Ideas by Chris, words by Anne

Every Alpine season is different, but this year has been really different. Following a summer working at home in the Lake District, I had planned a short sharp Alpine season, 23rd August to 13th September. I had two long-ish bookings, both 1:1, and by huge coincidence both clients wanted to climb the Matterhorn and the Mittelegi Ridge on the Eiger.

On the summit of the Aiguilles Crochues with James

All went as planned up to 24th August. My first client, James, arrived on 22nd August, and we had a great first day climbing in the Aiguilles Rouges as a warm-up and shake-down day. But sadly, that evening James got a message saying that there was a family emergency back in the UK. He knew the right thing was to go home, but he was desperately disappointed, as he’d been planning this adventure for several years. The following day we had time for a walk up to the Argentière glacier before I took him to the airport in the evening.

That left me with nine days before my next work started. One of the many benefits of staying on Camping Glacier d’Argentière at Les Chosalets is that there are usually people I know, or friends of friends, looking for someone to climb with. Bob and I had several great days together, which meant I was able to acclimatise and maintain my fitness.

Rock climbing with Bob, with the Emosson dam behind

AM 16.08 Bob 02 Alpine mountaineering resized.jpg

My second client, Matt, arrived on 2nd September, and we started on 3rd with a day rock climbing in the Aiguilles Rouges. So far all is going to plan, and we had a with a successful day on the Matterhorn yesterday. That just leaves the Eiger...