With winter (hopefully) fast approaching, I've been trying to get some long mountain days under my belt in an effort to build up some fitness for ski touring. To be honest, rock climbing hasn't really happened for me this summer so my thoughts have already turned to what I need to do to make the most of the coming winter. The answer is fitness and checking out new places and areas that I'd like to tour in.
First up was a charge up and over the Passage du Derochoir, above Passy. Starting in the mini ski area of Pleine Joux, this is a brilliant journey which takes you all the way round the stunning Pointe de Plate. Passing through the Rocher des Fiz and featuring 1000m of ascent and descent, this is a great journey with some incredible views. I managed to scope out a few ski tours too....
The Rocher des Fiz. Unfortunately I can't get off the floor on any of the routes on this peak, but if you're good enough it looks an awesome place to climb.
The Pointe de Place from the parking at Pleine Joux.
Next up was the traverse of the Perrons, high above the Emosson Dam. I did this route last year (click here for the write up) but it's so good that I wanted to do it again. The walk in went a bit smoother this time and we found the right path but it was still a hard slog. The route itself was brilliant though and the combination of views and amazing scrambling is hard to beat. If the walk in and out was half the length, this would literally be the best low grade route in the Chamonix area. As it is, the route is fantastic but you need to be psyched for the walk. Overall, a brilliant day and a good workout - the pizza when I got home was incredible!
The Emosson lake from half way up the approach.
Me rigging an abseil with the Chamonix peaks behind.
Panoramic from one of the summits on the traverse. On the left are the peaks of the Valais (Matterhorn, Dent Blanche et al) then the peaks on Chamonix are central and a very snowy looking N face of Mont Buet is on the right. Click on the photo to zoom in.
Looking back along the traverse.
The weather is looking good for a while now so hopefully I'll be getting out a few more times before the autumn storms arrive - stay tuned for updates.