There are generally 2 routes into alpinism: either from mountain walking through glacier trekking and onwards and upwards into the more technical scrambling peaks; or from a rock climbing or Scottish mixed climbing background, which is how I got into it originally (longer ago than I care to remember!).

Either way, there are some essential differences between the British and the alpine environment which require some specific skill sets. The sheer scale of the environment and the glacial terrain demand techniques to move efficiently on moderate yet steep ground or along those classic alpine ridges.

Whether you envisage in the long term climbing independently of a guide or not, the ability to be an efficient and therefore a happy (!) alpinist can be covered easily in 6 days. Because I work independently, each “course” is structured precisely to your ambitions as an alpinist, whatever they are: honeypots like Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn, 4000m peaks, long rock climbs in the mountains, glacier trekking, classic mixed routes and so on.

I’m happy to run intro courses anywhere in the Alps, but find either Chamonix or Arolla to be ideal venues.

See the Alpine Intro Gallery for images of a typical week.

I can work with up to 3 students on this type of course, which is typically 6 days from Sunday to Friday inclusive.

• Day 1: Ecole de Glace, looking at crampon and axe technique and a demonstration crevasse rescue
• Day 2: Walk up to a hut, perhaps doing some rope technique for scrambling on rocky ridges at the same time.
• Day 3: A first alpine peak, looking at many different aspects of alpinism: navigation, equipment, rope techniques and so on, descending afterwards to the valley if weather or fatigue dictates.
• Day 4: Multi pitch rock climbing in the valley, often introducing the concept of abseiling, or perhaps a via ferrata, enabling those with no rock climbing skill (just a good head for heights!) to get into the most amazing places.
• Day 5: Up to another hut, often higher in altitude as by now acclimatisation is kicking in.
• Day 6: A final peak, maybe even a 4000m peak, consolidating all the knowledge gained over the previous 5 days.

See the Kit List in the Knowledgebase for this course. Please contact me for more details, and availability.