The Alpine Season 2002

It does seem that global warming is really affecting alpine seasons more and more each year. This year, June was great weather but by mid August, good conditions had deteriorated, showing early access to the mountains was essential. However, compensating for this, mid September had large amounts of snow, showing that a late season would be producing great conditions.
Maybe one can’t pinpoint a (best) date to come to the Alps but this season, Smiler arrived on June 15th, just as the huts and cable cars were preparing to open.

This is tale of the tape!

June 18th – 27th
Les and Chris arrived for their first ventures in the Alps. They spent 10 days completing many of the great classics in the Chamonix valley:- routes such as the Chapel de la Glière, the Cosmiques Arête, the Petite Aiguille Verte, L’ Index, Aiguille du Tour - and departed satisfied and eager for a return trip next year. The weather was terrific throughout the 10 days.

A couple of admin days preceded the one Mont Blanc course this year.

June 30th – July 9th
An excellent team assembled at the Gite Belvedere in Argentiere. Mike and Sandra, Tony and John, Malcolm and his son Tom, all proved superb participants over the ten-day course. Smiler was being ably assisted by the aspirant guide, Rob Wills, and by the internationally famous French guide, Thierry Renault, well known to many seasoned British alpinists as Turbo - a nickname well-deserved! Sandra would be guided by Turbo all through the ten-day course, as later, after an ascent of the South Ridge of the Eiger with Smiler, Sandra would go onto the Hornli Ridge of the Matterhorn with Turbo, thereby completing the ‘Big Three’ in one season!
The team progressed well through great classic climbs - often used as a warm-up for the big one, Mont Blanc: the traverse of the Aiguille Crochures, Aiguille du Tour, Petite Aiguille Verte, Cosmiques Arête. Throughout the course, fun climbing and great camaraderie was evident and the after-course meal in L’ Office bar/restaurant proved to be an extended but great night out for all. Thierry’s return to Chamonix and to his home early in the morning, was thankfully uneventful. Smiler escaped to his own bed at midnight but the celebrations continued well into the next morning!

July 11th – 13th
Smiler and Sandra made a superb and rapid ascent of a snowy South Ridge of the Eiger. An impromptu traverse (down the west flank) seemed a good option with so much snow on the mountain, and not another party to be seen! However, once the beautiful tongue of snow had run out about halfway down, the subsequent slabby ground, devoid of ledges and good holds and covered in loose stones, made it very time-consuming and precarious. The team were grateful to have the mountain to themselves and Smiler is now convinced that that he will never, ever go up or down that route again!
Indeed, later at the Mittellegi Hut, he was able to deter several parties, who had intended to descend the west flank after climbing the Mittellegi Ridge, urging them all to descend the much safer south ridge.

July 14th – 18th
David arrived for his first time in the Alps and, as planned, Sandra left for the Matterhorn with Turbo. Unfortunately, there was still too much snow on the Hornli, and her ‘Big Three’ in the same season was not to be!
Taking opportunities in unsettled Chamonix weather, David and Smiler made ascents of many of the well-known and great classics of the Chamonix valley, which provided the perfect introduction to this great place. David is already planning a return trip as soon as soon possible.

July 20th – 23rd
Mike arrived with Matterhorn intentions. The weather had improved a little, but was still variable in Chamonix. For Mike, fitness and climbing skills were to thwart a Matterhorn attempt, should it be possible, but the peak was still covered in snow and still not being climbed. So Mike suggested traveling south. Smiler and Mike spent two days climbing in the Ardêche, south of Grenoble, on the bolted limestone routes.
Mike had visited this area a few times before and it proved a great place. All too soon, the team were back in Chamonix and Mike was off home, with supplies of Gamay wine purchased in the Ardêche!

July 23rd – August 3rd
Peter and Mark had agreed to ideas of introductory routes for Mark (his first time in the Alps) and renewed acquaintance for Peter (who had been on the ten-day Mont Blanc course the year before). They were both hoping to end up doing the Mittellegi Ridge on the Eiger. Preparing for a few warm-up routes in Chamonix, the programme was interrupted with news of a poor forecast, so a rapid approach to Grindelwald was called for. The journey through the tunnel to the Eismeer Station and across the steep, loose slabs to the Mittellegi Hut was relatively uneventful, but the poor weather reached the region a day earlier than expected and at 3am it poured down. Clearing a little at 5am it was still very doubtful. Apart from one French guide and his Japanese client, the rest of the teams decided to agree with the Guardienne of the hut, that the storm would eventually return. So five parties descended back to the tunnel window and down to Grindelwald. The French guide and client made good progress, but at midday the storm returned, just when they might have reached the summit. One only hopes they descended the south ridge safely? Satisfied with the decision made, the trio returned to Chamonix and continued to snatch good routes in the spells of good weather.

August 4th – 10th
Stuart and David also had plans for the Matterhorn but, like all before them so far, their dreams would have to wait for another year. The snows of this season were still preventing many teams from topping out on this majestic summit. Nevertheless, many classic Chamonix climbs were climbed, predominately rock.

August 11th – 16th
Yet another planned Matterhorn climb was on the cards. Only this time, by a more difficult route – the Zmutt Ridge.
Fresh from an excellent season with Smiler last year, Nigel arrived with high hopes for a repeat of successes. Warm-up routes were to be a prelude to the Zmutt Ridge, but once again, hopes of a dry Matterhorn were dashed by more fresh snow. Nigel opted for a replacement – the traverse of Mont Blanc.
Five and a half hours up from the Cosmiques hut and only slightly longer down the Gouter ridge proved an excellent time, and a good substitute route. Thereafter, some good rock route days in the Aiguille Rouge cemented a good week.

