With the weather really turning bad across all of the Alps, Matt, Tom and I made a bid for one final dry day and drove through the Mont Blanc Tunnel to do some climbing in the Aosta Valley. We opted for a crag called Machaby which has fully bolted routes up to 400m long, which is about 45 minutes down the Valley from Courmayeur.
With the weather dry but looking threatening, we wanted to do something that we could run away from easily and went for “Urca Urca”, a 400m 6a+ on the lower tier. Luckily the rain held off all day and we had a good but chilly day of stress free climbing. The abseil descent was probably the toughest part of the day as the wind really picked up, and we had a tough time keeping control of the ropes!
Matt safely anchored to the in-situ Gnome that we found at the 3rd belay.
Tom, Matt and I mid way up and convinced it's about to rain.
Abbing. Note the angle of the ropes!
It is even raining in Aosta and Provence now, so all decent options for escaping a damp Chamonix have gone. Peter and Martin have resorted to going to Fontainebleau for some bouldering. Things must be bad!