Traverse of the Chamonix Aiguilles

Monster day, amazing fun. 30+ Abseils. Amazing rock climbing.  Gnarly glacier in the dark!  Slept well!

Midi - Plan Traverse

After a bit of a rest morning/day, Kenny, Paul and I got one of the afternoon Midi lift up to Aiguille du Midi and went over to Aiguille du Plan.  This is a great link up with plenty of interest and some stunning scenery.  A must do for anyone and also a great acclimatisation route.  We bivied just below the summit of Aiguille du Plan on a 4 star location (the photo above was location number one, we relocated to a rocky bivi which was much drier).  Well worth it.  This set us up nicely for our big day tomorrow.

North East Spur Les Droites .... Part 2

Gutted....The ice hadn't frozen and was still like mush.  Unfortunately we weren't able to climb up as it most likely would have ended in disaster.  Instead we abseiled and down climbed the whole route.... it took a good day, sideways abseils, ropes getting stuck, prusiking up ropes, chopping tat, getting sun burnt.....

North East Spur Les Droites .... part 1

Today Kenny, Paul and I got the first lift up and walked down onto the Argentier Glacier to the base of this massive route.  Rock climbing was on the cards for our first day, ice climbing for the second.  Our third day would probably be spent getting back to Chamonix.  The climbing was great, we all had rock shoes on with our big boots, crampons, axes and bivi kit tucked away in our bags.  We had an ace days climbing on varied terrain which got us up to the ice around 5/6pm. Unfortuntely the ice was thin and mushy so we were unable to climb a couple of pitches so instead we bivied so it would freeze up over night......

Another rock route

Today Kenny and I climbed another long multi-pitch route in Grinderwald.  I cant remember what it was called but it was very very good.  More granite slabs with a fantastic Yosemite crack/offwidth/groove crux pitch!

Motorhead

In the top 10 rock route I've ever done!  Absolutley brilliant.  This Eldorado classic is a must do.  It is lightly bolted so a trad rack is needed for this 14 pitch route. It felt like E1/2 which just kept coming.  Every pitch was good, the sun was shining with a light breeze, it was like a fairytale.  What a day!

North East Face of Lenzspitze

Today was another 3am start and we battled into the winds to get to the bottom of this 500m snow-ice route.  It is sustained at about 55 degrees all the way to the top.  After crossing the Bergshund we just kept the rope on and ploughed up to the top reaching the summit at 6am in very high winds.  The plan was to the press on along the ridge to Nadelhorn but as we were getting blown around we decided we should just down-climb the whole route...... so we did.  It was quite fun down climbing the route and was surprisingly quick.  We took only one axe each which was fine but with two axes you can really race up this (D) route.  Once back in the hut we packed up our kit, headed down to Saas Fee for some coke then drove over to the Grimsel Pass for some rock climbing.

Nadelgrat Traverse

What a brilliant day we had on this.  So yesterday we walked up to the Mischabel SAC Hut and had a good relaxing evening, even went for a wee wonder up the hill to see where we were going in the morning.  We set off at 3am this morning and headed over the Windjoch and onto Ulrichshorn (3925m), then climbed up the Dirrujoch Coilour which was horrendous as it wasn't complete and the snow was very poor.  We escaped onto the rocks on the right but still wasn't fun as it was super loose and slabby.  We then went on and summited Hobaryhorn (4219m), Stecknadelhn (4241m) and finally Nadelhorn (4327m) to complete one of the classic ridge traverses in the Alps, the Nadelgrat (AD-).  A great day out!

Sagittarius

Today showed some unsettled weather in the mountains so Kenny and I opted for a day with a light rucksack and hands covered in chalk.  We headed into Grindlewald and climbed the 450m 13 pitch route of Sagittarius (6b) in Gelmerfluh.  It is a fantastic route with plenty of bolts to aim for.  Immaculate granite slabs keep the concentration levels high and had some fantastic pitches on which would be much better if there were no bolts and a small trad rack was carried.  An ace route, well worth seeking out.  From the top we made 6 abseils off fantastic ab stations and a quick wander back to the van.  What a day!

