AAI guide Michael Powers recently reported on his latest climbs in the French Alps with climber Bill McKnight (Dallas, TX). Mike recounts:

After arriving in the Alps I had a couple days to check out the local conditions before starting my first trip with Bill McKnight, and I was able to make ascents of two great rock routes - the Frison -Roche route in the Brevant (6 pitches, 5.10 a) and Harold and Maud on Point Lachenal (TD superieur 250 meters 5.10a). They both were very enjoyable.

Bill arrived into Chamonix and on July 4 we immediately set out to climb the Eperon des Cosmiques - but not in the normal style. Instead of climbing the seven-pitches of 5.10 rock and rappeling the route, we carried our rucksacks, crampons, ice axes, and boots up the rock route and continued from the top to the Arete des Cosmiques. Climbing with packs made the route more difficult, but we were rewarded by being able to finish the day with a direct climb to the top of the telepherique station on the Aiguille du Midi (12,468').

The next day's climb was on the Pyramid du Tacul, an eight-pitch 5.7 rock route that begins above the glacier. To get to the base of the climb, we had to negotiate significant ice and other glacial features. The climb was spectacular, and we made the top just in time to turn around and hurry back to catch the last cable car ride down!

On July 6 we had a scheduled and much-appreciated rest day. The following day we climbed the Goulotte Chere, an 80-degree, five-pitch water ice climb that was flanked by granite walls on either side. Conditions were perfect, and we consistently only needed one swing to get good purchase on the ice. Nice rime ice formations provided great standing platforms, and fixed anchors made for a quick descent. Because of Bill's experience and high skill level, we often climbed a full sixty meters per pitch and completed the climb in fine style.

On our final day together Bill and I swapped leads on the Petite Aiguille Verte (11,510') in wintery conditions. Bill was able to immediately apply many of the skills presented earlier in the week and enjoyed leading much of the route and making most of the route-finding decisions. I enjoyed Bill's company a lot over the week, and it was a great series of classic climbs in the Alps.

Mike Powers

AAI guide Tim Connelly recently completed a seven-day trip in the French Alps with climber Erik Springer (Cherry Hills Village, CO). Tim reports:

I had a very successful trip with Erik. Though we were constantly met with high winds, we remained flexible and our climbs went well.

On the first day, I met up with Erik and we rode the Aiguille du Midi tram up into the clouds where we were greeted by five inches of fresh snow at the top. The snow didn't slow us down much as we hiked down the Arete de Paigne and around to the Arete de Cosmiques. There we found very mixed conditions, which made walking in our crampons super fun. The viewing platform at the top had fantastic views.

The second day found us on the Petit Aiguille Verte. It was a clear and sunny day, which brought out a fair amount of people. The new snow didn't amount to much as we made our way up the steepening glacier, over the bergshrund, and onto the rocky ridge. We opted to leave our crampons on while climbing the rock to 'up the ante' and help us prepare for our upcoming climbs. This proved to be an excellent idea, and we found super-exposed climbing with views of the Petit Dru to our right and the Aiguille D' Argentier to our left.

The next day we traveled to Mt Blanc. After a bus ride, a tram ride, and a cog-wheel train ride up to 7,874 feet, we began hiking to the Gouter Hut. The Grand Couloir was pretty active and we had to time our 'dash' across it to avoid the serious rock fall there. From the Couloir, we traveled up a pretty steep rock ridge that was snowy and icy in parts, making it interesting. The hut itself was surprisingly comfortable and gradually filled by quite the international crowd of climbers. Erik and I rested and got used to our new altitude of 12,468 feet.

That night we woke at 2am and ate a breakfast of coffee, bread, and jam. The weather was a bit questionable as we prepared to head out, and a quick peek out the door revealed wet, misty clouds and sounds of windy weather higher up. We put off our departure a little and left the hut at 3:20am to brave the now-freezing rain.

By the time we broke through the clouds at 13,780 feet we were covered in a coating of ice that made it difficult to move our arms and open our eyelids. With the stars finally in view, we discovered that our path was heralded by the constellation, Pliedes, which was directly in front of us, inspiring us to step up the pace.

We could here the roaring of the wind higher up far before we felt it, and only until we ascended to the high ridge were we blasted by the gusts. Here we were also greeted by the dawn, just starting to illuminate the surrounding mountains. The ridge wound back and forth for awhile and then narrowed to two feet wide (that is, the width of our two feet) with massive exposure on both sides. It was a real challenge to keep from being blown off. We had to crouch and dig in with our ice axes a few times before we could make a break for it.

