With the unsettled weather continuing here I've been seeking out dry rock for the last few days and have managed to climb everyday, and even enjoyed a bit of sunshine. The end of last week saw me back at the Montenvers slabs, and even resorting to dry tooling down at Le Fayet when we had a total washout day.
Saturday was forecast to be a good day, but with fresh snow in the mountains Sharon and I decided to climb low down, and picked the Col de la Colombiere in the Aravis. The drive from Cham is only about 45 minutes and there are several crags, varying from single pitches up to 7 and 8 pitch routes. We climbed "Manque un Metre" (6a, 300m) on the Jalouvre crag, and it was superb. The route is pretty popular so a weekday might be better, but it's a really good option when the weather isn't quite good enough to get into the hills.
Chamois at the Col de Colombiere
Sharon on pitch 4 of "Manque un Metre"
Today (Sunday) was forecast to be dry until early afternoon so Sharon, Matt, Tristan, Sam and I went to the Dalles d'Arveyron for some slab climbing. The Dalles are really good, glacier polished slabs, and dry really quickly so perfect for the first dry day in a while. We did half a dozen routes or so then headed off when the black clouds began to arrive.
Current conditions in the Chamonix Aiguilles - bit too snowy for climbing right now.
A glimpse of the Republique and the Charmoz from the walk in to the Dalles d'Arveyron
No good weather on the horizon but I'm sure I can keep busy - more to come on here about good options when the rain keeps falling in Cham.