Gaz & Audrey in Chamonix

So Gaz had mentioned at one of the last team trainings that he wanted to go ice climbing this year. I overheard him, invited myself along and so here we are in balmy Chamonix. Yes, balmy. Nothing is in condition.

Day 1- Val di Cogne. After checking out a few possibilities we decide to try Patinaggio Artistico- a nice looking (mostly) frozen gully. We head across the gully to get to the first anchor point. Just as we're about to start climbing we hear a loud crack and a HUGE block of ice falls down the gully where Gaz was just moments before. So we decide it's probably not a good idea to try this climb today.

Day 2- Chamonix. The only ice is glacier ice so we head out to the Mer de Glace and have a play in some crevasses. We're getting pretty desperate.



Day 3- Chamonix. It's not ice, it's not really rock climbing, it's not even mixed climbing! We've ventured into the obscure world of dry tooling! Ice tools and rock boots usually shouldn't mix, but that's what goes here. Had a good laugh, but I've never been so pumped in my life!



Gaz has got some more photos on his blog- http://www.gazparryclimbing.blogspot.com

Audrey.