Awesome climbing

What a fantastic day we have had in Chamonix. Here are Lisa and Neal on the Arete du Midi and then having a good time on theArete des Cosmiques....

Sure footed around Chamonix

The girls are back in town and enjoying some day walks around the valley. Lots of wildlife they said!

Tour des Dents du Midi

Our Tour des Dents du Midi trip has just finished and the ladies are now heading for their flights in Geneva. We were very lucky with the weather and views were stunning from meadows full of flowers to grand mountain scenary. The photos below are of the Michelle, Kathy, Kim, Anette, Sara and Andrea chilling at the Bonavau hut after a long day and us arriving at the final Col de Susanfe before descending back down to the valley.













Stunning views of the sheer cliffs of the Dents du Midi range.

Industrial Rope Access

" Is that a hellicopter below me?"

Yes, it certaily was.. We were working high today....

Alpine walks and free Tibet

The weather in the Alps has been stunning recently with occasional thunder storms to clear the air. Kathy is heading off tomorrow morning to start the 4 day Tour Du Dents Du Midi trek with 6 lovely ladies from the Lake District. The walk circuits this mountain range taking in views over the Rhone valley and lake Geneva. They will be staying in Gites overnight and the whole walk is in Switzerland. For more details on this walk see the Team Ascent website under Alpine walks. Kathy and Michelle spent 3 days previously on part of the Tour du Mont Blanc walking the section between Les Houches and Courmayeur. Above and left are views looking from the Italian side over towards the Mont Blanc range.




In the meantime back in chamonix Free Tibet demonstrations are going on and the group of protesters are planning to circuit the Tour du Mont Blanc, already many of the huts are flying the Free Tibet flag.

Traverse of the Gran Paridiso, Italy

From the Chabod refuge we went to the summit and came down by the Victor Emmanuel refuge... It was an ace day with great views from the summit. Only the summit of Mont Blanc was shrouded in stormy dark grey cloud, so all of us who made the last minute change of plan were deligted to have sneaked in this fantastic summit. By the time we returned to the valley large rain drops began to pour down....

Gran Paridiso

The Gran Paridiso is the highest mountain in Italy, some may argue, but it really is. There are higher ones but they border with Switzerland The Gran Parisdso is the only on ethat sits totaly in Italy. Last Thursday and Friday the conditions were really poor on Mont Blanc with fresh snow and eletrical storms where unfortunatley some groups were struck. So, no one made the summit over those few days, so James, Jon and I decided to cut our losses and turned back at the top of the Bellevue cable car after speaking to some retretaing Mont Blanc guides and their clients. Instead we headed away throught the Mont Blanc tunnel to the famed Paridiso national park and spent the night in the Refuge Chabod and climbed the Gran Paridiso on Friday

The Mountain Guides who did the first ascent of the Gran paridiso.