The Grand Combin Meitin Ridge


Conditions could not have been better for our climb.

We started from the Valsorey Hut, which is one of the last, Swiss alpine huts yet to be "upgraded". Rene has done a fine job of keeping this place going with the limited resources available to him from the central committee of the Swiss Alpine Club. What a cave man mentality this group of city folk have of running an Alpine Club! I can't imagine working with a more ego-testical group of people anywhere. These folks attatch themselves to one fad after another to "direct" our humble club...

The conditions could not have been better on the Grand Combin (small photos). And this, just after a good dusting of snow 2 days before. The Meitin Ridge was dry, providing us with some fine alpine rock moves, and the south face had a good 10-20cm of snow on it, making for a super quick descent back to the hut. Brad was wicked fast!

The summers in Verbier are now quite full of all sorts of activities. Rock climbing and alpine climbing are of course what I really enjoy. But with the Music Festival, the Horse Show and the Grand Raid, there's a whole slew of fancy folks driving their fancy cars around town!

And what a summer it has been. Seems like we get 1 or 2 days of nice, hot weather, then 3-4 days of rain and snow in the hills. The Grand Raid mountain biike race went off today in mixed conditions. No thunder and lightening at least! I checked out one of the new Via Ferratas sprouting up all over Switzerland and France. This is good fun for those seeking some adrenaline, but who would prefer not to break a nail on natural holds before the evening concert.

The forecast calls for more cool weather tomorrow, then it should get real nice and summery again...

Posted: Sat - August 20, 2005 at 02:03 PM        

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