Chamonix Trip Partners and a few questions.

I am headed to Cham from May 5th until the 23rd. I am flying solo and would love to find people to get into the mountains with. I am super flexible with route choice and style of climbing, if your psyched I'm psyched. I plan on bringing tools/pons, an ice rack, a rock rack and a few ropes. Also depending on objective I could bring touring skis.

(A bit about myself: I am a college student climbing almost every weekend and major break. I have climbed across the country hitting most of the alpine destinations (tetons, bugs, winds, sierra, cascades). I am a solid 5.10 trad climber, and have gotten up 5.11+ on gear, I lead WI4 and moderate mixed terrain. I have spent a decent amount of time on glaciers)

I don't currently have a place lined up to stay, but I am trying to live on the cheep and camp as much as possible. Is there a climber campground that people tend to gravitate towards?

If someone has some experience and doesn't mind me bouncing a few questions of them that would be awesome.

If your going to be in the area during those times lets rope up and get on something cool!

-Matt

There is no descent camping - especially that time of year. Check out the Gite d'Etapes around Cham (aka hostels). I have stayed at a couple.

skistation.fr Okay, nothing special, cheap, rustic, in town.

latapia.com Very nice, moderate price, clean, 10 minute walk from town.

Also not many of the huts will be staffed. The winter season is over when they are staffed so only the "winter" room will be open.

Allen - did you ever go to Cham with Mark O and stay at Skistation? I think we might have met there.

Matt - do a search here in the forums for "Cham" or "Chamonix". You'll find a lot of excellent beta that has been written previously about staying on the cheap, specific gear suggestions, telepherique strategy, etc.

appreciate it! Thanks for the help

Jon H wrote:Allen - did you ever go to Cham with Mark O and stay at Skistation? I think we might have met there. Matt - do a search here in the forums for "Cham" or "Chamonix". You'll find a lot of excellent beta that has been written previously about staying on the cheap, specific gear suggestions, telepherique strategy, etc.

Yes, that was Mark and I there with you and Graham.

Cool!

I've stayed in touch with Mark over the years but never had your contact info. Good know you're right here on MP!

Kind of in between seasons (skiing versus climbing, ice versus rock). Especially later in your trip the town may seem kind of dead.

Critical is to find out which lifts are closed when.
e.g.
There can be great multi-pitch rock and ice and mixed climbs around the Refuge d'Argentiere hut. But the lifts which make it easy to access that hut will close early May, so check the dates and get there before that happens.
If you're good with skis for approach to climbs, then using Refuge d'Argentiere is great for that - (can rent AT mountaineering skis + boots in town).

Skis ... Likely it's going to get hot early this year, with two impacts: 1) Often deep snow mushy (so traveling on skis will be easier and quicker since will not sink in so far).
2) Crevasse bridges might be weak and collapsing -- obviously in the afternoon. But ... especially after a cloudy night (without radiative cooling), bridges could be weak already in the morning. Skis give you a better chance of not punching through into a non-large crevasse.

. (Note that punching thru into a small crevasse also can be deadly, because you can get _wedged_ into a narrow section. Sometimes the helicopter rescue services cannot get you out quickly enough to save you, because they cannot reach your harness jammed into the side of the crevasse, so they cannot attach a winch cable to you).

Ropes: Most popular rock routes (and some ice routes?) are equipped with bolt rappel anchors -- but most of those require 2 x 50 meter ropes (or 2 x 60m?).
. (Could try bringing one 60m half-rope of your own. Then a test of your potential partner's savvy is if they also brought one 60m rope to contribute).

places which might have lifts operating:
There's great multi-pitch rock (and I guess some ice, but I'm not much into that) accessible from Aiguille du Midi, but they might shut that lift for a week during your period. So check. (Skis less important). If it's in condition and Refuge Cosmiques is guarded, climbing to the Mont Blanc summit by the 3MB snow/ice route could be a special opportunity, often favorable for your time period (especially with skis).

If all the other lifts are closed, but the Montenvers railway is operating, you might be able to get access the Refuge d'Envers hut, with great I mean great granite multi-pitch at the 5.10+ level. The better routes are mostly "mixed" Trad -- with (non-closely-spaced) bolts for the friction slab sections, but where there are cracks + knobs, you're expected to place Trad gear. Of course, double ropes for getting back down again.

Some great rock and mixed and ice routes (skis useful) are most easily accessed from Pt Helbronner lift and Rifugio Torino hut on the Italy side of Mont Blanc. (Bus service from Chamonix). Check dates for that too -- might have different closure period from other lifts.

Ken

Thanks Ken, that was great beta! hopefully I wont be SOL on partners!

There are some great solo routes.
I just did easy classic mixed rock route last week.
I could post solo ideas, but ...

Two problems are 1) Lift closures (e.g. for the Crochues - Belvedere traverse).
2) Glacier approaches: I felt confident in late March early April ... on skis ... with a sufficient snowpack this year ... on days preceded by clear + cold overnight re-freeze. But you're not going to get so much of that in mid-May -- I'd be afraid to be wandering around solo on glaciers most days most places then.