Finally we made it, three hours and fifty minutes from the hut. The temperature was 14 degrees F on the summit with winds of at least 25 mph. There was nothing below but a sea of clouds and the descent ridge, waiting for us.

It was a very long way down past the Gouter Hut, through Bellevue and the train, on to Las Houches, and into Chamonix. We were tired when we arrived in town, but the ribs and salmon we found there made the long descent very worth it.

We slept in a little on the morning of our fifth day, but couldn't stay in bed too long as we had to catch a 10:40am train to Zermatt. We arrived in town and to our fantastic hotel, the Alpenblick, around 4 pm where we rested for the next day's attempt of the Matterhorn.

Later that evening we heard that the Matterhorn had recently seen a lot of snow, and the hut crew was still reporting a foot and a half of it right above their position on the mountain. It is not very safe to attempt the peak this type of conditions, so we took the news in stride and shifted gears.

The next morning found us ascending on the super-long tram of the Klien Matterhorn. Our objective was the half-traverse of The Briethorn. We put our crampons on right outside the top tram and descended a little to cross the lower glacier. Here we had excellent views of the twin peaks, Castor and Pollox, and of the horizon over Italy.

As Erik and I neared our ridge, we became aware of the raging winds that were raking all the surrounding summits. Our plan had been to climb a very exposed and steep ridge to gain the central 13,124-foot summit, but once again we were flexible and changed our plans. Right in front of us happened to be a wonderful 45 to 50-degree, 800-foot snow spur coming directly from the summit. Even more alluring, this route was completely on the lee side of the mountain! We decided to give it a go, and this south-southwest spur brought us easily to the central summit, protected from the raging wind until we were standing on top. We then traversed an excellent snow ridge for about 30 minutes and found ourselves on the true and main summit of the Briethorn, at 13,662 feet. We had spectacular views all around. The Matterhorn, Monte Rosa, Liskamm, Mt. Blanc, and La Miege were all within plain and excellent sight. We could see clearly into Italy, France, and Swizerland - that is, when the wind didn't straff our eyeballs too much.

On the way back down in the tram we had a sobering moment when we both noticed an Asian woman who seemed to be suffering from something. We kept an eye on her as we traveled down but she seemed to be getting worse and loosing a lot of color. Erik, who is a doctor, took charge. He concluded that she had definite signs of AMS and seemed to be 'going down' fast. We laid her down on the floor of the tram, took her vitals and any history we could get from her companions - which was complicated by the fact that she and they spoke little to no English. In the meantime, the tram operator made calls on the phone out to an emergency medical service.

When we arrived at the next station, still at 10,500 feet, we helped the sick woman onto a gurney and put her on oxygen. A helicopter had been called and was soon to arrive with equipped medics. We continued to help until the medics arrived and started IVs, loaded her onto the helicopter, and were gone.

Once on the cobbled streets of Zermatt forty-five minutes later, we had trouble believing that it had all really happened. We felt somewhat in the twilight zone as we sipped refreshing drinks.

On our last day, Erik and I woke early and boarded one of the highest trains in the world, the Gornergrat. Our stop was at Rottenboten, where we descended and hiked quickly to the Rifflehorn. Here we found excellent, sunny rock overlooking the Glornergletchergl and a backdrop of the entire Monta Rosa massive. It was outstanding! We were feeling very acclimatized and strong so we started on one of the harder moderate climbs, Thermometeregg, a fantastic six pitches. It went so well that we raced around to the base and climbed another six pitches on The Egg before running to catch the train back down.

In Zermatt once again, we showered and returned to the train station where Erik began his journey home (via Geneva), and I began mine back to Chamonix.

AAI guide Mike Powers recently reported on his latest climbs in the French Alps with climbers Chris Corless and Linda Musil (Portland, OR). Mike recounts:

Yesterday I met with Chris and Linda and had a great climb on the Index, a five-pitch rock climb in the Aiguille Rouge. The climbing was pleasant, and we were first on the route so we had the climb to ourselves.

Our initial plan was to do a short rock climb and then head to the Refuge des Cosmiques across the valley. However, on the way down from the rock climb, we discovered that the cable car was out of service for a few hours due to mechanical problems, so we decided to go back up and do another, slightly longer and harder, rock climb called Mani Pulotti.

