Good Weather in Chamonix

Good conditions so far, but the weather forecast suggests otherwise for the next few days. We climbed on the Aiguille Gliere to start with and that location needs an early cable car to the Index. A day after that, a very accessible cable to the Aiguilles Grande Montets allowed good access to 3000m plus training routes. Unfortunately these climbs are very crowded, apart from the N.E. Ridge of the Aiguilles Grande Montets, which although nothing too special, offers good training after some crevasse rescue skills training on the glacier.

We then travelled over to the Argentiere Hut and found very friendly service and a warm bed for the night. The hut is certainly open. A group of friends coming over from the Trient Hut were two hours late and the guardian still fed them very well at 2030 hours. I cannot recommend this place any better. The reason for our pals being late was wholly connected with the poor conditions found crossing the Col du Chardonnet. Death on a stick would suit the experience of what they found in ascent of this col! Certainly a much better passage on ski in the winter or spring. Not to be attempted just now.

The Argentiere Hut provides a very good base for rock climbing and snow and ice routes of all grades. The red granite spires behind the hut are of good quality and very quick to approach. We traversed over to the Col Tour Noir for a simple training outing in perfect conditions, devoid of any crowds and with good views all over the range.

The Amethystes Glacier behind the hut has a variety of good small peaks, plus a few more involved ascents. Certainly a good spot to consider for altitude training to PD and above. Obviously the bigger faces to the south of the hut hold bigger challenges. At the moment some of them look in good shape, with no bad black ice to hinder progress so long as a good freeze and a mid-night start are present.

The walk out from this very friendly hut to Lognan station takes around three hours and involves some ladder work where forty years back a simple glacier trek was normal. Times change.