  Arriving at the summit ridge at 4pm with just over an hour of fading light before we would be engulfed in darkness.  Thankfully there was almost a full moon to help us on the descent.  Even though I have rappelled from the Breche before, last time it was in daylight and I always forget how different things look in the dark.  A good 5 hours of rappelling (mostly untagling ropes it seems like to me.) got us over the bergschrund and onto the glacier.  Once again glad to be the only team descending the lose horror fest that is the south couloir of the breche de droites in dry conditions.  After a much anticipated pit-stop we could lose height much more quickly, a few more raps over slots and we were onto the more gentle slopes below.

The glaciers seem a great deal dryer and more complicated than my last visit... or maybe I was just a little bit more tired this time?  Another few hours of lose rubble stumbling and we reached the Couvercle at about 1:30 am. Just over 24hrs on the go from hut to hut.  The Swiss finally making it in at 5am!

With the amazing weather set to continue into next week the ski season seems inordinately far away... but in less than a month the lifts are due to reopen.  The trouble is, that from a close inspection of the glacier we`re going to need quite a bit of snow for the skiing to shape up... and the anticyclonic conditions persist....

After a late summer with friends in the Alps I headed back to the UK and North Wales for a rendezvous with the BMG Guides Scheme.  All summer I have had the UK Summer assessment looming on the horizon, and although I have been an active MIA now for over 10 years, no assessment that matters to you is ever stress free.  I had spent five weeks working and training in the UK in the Spring so left myself two full weeks before the test to get back into the North Wales swing.  That consisted of lots of scrambing and climbing in the rain with big boots and a pack... trying different linkups and getting to know Snowdonia as well as possible for someone who isn't based there.

The week itself turned out to be very mixed. Not just in terms of weather, but also in terms of my enjoyment of the process and ultimately my success.  I enjoyed almost every day of the test.  This surprised me and made the experience a positive one on the whole.  I left the week with a good debrief and one day to redo at the earliest opportunity- My rope rescues day.  This retest would mean keeping the pressure on longer than I would have liked.

Family time and work beconned, and meant that it was a good three weeks before I could do my retest.  I spent the day with Richard Mansfield, a Chamonix based Guide and former Training Officer himself on the Eperon des Cosmiques.  His calm and thorough manner enough to put even my nerves at ease and resulting in a successful pass!  The sense of relief at getting this first hurdle under my belt and being able to mentally commit to preparations for the next stage- the Scottish winter- was immense.  The remainder of October I have been doing some short mixed climbs with my partner Roeland vanOss and training hard to make sure my fitness is without question during this coming winter season. 

I have also recently received a massive helping hand from my Sponsor HAGLOFS, in the format of a big delivery of winter clothing.  I plan to put this to good use in the months ahead.  Without their flexibility, belief and support I would definitely be struggling to juggle all the extra costs encountered along the path towards becoming a qualified Mountain Guide.  If I keep working hard and make sure that this next phase goes well it makes me immensely excited and proud to know that by June next year I will finally be an Aspirant, and able to work with civilian clients in the Alps for the first time.  My years of running Alpine courses for the military will surely help ease this progression, but it gives me a huge smile and sense of anticipation knowing that I'll be able to share my love of mountaineering and skiing in the Alps with a wider audience very soon!  Now to the hard work of training... and to Scotland!

This week I have mostly spent doing one alpine route.  Possibly the longest route I’ve ever done, certainly the most involved.  A good friend of mine, Rocio had flown out from the UK for a week of Alpine climbing before I finally have to knuckle down and head to Wales for the BMG summer test in September. 

Rocio is a year ahead of me in the Guides scheme and not only is she great company, but it is a real pleasure to have a fellow female climber going through the Guides scheme at roughly the same time.  In the mountaineering world which is dominated largely by men I deeply value a strong female climbing partner and Rocio is just that.

I have wanted to do a full traverse of the Chamonix Aiguilles for many years.  Whilst I was in the UK in May I had planted the seed of an idea about doing it this September during our week together.  That seed found fertile ground and blossomed into a wonderful plan.

