Cervinia

I've just got back from the first day of the season of lift served skiing and it's not even the second week of November! Happy days.

I needed to get some photos today for various articles I'm writing, but somewhat inevitably the day descended into loads of skiing and not much photography! Unfortunately nothing was open in the Cervinia part of the mountain but there was enough open above Zermatt to keep us more than entertained. This can obviously be accessed from Zermatt but it's much easier to come in via the Cervinia lift system. 

There was a bit of good, chalky off piste but most of the day was spent getting the ski legs back in and flying around the blue runs.

I will DEFINITELY get the photos for the articles tomorrow....

Cunningham Couloir

All week it's looked as if today (Friday) was going to be a washout, but the weatherman suddenly got optimistic and predicted a half decent day. Tom and I had initially thought about doing Fil a Plomb, but with the winds due to increase and some cloud expected in the afternoon we decided to save it for a better day and headed up the Midi with no fixed objective. 

The day got off to a great start as we stood back and watched the race for the abseil anchors from the Midi bridge. Word has got out that the routes accessed via the bridge abseil, on the Midi NW face, are in good nick and they've been getting hammered recently. Tom and I were in no rush and so watched the chaos and once it had subsided, debated what to go for. 

Jon Bracey abbing off the bridge, headed for some hard climbing.

We thought about heading for the Tacul Triangle but didn't fancy the walk, and also considered the Cosmiques icefall but with no info on conditions figured it was a long shot. We eventually decided to follow the hordes over the bridge and go for the "Shit route", so named because the top few metres on the final pitch is formed from frozen "waste products" spilling out from the Midi toilets. No-one we'd spoken to was heading for it, and we'd heard it was a good route (provided you didn't sniff too much on the final few metres).

The ab off the bridge was as gripping as ever, but the abs went smoothly enough and we were soon at the foot of the route. Unfortunately the team ahead of us had changed their minds and decided to do "our" route so we let them get onto it and settled into our down jackets. Things started to go wrong when we noticed just how slowly they were climbing and how much ice they were sending down the route. The speed they were going we figured that they might not even make the last bin, meaning that we wouldn't either - not good. By this stage it was too late to ab down further and join the queue on the other routes so there was nothing for it but to climb up the Cunningham Couloir, under the bridge and onto the Midi N face.

I'd always thought that the Cunningham looked a bit chossy but easy enough. Turns out it is about Scottish grade 3, but it feels like everything is held together with blu-tac so both Tom and I got a pretty harrowing, low angled chossy lead. Safe to say I won't be doing it again, but it's good to know that you can escape in dire straights. 

Tom Moores describing the excellent climbing that can be found in the Cunningham Couloir.

Bird, Blanc, Bottle.

Bad weather on the way now and the Midi shuts for 7 weeks starting on Monday, so summer is officially over. Let it snow!

Mic et Maousse & La Somone.

Tom and I had big climbing plans today but work intervened and we ended up with only an afternoon available. We were both keen for covering a bit of ground rather than cragging and so decided to go for a scramble up Brevent - always a good option. The lift closes until winter on Monday so we were doubly keen to get some final sunny scrambling in before the snow arrives.

"Mic et Maousse", a fun scramble that starts near the Col du Brevent fit the bill and provided a great little route. There was plenty of snow still lying around but we were climbing in mountain boots and so barely noticed it. The route provides some short sections of climbing and then an enjoyable easy ridge with good rock and plenty of bolts along the way. With an hour still left before the final bin, we finished off with the last 2 pitches of the nearby route "La Somone".

All in all, an excellent use of an afternoon. You can't beat Cham for half day hits!

Awesome autumn view across to Mont Blanc.

Ueli Steck Interview on EpicTV

The autumn has truly arrived here in Cham and the Valley is looking stunning right now. I haven't managed to get into the mountains much but I've been trying to charge ("run" would be exaggerating) up to either the Plan de l'Aiguille or Planpraz 3 or 4 times a week in an attempt to build some fitness. I could wax lyrical about how amazing the trees and the newly snowy mountains look but I couldn't do it justice. All in all, this is a great time of year so if you get the chance to see the Valley when it's this colourful (and quiet!) make sure you get out here. 

Anyway, the reason I've not been getting out much is that I've been presenting the EpicTV Climbing Daily show and will be doing so for the foreseeable. The big news this week is that we've just been to Ueli Steck's house, where we checked out his gear store (more interesting than it sounds) and got some fascinating answers from him when we did an interview. 

You can see my report on Ueli's ascent here and check Epictv.com or the show's brand new Facebook page (here) to see the interview footage, which we'll be showing throughout next week.

Conditions are apparently picking up in the mountains now so I'm pretty psyched to get up and check it out for myself next week. Report to follow so stay tuned. 

The Prarion lake in all it's autumn glory.

