I was climbing with Stephen and Jacqueline from Hong Kong for the last 2 weeks based from Chamonix but travelling about a bit to get the best weather and conditions. We started tthe trip by traversing the Crochu, on mon we were planning to traverse the Entreve but the Italian side of the range was clouded in so we went to the Col d'Aravis and traversed the arete Marion which was superb, we were the only people there.

The weather looked a bit mixed on tue so we climbed the Via Corde just getting caught by the rain at the very top. On wed headed to the Petit Aiguille Vert it was amazing how little snow there was, we had to climb a pitch of ice to get onto the ridge and turned back at about half height due to horrible black ice. We had a day off on Thur then traversed the Cosmiques arete on Friday in very dry but easy conditons, Sat we did some mutli pitch climbing at valorcine before heading through to Zermatt looking for more snow. Sunday was a perfect morning to traverse the breithorn and head down to the Ayas hut w where we climbed Pollox from before heading back to Chamonix. We had a rest on Tue then traversed the Entreve just ahead of the weather on wed, we got caught out on Thur in some really bad weather in the Aiguille Rouge then climbed a superb 12 pitch route at Machaby to finish the trip.

I was climbing with Julian and Emily this week, we met in Vicosoprano in the Bregalia home of some of the best granite rock climbing in the Alps. We started climbing the NE ridge of the Spazzacaldera then the amazing needle of the Fiamma. On Monday we climbed the superb S ridge of the Piz Balzet, on Tue we drove down to Lecco and traversed the Cresta Segantini a great Limestone ridge which felt very different to the recent granite. We had a more relaxed day on Wed doing some roadside cragging then swimming in Lake Como. We were back in the mountains on Thursday climbing the Meuli Route to the summit of the Punta Albigna, this is a superb long route with a great summit. We spent the night in the Albigna hut where Emily recieved her A level results 4 A's so well done to her. We finished the week climbing the SW arete of the Piz dai Pal which is a lovely little route about 20 minutes from the hut with a 50m abseil to get off.

I had three days climbing at the Grimsel pass with Graeme Ettle this week, we started with a great 6 pitch road side route on Tuesday which was one of the first routes to dry after recent rain. On Wed we walked towards the Gelmerhorner hut to climb the Rosti pillar. This gave 7 superb pitches on great granite before lying back into easy ground where we abseiled off. After letting things dry off for a couple of days we headed into Eldorado hoping to climb the super classic route Motorhead. The route looked dry and with an early start we were the first team. The climbing was superb but hard for the grade we felt it would get a hard E2 5c if it was in the UK but the more granite climbing you do the easier it would probably feel. Although there are bolts they were placed on the lead and many of them are not in very useful places so you need a rack and you still need to make hard moves above gear. An amazing route thats been on my list for about 15 years.

I was climbing with Dick this week with the Matterhorn as the sunning plan, we met on a grey monday morning and decided to head to Zermatt via some rock climbing on route. Between the showers we climbed at the excellent roadside venue of Dorenaz near Martigny, this has the advantage of being very quick to dry and is next to the road. The weather was much better on tuesday so we traversed the Breithorn which was aperfect day out above the clouds. It gave Dick a chance to climb something more difficult and get some more acclimatisation. Wed we had a relaxing morning then walked to the Hornli hut. Thursday was a perfect day clear skies and no wind for our ascent. The Hornli ridge was in perfect conditions with no snow until the shoulder we were up and down in plenty of time to catch the lift down which a few other teams will have missed. A great day out on one of the Alps most iconic peaks.

I was with Dick, Martin and Tony this week, it was my 4th time with Dick and Martin but Tony's first time in the Alps. We started the week with an Ecole du Glace on the way to the Moiry hut introducing Tony to crampons and ice axe. On Tuesday we climbed the Peigne de La Le which is a great introduction to alpine scrambling with a glacial descent. Tuesday was another day of perfect weather, we climbed the Pointe du Mourti a slightly longer route with a glacial approach then a rock scramble to a snowy finish. We spent a night in Grimentz then went to the Vignettes hut above Arolla. We traversed the Pigne d'Arolla from the hut, the glacier is the driest I have ever seen it with lots of open crevasses especially on the descent towards the Dix hut. I have had the weekend off cycling round Lake Annecy on Sat then doing some kayaking on the Lake. Dick and I are hoping to climb the Matterhorn next week if the weather behaves.

Just had a week off in mixed weather got out on the bike lots and watched the Tour de France when it came through Sallanche.

I've just had a great weeks classic Alpinism with brian and Liz this week. We kicked off traversing the Entreve from the Helbronner lift, this provved a bit to exciting when an Italian party of three fell off in front of us. They were off route moving together when the second fell pulling off the leader, luckily he had only damaged his knee and hands and a rescue helicopter from Aosta was very quick to arrive. On Monday we drove round to Saas and headed to the Mischabel hut this is a really steep walk in with Cables and the hut irritatingly visible all the way. We climbed the nadelhorn the next morning in perfect conditions before the knee pounding horror that was the descent. We had a great night in Saas then moved to Zermatt in the morning heading to the Flue Alp hotel a great piece of Victorian comfort in the mountains with a really short walk in. Our target for the next day was the Rimfishorn or the middle of F***ing no where horn as it got christened. Martin Moran decribes it as a peak to respect which I would agree with. there are no easy routes and the mountain stands in a superbly remote situation. There were a few other teams about but we had the summit to ourselves. We had a long descent to the valley then had a night in Zermatt having a great curry in the Pipe resteraunt which I can definitley reccomend. We planned to climb the breithorn form the first lift in the morning but the weather was to windy.

I was climbing with Chris and Jane this week, the plan was Mont Blanc so we needed to get some appropriate acclimatisation. Luckily (as it's an aweful hut) the Albert premier hut was full so we drove round to Champex and walked up to the Trient hut on Sunday, on the way looking at glacier travel techniques. We arrived just as a storm arrived that continued all night, it was still raining at 7am, we drank tea until it got a bit drier then climbed the Pointe d'Orny behind the hut. We then descended to the valley and drove back to Chamonix catching the Aiguille du Midi then walking to the Cosmiques hut. On Tuesday morning we traversed the valley blanche then caught the Panoramic bubbles back to the Aiguille du Midi. The weather looked good for our attempt on Mont Blanc so we headed to the Tete Rousse hut, we left early on Thursday morning making steady progress to the vallot hut where jane ran out of legs. We headed back to the valley catching one of the later trains now on the summer time table.

Kate and I had the week off so headed to Northern Switzerland to explore a few new areas. We started climbing a couple of days at the superb Limestone crag of Bruggler, this has great rock and routes up to 7 pitches long. We then headed round to climb at the large North Facing cliff of Bockmattli, I had climbed here a few years ago and thought it was fantastic but unfortunatley it was very wet so we went Kayaking on the Zurichsee instead. We then headed to the Gastlosen, I had done a superb traverse here a few years ago but this time climbed one of the excellent 12 pitch routes on the side of the ridge. The weather was still looking good so we headed back home and climbed the Dent du geant from the first lift finishing off a great week.

I joined Mont Blanc Guides for the three day ascent part of their Mont Blanc week. We set of really early from the Tete Rousse hut as there was an afternoon storm forecast breakfasting at 12, yes midnight. We were on top about 0730 on a perfect morning, the descent went really smoothly and the storm didn't arrive so we could have had a few extra hours in bed. We finished the week with some rock climbing at Servoz.