The Lindsay Griffin guide describes the traverse in both directions.  It says that doing the route N to S is “The most aesthetic traverse which also offers the best climbing”.  That settled our decision about which direction we should go.  The book then goes on to say that the opposite direction is less difficult, quicker (completed Midi to Charmoz in 1-2 days) and more popular.  This is possibly because most of the difficult climbing sections can be rappelled.  Of the traverse N to S it suggested that it would take 2-3 days.  So we had to prepare for at least one, if not two bivouacs en-route.

 I had already done the Charmoz Grepon traverse with another friend Paul Chiddle years ago, so wanted to find a different start to the route we would do. 

I hit upon the idea of starting it from the Envers hut with an ascent of the famous Mer de Glace face of the Grepon. With 800m, and 22 pitches of climbing it is quite some route in itself.  This way I figured we got two routes for the price of one.  In fact on reflection I can see that this was only ever going to add to the challenge and (of course) add to the time taken!  Rocios husband, Owen had a week free and fancied a little adventure so agreed to tag along for our few days frolicking in the Aiguilles.  It seemed a great idea to travel as a three, both in terms of sharing the work and in terms of company whilst climbing… it always makes it so much more sociable.

We took Sunday for leisurely preparation and walked into the Envers hut in the cool clear evening air.  There had been a recent snowfall a few days earlier but the good weather had returned and burnt most of it off.  The forecast was for settled but cool conditions for at least the next three days.

What can I say about the route itself…?  Well it’s been such an adventure in so many ways that it seems difficult to know where to start.  The first thing is that I am really pleased to have shared the experience with two great characters, talented climbers and good friends.  For me that is what made the journey so rewarding. 

I experienced a true spectrum of emotions during the four days that we were climbing.  From the initial excitement of the first day, to the realisation that it might take us a little longer than anticipated. 

From the frustration and time lost with the difficultly of route finding, to the mental strain of the questionable rock quality and the seriousness of the undertaking.  The physical effort of pushing out several 12hr days back to back and climbing strenuous pitches with heavy backs in big boots, to the satisfaction of completing the final difficulties on the Dent du Crocodile.  The fatigued resignation to a final third bivouac below the Aiguille du Plan and the uncertainly and fear aroused by an unexpected lightning storm that final night.  This saw the summit of the Plan stuck not so very far away, and put down 10cm of new snow covering our bivvi bags in a worrisome layer.  Encouraging me to call PGHM ‘just to let them know where we were in case conditions deteriorated further’. 

To that final exhausting day across the Midi-Plan traverse in fresh snow, poor visibility, and initially strong winds… on empty, tired legs exacerbated by 2 days worth of food being stretched to 4.  I have to admit that there were several moments along the traverse where I really wasn’t sure where our adventure was heading… and it was never certain we would complete it.  It certainly isn’t a week that I’ll forget for some time. 

At over 4km in length and including three AD routes and three Difficile routes in their own rights, it has fired up my imagination for future long ridge traverses elsewhere.  It’s hard to know how we might have done things faster.  Sure we lost time in route finding at various points.  I have to say that the route descriptions in the Lindsay Griffin guide of this route are vague to say the least.  For the NNE Ridge of the Dent du Crocodile which is reasonably complex it has 6 short lines!  It took me back to when I was learning navigation skills years ago and I was warned not to fit the map to the ground.  In this context finding open-grooves and crack and ledge systems everywhere!  I’m pretty sure that the routes we did aren’t often done and that some particularly near the Fou have suffered from recent rockfall.

What presiding memories do I take away from this climb?  That we seemed to climb so much further than we actually travelled, as the Grepon only slowly dwindled on the horizon.  That having a sense of the terrain and of line is always more important that any route description.  That the more loose rock you climb the less you want to.  That anyone who does this traverse from South to North has only done a TD in abseiling (although some serious abseils I’ll give them credit for that!)

