Ice Climbing in Chamonix.
In February 2024, Jamie and I set out on an adventure to test a Damascus Steel Ice Axe.
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We went to Chamonix in the French Alps, a world-wide mecca for mountaineering of all kinds. It is a place with incredible history and phenomenal rising peaks surrounding it. We stayed right outside the Chamonix Sud bus station, which turned out to be the perfect spot as airport transfers drop us right there, it is just a few minutes away on foot to restaurants and rental shops, and, it is served by very frequent free busses to all of the ski-areas and lifts.
Day 1.
The first day was spent practicing our skiing at Les Grand Montets, the snow was a little hit and miss - some was soft and smooth but the majority was horribly icy. It is one of the resorts with a higher proportion of red and black runs in the area. By midday, it was rammed and the narrower pistes became pretty sketchy with the traffic.
Day 2.
On the second day, we met up with fellow YouTuber and guide, Dave Searle. The original plan was to meet at the Aguille du Midi telecabin and do an ice and mixed climbing route called ‘Rebel Yell’, but snow the night before had delayed the telecabin up, so we ended up driving back to Les Grands Montets, buying an alpinist’s ticket at the ski resort, going up the gondola then skiing down to find a 55m WI4 pitch instead called ‘Déferlante’, using the damascus ice axe to propel myself up the waterfall ice!
This map shows where the route we climbed was, although apparently it was the summer when these satellite photos were taken, since there’s no snow!
Our ice climb of Déferlante, WI4 starts at 8:35 in the YouTube video!
The climb was phenomenal and a huge challenge for us. But it opened our eyes to the reality of climbing in Chamonix. People…Lots of people… Everything seems like a race. A race to get to the first gondola, a race to get to the climb and once you are there, a race to get it done and get safely off the mountain. As we were starting our ice climb, 3 groups of climbers abseiled over us, ice and snow falling from above, Jamie got tangled in someone’s rope while climbing and we were continually nervous to drop ice on someone. Instead of the original plan of Jamie climbing first to get shots from above, we climbed simultaneously as Dave belayed from above in order to get off the ice before yet more parties came abseiling over us.
Just like when buying something or getting work done, there is an “iron triangle”. “You can have it fast, you can have it good, you can have it cheap: pick two”
I think there is the same phenomenon in the mountains.
“The mountains can be awesome, they can be quiet, they can be easily accessible. You can only pick two.” The areas we climbed were awesome, they were incredibly easy to access thanks to the ski resort’s gondola and they are constantly busy.
Day 3.
Day 3 was definitely the most fun of the trip, we set off early on the Aguille du Midi to ski the famous, Valle Blanche. A 23km off-piste ski route that takes you from the peak of the Aguille du Midi all the way down to the glacier. It had snowed lightly the night before so it was lovely skiing. There were gorgeous open sections to ski through, challenging mogul fields and technical sections of trail to avoid falling in a crevasse. We ended up skiing through the “river-bed” of the glacier where we stopped after we found two pitches of fantastic climbing on some radical looking glacial ice. Dave set up a top-rope for us and we were glad to have been the second in line queuing for the gondola that morning as it allowed a few hours of great ice climbing practice before we were joined by a big group of guides and clients with the same idea.
Some awesome shots of the day below (click to enlarge).
This map shows the start point at the top of the Aguille du Midi. The route went south and eventually back on itself to the Mer de Glace, a giant glacier that sinks further down the mountain each year.
A phenomenal thank you is owed to Dave for guiding us on this trip. It was an experience we will never forget.
We were also kitted out in perfect gear thanks to Rab’s support. Big thank you Rab!!
I wore the following above my base layers:
Latok Alpine GORE-TEX Pro Jacket
Latok GORE-TEX Pro Pants
Neutrino Pro Down Jacket
Latok 38L Mountain Pack
All the kit was phenomenal, as you would expect from Rab!
Don’t forget to check out the video of the trip here!
