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| Alpine Climbing |
| The move from climbing and mountaineering on home ground to climbing in the Alps is like discovering a new world. The sounds, colours and experiences are very different from what you are familiar with. Laying in your bivouac with the night air being punctuated with deafening thunder cracks and brilliant forks of lightning to close for comfort can be quite an experience to say the least, and having to leave your valley tent at 8am each morning because it is baking hot are just part of the alpine deal. Its not all bad though... |
| Above: The beautiful and less frequented Aiguille du Tacul from above the Peraides Glacier. Right: Leading awkward mixed ground in boots and crampons for speed. Below: Moving together on easier mixed terrain. |
| Above left: Aiguille du Chardonnet and Auguille D'Argentiere from Petite Aiguille Verte with the Glacier D'Argentiere in the foreground. Above right: Preparing for glacier travel prior to a couple of days in the mountains. A neatly packed 65 litre rucksack with all your climbing and bivouac gear inside the sack is the way forward. Below left: The Cosmiques Arete and Aiguille du Midi in the evening sunlight. Below right: Thomas and I on the Valle Blanche with the Cosmiques Refuge in the background. |
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| Below: Almost chaos just after midnight in the Tete Rouse refuge after only an hour or two of disturbed sleep. Everybody is getting their gear together in the overwhelming heat of the overcrowded hut before getting out into the crisp night air for an assault on Mont Blanc. Click here for more pictures from alpine climbing near Chamonix. For an ascent of Mont Blanc see here. |
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| Below right: A friend reaching the top of his first alpine 4000'er, in this case the Bishorn at 4153m in the Swiss Alps and below right: the view westwards from the Bishorn with the beautiful Dent Blanche on the left and Mont Blanc on the horizon. |
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