I finally had enough of the poor excuse for a summer that we’ve had back home and headed out to the alps a couple of weeks ago. It’s blatantly apparent how warm and dry the summer alpine season has been. The fantastic, stable weather has been a welcome change but route choice has required careful consideration.
Despite there having been plenty of snowfall until the middle of the spring, there are now unusually large crevasses and bergshrunds making the approaches to many routes impossible or pretty ‘interesting’ as well as an increased risk of rock fall. As examples around Chamonix, the Frendo Spur, Rochefort Arete and Frontier Ridge have been climbed recently by very few parties but they are either bare or just dangerous with rock fall and certainly not in classic condition.
I’ve had a great time so far with rock routes around Chamonix having predominantly been the order of the trip as well as a trip to Switzerland to climb the South Ridge on the Lagginhorn. Having said that, there are objectively safe mixed routes in condition on the Mont Blanc du Tacul Triangle where we climbed two fantastic lines right up the centre of the face.
I’ll post more photos when I get a chance but in the interim, there should be more on Will’s blog.
