Frendo Spur
Looking up from Chamonix to the Aiguille du Midi, Vadim asks, “Is there a route up there we can do together Hans?” Of course I immediately thought about the Frendo Spur, number 62 in the “100 best of” by Gaston Rébuffat. Anyone out there collecting points from this classic guide to the Mont Blanc Group? [...]
The Grand Jorasses
Descending into in the Larch forests filling the valley floor, I’m aware of the dwindling roar of the cascading waters from the Freney and Brouillard glaciers and conscious of the birds, the trickling water and soft sounds of my feet on the pine needles of the forest bed. Spending a few days high in these [...]
Mont Dolent
We climbed this pretty summit on the Swiss, French and Italian border under a perfect blue sky. Though not technically difficult, fantastic views abound. We spent the night at the Fiorio bivouac to break the climb into a couple small chunks. It is a cute little hut, reminding me of what most of these alpine [...]
Matterhorn 4478- The Hornli Route
Catherine and I climbed the Hornli Route on the Matterhorn last week, taking advantage of the last good weather of the summer. As fall steps in, those light dustings of snow will begin to stick. But it’s not over yet! We made it to the summit in a bit over 4 hours, proving how well [...]
Dent Blanche 4356m
Carla and I climbed the Dent Blanche in the Val d’Hérens yesterday under clear blue skies and a light SW breeze. This was Carla’s 2nd 4000er in 2 days! Bravo! We climbed quickly to the hut in just over 4 hours Monday, and made the summit in just over 3 hours the next day. But [...]
Traversée des Drus
Vadim and I spent a few days in the Chamonix valley, climbing some classics, and traversing the iconic Drus. This long climb from the Charpoua Hut, goes up to the Flammes de Pierre, across the SE face of the Petit Dru, over the Grand Dru, then down a series of recent rappels to the Charpoua [...]
Climbing the Festi Ridge on the Dom
At 4545m, the Dom gets you up there.
Bec d’Epicoune- A Himalayan experience out my back door
We headed to the end of our Val duBagnes for a bit of Autumn climbing, and got a real nice Himalayan experience. This area is so wild and beautiful. There are so few visitors here, that you get the feeling you are far from civilization. The glaciers are big, and the North walls were rimmed with snow [...]