First ski of the winter - Midi & Helbronner

The last 3 days have seen snow falling all the way down to town and it's been a shock to the system clearing the car again every morning. That's one chore I never mind doing though as it usually means a good day is in store, and so it was this weekend. 

First up was the Midi yesterday with Tom, Matt, Joel and Ben. A lap off the Midi Arete was followed by a fit of keen-ness which saw us drop into the Petit Envers and ski the first few pitches before skinning out. As is often the case, trying to describe a ski day is pointless when you can just show the photos so here goes - 

Snow clearing at the Plan de l'Aiguille.

Looking down on a snowy Cham from the top of the Midi.

Snow clearing at the top station.

Current conditions. Think the rock climbing season might be over!

Tom Grant deep in it on the Midi Arete.

Joel Evans skiing the Petit Envers.

Me deep in it. Photo Joel Evans.

Loving it! Photo Joel Evans.

Matt just about staying afloat. Photo Joel Evans. 

Me and Matt after some quality mincing. Photo Joel Evans. 

One more "deep" shot. Photo Joel Evans. 

With all the fresh snow, trail breaking back up to the Midi was TOUGH. Worth it though.

Today I went through the Mont Blanc Tunnel with Matt and Emma in search of more powder. We found it but if anything there was too much. It all felt pretty poorly bonded too and we didn't manage to find anything which felt steep enough to turn but safe enough to be OK. Still, it was great to be out and we managed to find a hut to jump off into the powder so a good day was had despite not finding any good skiing. Musn't grumble really, it is October after all!

Matt doing some high altitude bouldering/clowning.

Me jumping off a hut near the Helbronner. The run up was about a foot long so it was more a controlled face plant than a jump. Photo Emma Jack. 

 The aftermath. Photo Emma Jack. 

Matt at the moment of impact, with Emma looking on amused. 

We ran into a couple of guides at the Helbronner lift and they were telling of people getting back to the Torino Hut well after dark last night and I can see why after having been up there. There is a HUGE amount of snow up high and walking to anything is just about impossible now. Get skiing!

Check this out!

Here's a couple of forecasts for the coming few days in Cham.

http://chamonix-meteo.com/chamonix-mont-blanc/weather/forecast/morning/5_days_weather_forecast.php

http://www.yr.no/place/France/Rh%C3%B4ne-Alpes/Chamonix/long.html

Powder day coming up I think!

Report to follow...

Petits Charmoz

We've had some funny weather here in Cham for the last few days, with plenty of sun but also some ominous clouds appearing most days. It looks like things are going to get really nasty over the weekend so I was keen to get a good mountain day in before the rain arrived. Once again I was looking for something which would provide plenty of mountain mileage and some good climbing. The classic Petits Charmoz traverse ticked the bill perfectly and the fact that it had been my first ever alpine route made it even more appealing. Gary was keen too so the banter was sure to be good (and constant!)

First bin didn't quite happen (we can't be expected to climb without a coffee in town first) but we were at the Plan de L'Aiguille just after 9 and got stuck into the walk. Although not a massive distance, the walk is pretty hard going. You cross 2 pretty major moraines and go up and down a fair amount so it eventually took us about 2 hours to reach the foot of the proper climbing. It would be possible to shave some time off that if you traversed high up under the Nantillons Glacier but the area is notorious for rockfall so we took a low line in and had to climb up a lot of unpleasant, loose glacial moraine as a result.

The Aiguille de l'M and Petits Charmoz from the walk in. The traverse goes from the col on the right to the col on the left.

Once on the route the climbing is fun and pretty straightforward. The initial chimneys provide a bit of a challenge but they're more physical and thrutchy than actually "hard" and then it's an easy scramble up to the Col de l'Etala, from where the views of the Drus are stunning.

Gary emerging from the Etala chimneys, relieved to have fit his shoulders through the final tight section!

Gary stuffing his face at the Col de l'Etala

From the Col you climb some more easy ground to reach the "Livre Ouvert" pitch which was actually pretty tricky and requires a tough rockover onto a small ledge. Luckily for us, Gary led it with a minimum of fuss but if 4c is near your limit you might be glad of rockboots. With the Livre pitch out of the way it is straightforward but exposed terrain all the way to the summit, which is brilliant and the views are awesome in every direction. 

Gary arriving on the summit, with the Grand Charmoz and the Nantillons Glacier behind.

The descent is a combination of short abseils and down scrambling and there are abseil anchors of various quality all over the place. Basically you need to get yourself into the couloir below the Col de la Buche and then scramble down the loose rock to the ladders which take you back to the Nantillons moraine.

Abbing off the summit. 

On the ladders

From there, it's simply a case of slogging back to the Plan de l'Aiguille, which only took about an hour. All in all, we did it in 7 hours bin to bin having not really rushed at all so the route is perfectly doable in a day if you're fit and keen. Great little route and a really good use of a single good weather day - get on it!

