Half Time Scores
Halfway through the summer - doesn't time fly when you're having fun?
It's been a good and varied season so far with the weather and conditions keeping us on our toes. After a phenomenally dry spring, there was a bit of a worry that the classic snow and mixed conditions that many of us expect in the Alps would be non-existent by mid July. However, the mountain gods have clearly decided to reward us for good behaviour with regular snowfalls to keep the cover topped up.
As luck would have it, the first of these snowfalls arrived at the start of the first week of my alpine summer in mid June. After a couple of days of stabilisation, we reaped the benefits with a nice clutch of mixed routes. The photo by Darren shows the highlight of the season so far: the fantastic Triftjigrat on the north face of the Breithorn.
The good conditions continued into July, with the rock drying out nicely but approaches staying snowy. Perfect for high mountain rock. In the second week of July, the next period of snow came in, keeping us in the valley for rock climbing. The key is not to get frustrated by bad weather but just be flexible and go with the flow, doing what's best for the conditions. That's the great thing about the Alps in general and Chamonix in particular - the ability to switch easily from one side of the alpine chain to the other, or switch activities from high mountain mixed to valley rock with no drop in quality of experience.
A major snow dump arrived on 19th July, and for a short while skis were the better mode of transport in the high mountains! More mixed stuff followed, and in the last week of July, a little bout of instability has kept temperatures gratifyingly low. I met fellow guide and extreme skier Remy Lecluse up above the Cosmiques hut last week and he was getting very excited about skiing something interesting on the Italian side of Mont Blanc. Now that shows real flexibility of attitude as well as looking promising for winter 2012. Oh yes....
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