August 18th – 23rd
‘Backy’ arrived with good intentions for a Matterhorn climb (another one!). Even without much acclimatisation (he had trained very hard though), the weather forecast required an earlier than planned approach to Zermatt. Foregoing several vital training days in Chamonix, Smiler and ‘Backy’ arrived to a good forecast for the next day! With conditions good, at long last the hut was reached!
The climb? A success at last! Not too crowded for once, five and a half hours up and six and a half down. An excellent climbing time for ‘Backy’, who hadn’t had much time in the Alps, to get ready for the route. Later, ‘Backy’ prepared and carried out walks and scrambles in and around Zermatt, and Smiler returned by train to Argentière for his next course.

August 25th – 29th
Steve and Gareth (the latter all the way from New York) also had big plans for the Matterhorn. This time Smiler was to be assisted once again by ‘Turbo’. The boys had come to Chamonix a fortnight early to get fit, acclimatise, and finally lay that Tête Blanche to rest!
Smiler and Nigel were descending from the Albert Premier hut, after a one-day ascent of the Aiguille du Tour (from the first cable car from the valley at 08.30, arriving back in Le Tour at 17.30!). At the hut they met up with the duo, who were intending to acclimatise on the Tête Blanche. After a few age-old jokes about the whereabouts of the Tête Blanche, Smiler and Nigel departed for Le Tour. Shortly afterwards, Steve pulled his heavy rucksack back on and badly damaged the vertebra in his back and, after a 5-hour descent (very painful) he spent a week in the Chamonix hospital, before returning home to convalesce.

Adding to the fact that Gareth really wanted to climb the Matterhorn with Steve, there were problems in New York. So Gareth called it a day after a couple of great days in Chamonix, including a superb and safe ascent of the Cosmiques Arête. With Gareth in the lead apart from the aid crack, Smiler was happy to agree that Gareth could easily lead Steve up that route on their next visit together. The unfortunate finale? The weather with Gareth, to his credit, in the lead, was pretty bad, lots of snow and cold fingers. So the welcoming committee at the viewpoint was restricted to one Japanese tourist and two French. No big photo session that day!

August 30th – September 4th
Mike came all the way from Jerusalem, to participate in a two-week 4000 metre peak course in the Valais. He really wanted to finish off with a good route and chose the Zmutt! Various factors eventually prevented this, especially the poor weather and conditions still prevailing the Zermatt area. Mike did, however, climb some great routes in Chamonix in his four days with Smiler. He realised that some climbing locations were “fun” and even progressed to some good leads on the rock. Wadi Rum, watch out!

September 6th – 10th
John had been an experienced alpine climber for a while now, but family and work had taken over. John wanted a good week on some big routes but the early snows of the end of season would prove to be a problem. Rapid ascents of the Arête des Papillons on the Peigne, and the Cheré Couloir on the Triangle du Tacul, were both long held ambitions for John, although Smiler knew John was a much better climber and worthy of bigger routes. The weather turned and lower level rock climbing was called for. An interesting route (Asia) on the Grande Floria, aggressive stuff on the overhanging walls of La Fayet, and a final superb day on the Brevent (the Frison/Roche route) meant that John had a great time, and Smiler even did routes he hadn’t done before!

That was it! September 12th saw Smiler at Geneva airport and soon back to Inverness and Loch Ness. Another (lengthy) alpine season over and, even with some disappointments over the Matterhorn climbs, there was always a good feeling of ‘well, we’ve done well in the situation’ at the end of each course!

Smiler is home for two months now and getting the home front sorted out ready for SIX months in South America.

Winter - 2002

The story so far (this winter).

The season started well, although the warm/cool spells in November meant it didn't get really cold until mid December, when the skies cleared for a while.

An early climb of Gardyloo Gully on Ben Nevis was interesting, to say the least, thin ice and a narrow final chimney, made it a couple of grades harder than the guidebook stated. (Grade 2?)
The lack of snow and lean conditions in January meant that normal course events were less popular but some harder climbing courses, on a 1:1 basis, proved good fun.

February so far has proved great and the big snowfalls early on together with some good, cool weather, have filled the gullies and we're still benefiting from these conditions.
Last week I had three days on the Ben and a day in the Northern Corries, and each day was great fun. It looks like March will be excellent!

So the rest of this month and through March is committed to more snow and ice climbing in the Highlands and then I'll be packing furiously for my Himalayan adventure, when I go to Nepal for Ama Dablam in April. I am very much looking forward to seeing my old friend in Kathmandu and the Khumbu once again.

The Alps programme is as busy as ever. A larger than usual number of Matterhorn clients this year suggest I have got the text right - "Arguably, the world's most sought-after summit"!

This October will hopefully see me doing some good rock climbing for a change (Llanberis is a long way from Dores!) and then even in November, certainly in December, I'm already swinging the axes in those iced-up grooves and corners up here!

So the year 2003 will be as ambitious as ever. I want you to make the most of being around, by seeing as much as you can, and doing as much as you can!

I'll be in Peru in May/June - the Cordillera Blanca, condor country, with its fabulous peaks like Alpamayo, Huascaran, and hundreds more. If you are thinking of a more adventurous vacation next year, think about that for a three-week project.

We will return to Scotland after Peru, ready for me to plan, pack and depart for my summer guiding in Chamonix. Still lots to do there and I look forward to a week or two of your time in the Alps.

Then what? Who knows!