We started at 1pm and managed to get the climb and still make it back to the telepherique station in plenty of time, thanks to Chris and Linda's fitness and willingness to climb quickly. We all felt very happy about having done the two full routes in one day.

Today, in spite of a poor forecast and winds up to 75 mph at 12,324 feet (a season high), we decided to climb as planned. We took the main Aiguille du Midi lift to 12,606 feet and climbed the Eperon des Cosmiques, a five-pitch rock climb on granite with a 5.10 roof, which we aided. The climb involved front-pointing a slightly delicate 40-degree ice ramp to gain access to the rock, and then rock climbing using numerous cracks and flakes on great granite. Chris especially liked seeing some large wooden wedges that were part of the fixed gear on the route, perhaps dating back to the first ascensionist, Gaston Rebuffant. Just as we topped out, the rain began to fall, and we did four quick rappels down the face, picking up our boots, crampons, and ice axes along the way, and making it down safely. We were buffeted by the winds as we hiked back up the "arete du pain" - aka, the not-so-fun steep snow slope one must ascend to get back to the telepherique.

We were lucky to get such a big climb in today, in spite of having a relatively narrow window of weather. Chris and Linda were really fun to climb with - both demonstrated impressive strength and skill, and I look forward to climbing with them for the next three days.

This evening Chris and Linda will be enjoying a home-cooked meal in nearby Annecy, where Chris's American parents live part-time. Meanwhile, I am off to check the weather for tomorrow's climb.

AAI guide Michael Powers recently reported on his latest climbs in the French Alps with climber Christina Juhasz (New York City). Mike recounts:

I met Christina Juahasz on the morning of July 11 and we discussed her goals for the week. Christina, better known as CJ, had two objectives in mind: Mt. Blanc and the Matterhorn. With this in consideration, we set out for a day of climbing on a classic mixed route to warm up and acclimate ourselves.

Early the next morning we began climbing from the Gouter hut on Mt. Blanc. We woke at 2:30am and climbed in the dark via the Gouter Route, reaching the summit just after sunrise. Conditions on the route were perfect and allowed us to summit in just four hours. We were back to the hut by 9:30am after a quick descent.

We then did the long, mildly technical rock descent from the Gouter Hut to the Eagle's Nest (Nid'Aigle) and caught the 12:50 train back to Les Houches. The very next day we climbed an ice route called the Goulotte Chere, knowing that conditions were perfect. CJ had never climbed steep ice before. After a few pitches, she was in the groove and very efficient with her ice tool swings and foot placements. That night we had a delicious and much-deserved meal at a local Swedish Restaurant called The Munchies and discussed our next objective - the Matterhorn.

To approach the Matterhorn, we had to drive three hours drive from Chamonix to Zermatt. From there we hiked up to the Hornli Hut, where we spent the afternoon meeting other climbers from all over the world.

The next morning we woke at 4am and ate a quick breakfast, roped up in the hut, and were on the route in five minutes. The rock was slightly wet from a recent rain shower and made for slow, careful climbing. After an hour it started to pour on us, and we considered whether or not we should continue. We decided to turn around, and soon after, the sound of thunder and a flash of lightening confirmed the wisdom of our decision. We descended as quickly as possible and arrived back at the hut a little wet and disappointed that we couldn't summit. CJ understood that weather is one of the uncontrollable aspects of alpine climbing, and that while summits are preferred, round trips are required!

Though we didn't climb the Matterhorn we still had a unique adventure later that day. We hiked down from the Hornli Hut and did some canyoneering in the Gornergletscher near Zermatt. We had fun doing a bunch of different climbing - we did some via ferrata (fixed cable and hanging ladder climbing), some rock climbing, some rappeling, and a number of Tyrolian Traverses through a spectacular river gorge. It was a fabulous way to end a great week.

A large part of CJ's mission in the Alps was to raise money for the Jack Orchard ALS Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting scientific research and education of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (also known as ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease). CJ organized her climbs as a benefit, and asked sponsors beforehand to pledge a certain amount of dollars per 1000 feet of elevation gained. CJ managed to raise a significant amount of money, and as a result was able to donate $10,000(US) to the Jack Orchard ALS Foundation. For more information on ALS and the Foundation, please visit www.jackorchard.org.