It’s also confirmed for me that it is the quality of the people you tie on a rope with that gives meaning to the whole climbing experience.  Both Owen and Cio are quite simply great people to be on a route with.  They’re not just talented climbers, they work hard for the team, pull it out of the bag when they are tired, scared or unacclimatised… and they do it all with a sense of humour and a determination to get the job done.  I was impressed, inspired and certainly hope to climb with them again in future.  Although at this stage I have to say… hopefully on a shorter route, with more food involved!

Grepon Adventure from Owen Samuel on Vimeo.

The last two weeks I have been working with a group of climbers from Oxford University Officers Training Corps on a rock climbing Expedition based in the Dolomites.  I would be working with two other Military instructors Andy Nelson and Andy Hogarth, both very experienced and keen to make sure that the expedition was as successful as possible.  One of the students, James Coates had organized the trip under my guidance, and we had a busy itinerary planned for the seven students in our charge.

I’m back in Chamonix now, having just returned, and we were lucky enough to have the most settled spell of warm weather of the whole alpine summer so far. 

 We started down in the Pala di San Martino, famous for it’s solid pale limestone and magical mid-grade classic climbs.  After a quick warm up on the roadside multi-pitch crag called Tognazza (amazing for the Dolomites this is Rhyolite- quite a rare rock so I’m informed), the group walked in to the Rifugio del Velo (seen here to the left).  This hut is set strategically at the base of the famous Cima de la Madonna and the Spigolo del Velo (or bridal veil arête).  This was to be the first of our main climbs and it proved to have some great climbing on quite simply a fantastic line… the four students who summated were tired but really pleased with this early success.

That evening the good weather broke and Monday was a day of very heavy rain.  The long term forecast was good though so we took a rest day and moved camp to Canazai.  Making sure that we were in position to climb again as soon as we could.  As it turned out the clouds hurried away that afternoon and from that point onwards we had nothing but blue skies and the occasional rare evening thunderstorm… so very lucky for mid august in the Dolomites!

Such stable weather allowed us to climb everyday… to the point that our bodies were weary, and fingers sore… or was that just me?  We climbed Torre Delago NW Arete and Torre Stabeler South Face, above the Vajolet Hut, and the Piaz Crack on Punta Emma.  We traversed the Sella Towers (Below right with Anna and Ed), the Hexenstein, scaled the mighty Route of Friendship on Piz Ciavazes then walked into the Contrin Hut to climb the South Face of the Marmolda by the classic Bettega-Tomasson route.

With the aim of the expedition having been somewhat diluted by our move north we returned to the Pala to sweep up the NW Castiglioni/Detassis route on the Pala de la Rifugio above the amazing and thoroughly hospitable climber-orientated Trevisio hut, and then made the long walk back to pull our way up the West Ridge of the Sasso DÓrtiga… before finally heading north to finish on the classic Cima Grande and marvel at the awe inspring north faces.

So in ten days of climbing our seven climbing students climbed over 130pitches and over 4500meters of ascent… and unusually for two weeks in the Dolomites in August we didn’t lose a single day to bad weather.  The Monday of storms would have been a rest day anyway!  It was a real pleasure to see the enjoyment and sense of achievement that all the students had at the end of the two weeks. 

So much ground had been covered and so much learning taken place that I think only with reflection later in the year will they gain a true sense of what they have achieved. 

Some of them were already talking about returning to the Dolomites and planning more rock climbing adventures next summer.  I felt really proud of all of them, I had shared a few adventures with them and shared in their development.  During the final few climbs I had been quite impressed with their approach, efficiency and teamwork.  They were beginning to be independent climbers in their own right… ready for the next steps away from instruction!

Thank you Andy and Andy for all your help during the course of the expedition.  Above all thank you James for organizing the trip during your final hectic and very important year at University, and thank you, Dave, Camilla, Anna, Ed, Pete and James for being so positive and flexible and such good company on all the climbs that I shared with you.  It would be a pleasure to tie on with you in future sometime… good luck and happy climbing!