Training Courses

Introduction to Alpine Climbing

The aim of this course is to introduce to you the basics of Alpine mountaineering. You will learn to climb on snow and rock under the guidance of our expert guides. Alpine terrain consisits of glacier, rocky ridges, rock faces and steep snow slopes, by the end of the week you will be familiar with all of these.

Day 1 – Arrive in the Chamonix Valley. You will have a brief meeting with your guide tonight to run through the mountain conditions and the plan for the week.

Day 2 – Today you will go over to Champex in Switzerland and up to the Cabane d’Orny, to spend the night. There you will learn how to walk in crampons, use an ice axe and rope up for glacier travel.

Day 3 – An early start this morning we head out to do some rock climbing and scrambling on the nearby peaks. Return to the hut a second night.

Day 4 – Another early start and we leave the hut to traverse back into France via the col du Tour, climbing the two peaks of the Petite Fourche and the Tete Blanche. Return to the Chamonix valley.

Day 5 – Today we get the Flegere cable car then we climb the traverse of the Crouchue, a rocky traverse which will take the best part of the day to complete. Return to the Chamonix Valley

Day 6 – By now you’ll be getting a bit tired! Today we’ll go through the Mt. Blanc tunnel for some valley cragging, where we can practice our rock climbing and rope work skills. Lunch in Aosta before we head up to the Victoria Emanuelle Refuge for the night.

Day 7 – Alpine start and to finish off your week in style you will summit your first 4000m peak Grand Paradiso.

Day 8 Depart – Back to Geneva and home.

Note: This is an example itinerary, all itineraries are subject to change

Level of experience required: little or no rockclimbing experience essential, no alpine experience needed. You will need a good level of fitness.

This course is run with a minimum of 3 participants and a maximum of 4.

• Full Trip Information (.pdf)