I was climbing with Dick, Martin and Alan this week based round Chamonix, we started the week climbing the Via Feratta at the Col des Aravis in beautiful sun shine. On Tuesday we walked up to the Albert Premier hut meeting almost every British guide in the Alps coming the opposite direction. We had a perfect day on Wednesday for our ascent of the Aiguille de Tour though a bit warm as the snow on the way down was a bit soft and sugary. Thursday we traversed the Crochu which is really snowy in descent making the walk to the Lac Blanc hut really quick and easy. We finished the week with a mornings climbing at Le Fayet.

Kate and I had a couple of days off so we headed over to the Furka pass area. I had wanted to do a route on the Graue Wand for years and the weather looked good for at least one day. We drove over on Tuesday night and dossed in the van then walked into the route early on Wednesday morning, the walk in takes you passed the Albert Heim hut into a beautiful high mountain area with a glacier on the Galenstock and loads of great looking granite peaks. It was about 2 hrs walk to the route where we could leave most of our stuff so we could enjoy 11 pitches of perfect granite to a great summit. The climbing is in cracks and grooves with some very memorable chimney's towards the top. A really well equipped abseil descent quickly put us back at our packs then it was about an hour to the hut. We had a great evening in the hut hoping to climb another route the next day. The weather didn't cooperate so we did lots of coffee drinking and a bit of cragging on the way home.

I was working with Alan Kimber this week on an Italian High Level Route, we met in Zermatt and spent the first night in the Gandeg hut to acclimatise we managed to look at some glacial travel skills between thunder storms on the way to the hut. Monday morning we took the Klein Matterhorn lift to the top then traversed round to the Val d'Ayas hut, we had planned to climb the breithorn on the way but the weather was to bad. Tuesday gave us our first good weather day allowing us to traverse Castor in cold clear comditions and descend to the Quintino Sella hut.Wednesday we had thought about climbing Liskam but there was to much wind so we transversed the Passo del Naso then climbed Piramide Vincent on the way to the Gnifetti hut. Unfortunately one of the team wasn't feeling to great so Alan and Chris descended into Italy planning to meet us in Zermatt on Friday. The Gnifetti is one of the biggest huts in the Alps and I thought most unpleasant it felt very disorganized and we had to que for everything, checking in, food etc. I won't be rushing back. Thursday was stunning cold and clear we traversed the Ludwigshoehe and the Parrot Spitz on the way to the Margherita hut. Situated at 4559m the highest building in Europe the hut is a superb place to enjoy the high mountains. On Friday we descended down the Grenz Gletscher to Zermatt with a quick coffee stop at the Mont Rosa hut on the way.

I was climbing with Brian and Liz O'Connor this week, we had a variable forecast and some pretty poor weather so routes were snatched where possible. We started climbing the Via Corde in the Chamonix valley, a great mix of pitches and scrambling that takes you from the Bois du Bouchet to Buvette which overlooks the Mer du Glace. Tuesday was a bit of a wash out but the forecast looked better for the next 2 days. We decided to head south where there would be less fresh snow and climb Monte Viso. Wednesday dawned perfectly with an amazing view over the Italian plains we climbed the normal south face route which was in great condition with great neve when on snow and dry rock when climbing with out crampons. The summit has one of the best views of any alpine peak, you can see the whole Alps from the Queyras round through the Ecrin, Vanoise, Paradiso, Mont Blanc right round to Monte Rosa. We had a long day with Brian making a sterling effort driving all the way back to Chamonix after 14hrs on the hill. We had a mellow day on Thursday heading to the Torino hut hoping for some good weather on Friday, unfortunately it didn't arrive in time so we wandered round to the Tour Ronde in thick mist and snow before heading back to Courmayeur for coffee.

Usually in the Alps the weather forecast is pretty reliable giving good indications of what to do, this week I wish I had ignored it completely. After cold snowy weather the forecast was to be warm with the freezing levels rising to 4200m by mid week so we decided that getting onto big snowy faces and ridges wouldn't be to clever. The weather man got it totally wrong and it stayed cold all week. We started the week with a bit of acclimatisation on the traverse of the Entreve then we headed to the Dent Blanche Bivi hut hoping to traverse the Grand Cornier, the bivi hut was incredibly cold and the morning dawned cold and windy. We had a look at the ridge which was way more snowy than we had expected and given how cold it was and the strength of the wind we decided to head for the valley. The forecast was still looking warm so we decided to go and explore a new area, we headed for the Perucca hut above the Val Tournenche a beautiful quiet corner of the Alps. The next day we traversed the Pta Fontanella and M Dragone a superb AD ridge, there is a bit of loose rock about to keep you on your toes but not enough to spoil the experience. Be a bit careful if you head round there the Alpine Club guide book description of how to get onto the ridge isn't feasible unless there is lots of snow so ask the guardian for the best information. After a rest at the hut we headed over towards the Rivolta bivi hut hoping to traverse the Cresta Rae the next day on the way over we got a good look at the descent route which looked in dangerous condition so we headed home. We finished the week climbing at Le Duchere at les Contamines.

I was working with John Taylor, Graeme MacMahon and Mile Bright for the first part of this week on a Matterhorn, the core of the team we were climbing with had climbed Mont Blanc with John and I three years ago and were back for something a bit more technical. The first half of the week was acclimatisation and training with Matterhorn planned for the second half of the week. The Matterhorn has to be guided 1:1 so we were joined by Mark Charlton, Tim Connelly, Steve Banks and Adam Gordon for the second half of the week. We started traversing the Crochu in the Aiguille Rouge then headed round to the hellbroner lift on Monday morning, the weather looked pretty ropy so we traversed the Aiguille Marbery before spending the night in the Torino hut. The next morning we relocated to the Aiguille du Midi and climbed the Cosmiques arete. Wednesday mornign was an early start so we could trverse the breithorn above Zermatt from the first lift. The weather did not look good enough for our team to attempt the Matterhorn so we climbed an excellent rock route on the Riffelhorn pulling our ropes on the final Abseil as the first rain drops arrived. We finished the week climbing at Machaby in Italy enjoying a great Italian picnic and coffee. Although we didn't manage the Matterhorn the team went away having learn lots about mountaineering and will be better prepared for next time.

A few things to report this week last weekend Kate and Alex traversed the Dome de Miage in perfect conditions then climbed the superb Diretta del Banano at Machaby. I was climbing with Ian and Steve the forecast for the seek started with a perfect day so we were on the first Midi to climb the Peigne, this is always a rush to climb lift to lift but we managed it with a bit of time to spare. Monday said definite afternoon storm so we traversed the Crochu arriving back at the lift just as the weather crapped out. Tuesday was torrential rain all day so we hid inside. Wednesday we planned to traverse the Entreve but the wind was to strong so had a great day climbing at Machaby in the sun. Thursday was less windy so we traversed the Entreve in perfect conditions. Yesterday was raining in Chamonix so headed through the tunnel looking for better weather, unfortunately we didn't find it so after lots of coffee drinking we found some dry rock on a small crag near la Thuile.

We have now had snow down to 2300m in Chamonix which is great for the conditions long term but will make things a bit difficult for the next few days.