Lagginhorn South Ridge

Yesterday Kenny and I spotted the South Ridge (AD) to the summit of the Lagginhorn (4010m) and it looked great fun.  So today we got the first lift up and went for it.  We didn't want to hang around to much so again we made good progress and got up in quite a quick time.  This ridge felt easier than the North Ridge of Weissmies but still lots to keep you occupied.  Maybe if your wanting to do these two ridges then start with the Lagginhorn.  The best way to do the two ridges would be to do them in a day.  Get an early start though!

Acclimatisation

So after a good long drive from Fort William, Kenny and I arrived at Saas Grund in Switzerland yesterday.  Today we get the first lift up and climbed the North Ridge of the Weissmies (AD+).  We made super progress but feeling the altitude as we approached the 4000m mark.  The round trip from the lift took us 7 hours, alot shorter than we expected.  The ridge was great fun, plenty of interest and some really funky sections of climbing, a must do if in the area.

Inn Pinn today, Alps on Monday

Today was my final day at work before I had out to the Alps for 3 weeks.  What a way to finish a great summer season by doing the Inn Pinn in super high winds and very cloudy conditions.  Malc and I had a group of 6 to take up the Pinn who wanted to climb it as a birthday treat.  We were meant to be a group of 8 but the high winds destroyed some tents which resulted in some of the group not getting much sleep.  We battled up high and the wind eased just enough for us to make a few ascents.  Everyone went up the East ridges and then we got a couple up the short side as we had plenty of time to spare.  A great day finished of with some good scree running to get back down.  So I'm of to the Alps for 3 weeks and I don't intend in going on a computer other than to check the weather and answer emails.  Hope the weather is as good out in the Alps as it has been here in Scotland!

Mid Section

Today I was working for Skye Guides and I was out with Nick who is very close to completing his round of Munro's.  Only 6 more to go.  He hadn't done any of the Munro's on the mid section so we headed up into An Dorus from Glen Brittle.  From here we nipped up onto Sgurr a' Mhadaidh, then over to Sgurr a' Ghreadaidh and finally into Sgurr na Banachdaich via the fantastic South Ridge via Sgurr Thormaid which gives fantastic grade 3 scrambling.  A boiling hot day which we finished off with some swimming in the little pools about Glen Brittle Youth Hostel and did a fantastic bit of shallow water soloing - see here!

Cioch and more

Today I was out with Bryan and his two son's Alasdair (19) and Gregor (16).  Year's ago Bryan had done the ridge traverse had always had an affinity with Skye.  So much so, he named his eldest son after Skye's highest peak, Sgurr Alasdair.  The plan of the day was to climb The Cioch and onto Sgurr Alasdair so Alasdair could see why Bryan named him after this great peak.  So we made our way onto Cioch Slab which led us nicely onto The Cioch.  From here we traversed into eastern Gully and headed up into the sunshine.  A well worth adventure, if your waist is 36+ then it might be quite tricky, some tight squeezes!  After arriving at Bealach Coire a' Ghrunnda we headed up onto Sgurr Sgumain then finally onto Sgurr Alasdair.  We made a speedy descent down the Great Stone Shoot into Coire Lagan.  Today I was working for Skye Guides.

3 Munro's on Skye

Today I was out with David who hasn't been on Skye fort the last 10 years.  He attempted the full ridge traverse north to south, however due to a injured leg he dropped off at An Dorus. So our plan was to climb up the Inn Pin and then head north along the ridge to An Dorus via Sgurr na Banachdich and Sgurr a' Ghreadaidh.  The weather stayed fair for us most of the morning but surrounded us in the form of cloud after we got down off the Inn Pin.  Relatively quiet on the hill today, a few others on the Pinn and a couple of girls were attempting the ridge traverse in one day.  Good luck to them.  The weather made the day a little more interesting and ended up being a good 9 hour day.  Today I was working for Martin Moran.