Partners ...
You only need one or two good ones, so "between seasons" is not critical ...

• Campgrounds and gites.
• I've heard the Chamonix guides office (or tourist office?) maintains a list of people looking.
• UKclimbing.com - Alpine Expeditions forum
• I've done well meeting partners at indoor gyms.

Obviously you'll have a Europe-capable mobile phone with you.

If you speak a little bit of French, and are interested to meet French partners (which I suggest you ought to want, since I've learned so much from them) -- be aware that many (most?) younger French climbers speak some English (or lots of English).
Some are eager for chances to _practice_ speaking English, because good English is a pre-requisite to getting a good job with a multi-national company in Europe nowadays.

CampToCamp.org : You could try posting to the French-language seeking partner forums on c2c with at least a few sentences of French at the start of your post. Especially if you have a car and are open to learning about new places (unpolished rock?) within an hour or two driving away from Chamonix.
. (I was climbing wonderful unpolished limestone single-pitch in perfect weather outdoors just on Thursday).

The number of young (or middle-aged) climbers around Chamonix who do _not_ speak some English nowadays is so small that I barely even bother to attempt to start speaking French anymore.

Ken

Thanks again Ken! I was thinking the same thing about soloing on the glaciers.

I posted on the UK climbing forum today. I'm sure one of these leads will land someone. I'm brushing up my French too haha.

I'm sure this will work out as all trips do. The more I read about it the more psyched I get. Sounds like such an awesome place.

UKClimbing is the place to meet english-speaking climbers. Camp to Camp is a french forum that you might try. Also the Cham rock climbers facebook page. Fucking awesome place. Can't wait to go back. Get medical insurance!!

whoops, someone's already given you those tips.

The last time I went to cham (october) I stayed in the Chamonix Lodge - just out of the main centre, 5 min walk to town, was cheap and free breakfast/internet. Quiet too. Met some english climbers there. The place Jon, Allan, Mark and I stayed 4 years ago was the Chalet Ski Station which seemed to be shut down in October.

Chamonix is a great place for English-speaking visitors.

But it's not the only great place. If Cham has bad weather, might want to escape.

The other obvious region for alpine ice/snow climbing is the NorthEast Ecrins / Pelvoux area further south by Briancon and Vallouise (recent bilingual English-French guidebood). Consider also the NW Ecrins around Villar d'Arene and La Grave (check if lift is operating) and La Berarde.
By that time of year some good S-facing multi-pitch rock climbs in the Cerces. Lots of English-speaking rock climbers like the pleasant camping base at Ailefroide close under nice granite slab routes (but May is a bit early for that).
Briancon often has drier weather than Mont Blanc (or lots of other Europe mountain regions).
Disadvantages: Likely want a rental car (expensive in Europe) to get there, and a car to access alpine climbing routes. Not as many English-speaking partners (until people feel it's gotten warm and dry enough to camp at Ailefroide).

Quick summary of alpine climbing in the NE Ecrins: like Chamonix, but wilder - (and the NW Ecrins around La Berarde is plenty exciting too).

Sometimes the Italy side of the western Alps has dry-er weather than the France mountains. There's some nice granite sectors with hut support in Aosta. And some ultra-classic long mixed routes on the SE side of Mont Blanc.

Also (a bit south of Gran Paradiso) rumored to be rather fun granite long multi-pitch in Val d'Orco -- similar to Chamonix granite but with easier access.
But it's a long drive from Chamonix to that part of Italy, and I'll guess harder to find English-speaking partners than the Ecrins. Likely you'd be driving there with someone you'd already met in Cham.

. (And of course several lifetimes of great non-alpine rock climbing in the southeast quadrant of France: Verdon, Ceuse, etc, etc).

Any of those would add to the cost of your trip, but might be worth paying for a rental car and more guidebooks etc ... if you're looking at a week of unstable weather forecast around Cham (which has happened in April+May in recent years - my non-expert theory is that warmer air tends to carry more moisture).

Ken

Where are you flying into? I'll be doing flying into Lyon on May 22 head to Cham maybe arco. How are you traveling with your gear and stuff I'm just trying to figure out logistics, I'd like to do mountaineering and trad but it's so much easier to travel with stuff just for sport any ideas would be a great help.

Hey Kevin, I actually secured a partner! I forgot to post an update here. Thanks for the inquiry though.

Na I wasn't looking to partner I think your just about leaving when I'm arriving I was just wondering about how you were planning on doing your gear and everything. Is your partner a local?

Ah right! The dude I'm with is flying in as well. He only had personal gear with him from his current location, so I am going to take a rack a rope. My plan is to carry on some of the heavy stuff (rope/rack) to keep my main bag under 50lbs. Still a pain to lug it all around but thats the intent of my trip, so minimal worries.