Chamonix Activity Report: 10th June 2012
Mountaineering with the Alpine ARC'ademy in Chamonix
The alarm clock isn't supposed to sound this early at the weekend (unless there was a big overnight dump) but after a 7am warm-up cycle ride into Chamonix with a backpack full of crampons, ice screws & prusik knots I soon felt wide awake.
This weekend was the three day Arc'teryx Alpine Arc'ademy, a unique three day course of mountaineering education and inspiration based right here in Chamonix.
There was an impressive turnout at the Aiguille du Midi for the Arcademy, now on day two of the programme, for the seven different mountaineering clinics on offer - ranging from grade IV Alpine climbing through to mountain navigation.
Having been a Chamonix resident for several years, my appreciation for the mountains, and the risk that goes with it, has grown but despite the years my mountaineering skills don't amount to much - which is why I started the Arc'ademy on the advanced beginners (crampons are my friends but Prusiks not so much).
The busy course meant we were split up into several smaller groups and reassuringly I was teamed up with some other Chamonix residents amongst other beginners.
This clinic was preceded by a glacier training for beginners clinic which really allowed the weekend to open up to anyone, so it's a great way of making first your steps at 'haute-montage'.
The weather had cleared up perfectly and stepping out onto the arrete from the Aiguille du Midi gave everyone an immediate eye-full but soon enough we were all looking at our feet as we made our way down the vertiginous arrete.
Once down onto the glacier we ventured off to explore, observe and practise proper technique. Starting off with a long walk down with a poke around a few crevasses before stopping at a steep bank to have a go at crevasse rescue, falling with an ice axe, roping up on steep ascents and traverses.
After a long day in the sun, the thought of a beer and kick back in a sun lounger kept me going on the ascent back up.
Day two set off under clear skies up top but with a brisk breeze in the air, which made the descent down the arrete somewhat tricky especially when we had to give way to oncoming traffic on the foot wide path. The clinic this time was aimed specifically at mountain & crevasse rescue, obviously we didn't get to cover all topics but the practise of crevasse rescue was really useful. You can read as many guides as you want, but it's the practise that counts especially when you have the full weight of someone pulling at your harness.
The weekend was full of advanced and aspiring mountaineers from around the globe who were happy to explore the terrain that Chamonix has to offer, all under some superb guidance from the local mountain guides and with some great test gear from Arc'teryx, Gore-Tex, Petzl, Beal and Suunto.
