Off to France

June came around quickly this year. No sooner had I got some good rock climbing courses going in the UK, it was time to pack the car and set off for Chamonix once again. Always a task I look forward to, as I meet so many new clients and friends each year.
The 10hr drive after taking the ferry to Zeebrugge was uneventful, yet I would be wondering how to get back, the news that the Rosyth/Zeebrugge service would be cancelled before my return was, very sad.
I spent my first day in Argentiere and organised my apartment. For personal acclimatising and training I did the lovely Les Peclerey walk, taking two hours and fifty minutes for the round trip back to the ‘Office’.
I soon learnt of an annoying problem. The Brevant would be closed for the whole season with the installation of a new cable car system Annoying, because there are good rock climbs in that area for all standards of clients. I immediately tried to establish if it was possible to take the lift to Flegere, and have the time to walk from there to the climbs. Walking from Argentiere to Flegere was OK, but onwards to Plan Praz and back took too long, if one was to get back in time, after a rock route, and catch the last cable car from Flegere. It was a six hour round trip and I wasn’t hanging around in my walking pace. The Brevant would have to wait until 2009.
My friend, Bernard, came over from Annecy and we climbed the superb rock routes, Eperon Sublime and Athena on the Dalles de Floria. A nice start to the season.