AAI guide Michael Powers recently reported on his latest climbs in the French Alps with climbers Colin Carnahan (Nashville) and Jeanne LaBerge (San Francisco). Mike reports:

I traveled to Grindelwald and met Colin Carnahan at the Monchjoch Hutte for an ascent of the Jungfrau (13,642'). Colin had traveled to Europe many times and always wanted to climb a classic mountain such as the Jungfrau. Conditions were perfect on the climb, which consisted of two sections of 50-degree ice, a 5.3 rock pitch, and thousands of feet of 30-degree neve. We climbed quickly since a storm was forecast to come in that afternoon and finished the climb around 11am, after a 4:30am start. Colin mentioned that he was preparing for his future goal of climbing Peru's Alpamayo (19,411'), and I assured him that his skill level was certainly acceptable for that peak.

After our ascent of the Jungfrau we took a train to Chamonix and met up with the third member of our team, Jeanne LaBerge. Jeanne had just finished an eight-day hike on the Tour du Mt. Blanc, and so she was in great shape and ready to stand on the summit of the great mountain. Her hike took her on low-level traverse around the Mt. Blanc area and through three different countries. She even caught a stage of the Tour de France bicycle race along the way!

To warm up for Mt. Blanc, Colin, Jeanne, and I did a climb on the Arete des Cosmiques. We climbed most of the rock portions in crampons, which added to the challenge but offered great training for the next day - the hut ascent to the Refuge de Gouter. In addition to climbing the Arete des Cosmiques, we also reviewed some ice climbing skills along the Midi-Plan traverse.

The next day we arrived at the Gouter hut in the early afternoon. We were just in time to relax for a couple of hours before being treated to the filling hut meal of sausages, lentils, soup, bread, and cheese. We went to bed at 8pm in order to wake up the next morning at 2am and begin our climb to Mt. Blanc's summit.

We encountered great conditions on the route, although it was somewhat cold with a strong breeze at 15, 000 feet and above. The snow was cold and firm, allowing us to stay on top of the surface and wear crampons the entire way to the summit. We were one of the first groups to summit that morning, and both Colin and Jeanne were awed by the views and very glad to be on top. Our early summit time allowed us a quick descent over still-firm snow, and we arrived back safe, happy, and ready for a good meal. It was a great day of climbing.

AAI guide Tim Connelly recently sent us a quick update from Chamonix after completing two trips over the last week and a half.

Tim first met with James Walker (Medina, OH) in Chamonix for seven days of climbing. They had two objectives: Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn.

On September 4, the two set out for Mont Blanc. Unfortunately, their climb was thwarted by "super high winds". The team made it to the base of Boss Ridge (14,765') before they were driven off the mountain.

For their second objective, Tim and James drove three hours from Chamonix to Zermatt. It had been stormy for days and though they soon discovered that the Matterhorn had received 8-12 inches of new snow right before they arrived in Zermatt, they decided to climb anyway since the weather had cleared and promised a beautiful day. Tim said, "We were the only ones attempting the ridge that day, which was a treat, but the new snow made for very hard work and difficult route-finding. Eventually, we ran out of time as the clouds began to build again, and we had to make the obvious decision to turn around before the summit." Normally with any snow at all on the Matterhorn, European climbers don't even attempt it.

Tim then said goodbye to James and traveled back to Chamonix, where he planned to meet with Peter McVey (Halifax, Nova Scotia) on September 12. Peter had signed up for two days of advanced climbing, and after he and Tim discussed possibilities, they opted for two classic routes: the Arete des Cosmiques and the Midi-Plan Traverse.

"We had a great day on the Arete des Cosmique," Tim said. This route follows a mixed snow and rock ridge to the central summit of Aiguille du Midi (12,606'). Spectacular views are abundant along the ridge - to the right, climbers gaze down to the Vallee Blanche (White Valley), an immense glacier-filled valley; and to the left, over the ridge's towering peaks, jaw-dropping exposure stretches down to the Bossons Glacier far below.

The Midi-Plan Traverse follows the snow ridge between the two summits of the Aiguille du Midi (12,606') and the Aiguille du Plan (12,051'). It is a very beautiful and very popular route, again with far-reaching views all along the ridge. As on the Matterhorn, new snow hampered the climb. Tim said, "We made a good try at the traverse, but in addition to the fresh snow that made for slow going, the there were several slow parties that caused us to take much longer than we would have otherwise." It was surprising that they were slowed by other groups on this route. We really enjoy climbing in the Alps during September because so many visitors have left the area, it's common to have the routes to ourselves.

Tim returns to the United States later this month, where he will be leading and instructing rock climbing in Red Rock, Nevada.