Beautiful view of the Blaitiere and Plan on the way back to the lift.

Ecandies Traverse

The weather has been stunning for the last week here in Cham and with it all forecast to change over the weekend, I decided I'd better leave the laptop for a day and get a route done. As ever, Peter was psyched and so we decided to do the Traverse of the Ecandies, high above Champex. We'd started the walk in to the route once before but turned around when it started raining so a return date had always been on the cards. 

All the guidebooks talk about walking in from Champex but with us trying to do the route in a day (without a bivi after the approach) we thought that we could get in just as quickly from the Col de la Forclaz. The theory went that any extra time walking would be made up in having to drive 40 minutes less each way. It didn't quite work out!

Initially the walk in went fine and we made good time towards the Fenetre d'Arpette col before branching off across scree slopes towards the Trient Hut. Although long, the approach was fine and we were at the Col des Ecandies by 10.30.

Me on the walk in, with the Trient Glacier behind. Photo Peter Riley.

Me early on the traverse, checking the route. Photo Peter Riley.

Looking along the ridge from near the beginning. 

The traverse itself is just fantastic, with plenty of easy but brilliant scrambling plus the odd trickier pitch. The one bit we did skip is the famous "Saut de l'Ange" (Angel's leap) which involves jumping from one pinnacle to another. We'd naively imagined that this would be between 2 big, flat areas but it is actually between 2 small, sloping little ledges with massive exposure and a horrible potential swing if you messed it up. I was leading and didn't fancy it but when Peter arrived he assured me that we just needed to "man up". One closer look and he quickly decided that he was with me and didn't fancy it either! A quick abseil and a shuffle along a ledge saw us back on the route and on our way, with our tails firmly between our legs. 

The remainder of the route went very smoothly and we were on the summit 3 hours after starting. From there the fun really started when we realised that in order to get back to the car, we'd have to descend towards Champex, cut across to the Fenetre d'Arpette path, climb up the Fenetre and then walk down to the car. Ouch. We ended up walking for just under 9 hours and climbing for 3 so I guess all the guidebooks are right when they say to come in from Champex. Still, it was great to be out and we got a superb route done as well as clocking up some good mountain mileage. 

Heading for the final summit. Photo Peter Riley.

Just below the crux. Photo Peter Riley.

Me heading off on the final section before the summit. Photo Peter Riley. 

Summit!

The Fenetre d'Arpette

All change with the weather now but with a bit of sun still lingering around for a few days. I might just have to get out at the weekend...

Passage du Derochoir & Perrons Traverse

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.

Chalk and Granite 3

Another great job from Toby and Rachel at Seven Twenty Productions. 

Love it!

So much for autumn!

The weather is frankly horrible here in Cham right now, with heavy rain throughout all of yesterday and no sign of any sunshine until Thursday. Snow has now fallen to roughly 1700m and I think there will be more people up the Midi with skis than with crampons when the sun does come out. 

The Flegere and Brevent lifts are now closed so options will be quite limited for climbing in the coming days. I'd say that heading down the Valley to climb in the Arve area or going through the Tunnel to Italy would be good ideas, although the best solution is probably to get in the car and head for the south coast!

The scene at 1900m this morning

The beginning of winter?

The last week or so has seen some pretty changeable weather here in Cham, and with a long list of things to be getting on with, I've been inside and trying not to think about getting out in the mountains. Today was supposed to be another similar day, but having opened the curtains and seen this view, I'm wondering if I should be getting the skis down from the loft at the weekend!

More of the same is forecast for the next couple of days, which is a shame for rock climbing, but OK for those of us who want the glaciers filled in well for winter.

We didn't have a spring this year, we just went straight from winter to summer in about 3 days, so maybe we won't have an autumn either. Fine by me!

Conditions up high

Yesterday I went up and climbed at the top of the Midi for the first time since mid June, which made me realise just how little I've done this summer. Still, I've had a good time, and it made it all the sweeter to be out and about in the hills again.

It looked at one stage as if this was going to be a dry, hot summer, but some bad weather in mid August really filled in the glaciers again and put some much needed snow down up high. Right now conditions are pretty funny, with most snow/ice based climbs looking dry and black, but many rock routes having snow on the ledges, keeping the routes damp.

If you're heading out now, I would climb either south facing rock high up, or mid/low altitude rock on any aspect. This seems to have been a pattern for the last few summers, with a damp spring and occasional patches of heavy precipitation keeping many routes out of condition all summer. As far as I know the last time the Walker Spur was climbed in dry conditions was 2010, and that certainly won't change this year.

One the upside, conditions could be superb for autumn as the snow consolidates and is topped up by the storms forecast to arrive at the end of this week. Stay tuned...