Chamonix Climbing Review

But if you want to get away from the hordes at Gaillands and find some shade, there are plenty of options. One of my favourites that offers shelter, a short walk in and the option of being able to put up top ropes on the harder routes (only back them up with a karibiner) is Coupeau, above Les Houches. In its wooded setting you can brush away the cobwebs and get on some short fingery, yet vertical to slightly overhanging climbs that aren't always obvious to read- so a good change from indoor routes.

For beginners also used to climbing indoors (and for guys using brute force) an amusing few hours can be had at the slabs of Les Dalles du Bas, in Barberine- pure friction climbing. I took a friend who I had introduced to climbing their to force him to stop using his arms and improve his footwork.

Also a good one for near beginners and as an introduction to multi-pitch is the Aiguillette d'Argentiere. This striking needle of rock, has some easy but pleasant routes with a good bit of exposure. For boulderers there is the Col du Montets ... a beautiful setting but they can get busy. I headed over to the boulders in the woods in Vernayaz near Martigny for a bit of seclusion and shelter from some late April drizzle– although the problems tended to be really easy- then suddenly really hard! If you're over that way and want a place that's not got a walk in and are a 'slab and crack' fan then a pleasant place to spend a day is Dalle de Vaudois- although it could get busy like Gailland I suspect.

I, however am not a slab fan and have recently really enjoyed getting out of Chamonix and heading to the sunnier side of Mont Blanc; Aosta- great climbing, cheap but delicious food and coffee and you really do feel like you're on holiday- so grab your tunnel pass and head to areas such as Ozien for what feels like Spanish limestone climbing.... pumpy and slightly overhanging single pitch routes, in grades ranging from 4c-7c, perched up on the hillside above Mont Ross – Aymavilles.

If its a really hot day then head up to Miollet, high above the town of La Bethaz. A beautiful setting and you are more than likely to be the only people climbing there, so you can let your dog have a run around. There are various climbing styles there too from easy ledges, cracks, bouldery moves, steep faces and super crimpy routes. And an Aosta local we met there declared the 6b we were working was “the best in Aosta.”

About the same distance away from Chamonix ( 1hr30ish) is Machabe where we spent the day on a mutli pitch slab, Bucce D'Arancia- apparently a 5c but felt pretty technical to me- but I was carrying a back pack half my weight -not the best idea for balancy slab climbing! There are lots of single pitch routes there too so I'm heading back for two days and staying at the nearby B&B, Maison de Noe- not your usual shabby climbers hut- but a bit of a treat with all these fantastic crags on its doorstep.

A few words of warning as I have had some friends itching to do some “Alpinism.” It's still snowy out there! I had an interesting day in Contamines with a friend determined to do a stay in the (unmanned) hut and summit a peak.... “its still ski touring season” I said, but went along to humour her. We spent most of the afternoon practising what I have labelled “mud and tussock tooling.” Wet rock, knee deep snow, muddy and windy. Similarly another friend wanted to do the Cosmiques arete. “3 hours tops,” he said, 'back in time for a late lunch.'

Arriving their at 11am, getting stuck behind some slow movers, and the fact that he'd only climbed it in summer (giving a very different experience of the route) meant I ended up having to lead my first mixed climbing pitches when he got too cold and had a little “melt down” and we got stuck at the midi lift station which had stopped running for the night- all caught on camera- amazingly- by France3 TV, who were filming a documentary on Chamonix!

It being May, the weather can change suddenly so its worth making the trip over the Vertic Halle near Martigny on a rainy day- a fun wall with a range of lead climbing routes and a bouldering area- as well as serving beer- and cocktails!- a unique Swiss charm I discovered recently when venturing over to Le Cube bouldering wall in Lausanne. Lets hope the practice makes its way over to Chamonix!

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