Which mountains shall we visit next summer?

I haven’t been on club trips for a while, would love to join if timings match.

Zermatt has an ok priced campsite English - campingzermatts Webseite!
Basecamp would make sense more in Täsch, camping is more comfortable, cheaper and great starting point for Alphubel and Allalihorn SW ridge. Preise - Camping Täsch

We climbed this past summer Zinalrothorn in 1st week of July, very dry glacier, but it was an exceptionally dry and hot year! Maybe last two weeks of June could be a safe bet for classic mountaineering.
Sion valley has nice crags e.g. above Brig and also some big walls, but it’s probably not worth going there for a rock trip, as nearby Furka Pass, Grimselpass or Simplonpass make more sense as a summer destination?

Dolomites is always a good idea, but it’s worth making a backup plan too, as it’s often very rainy. To be avoided from last week of July onwards if you don’t like crowds. Campsites expensive, wild camping tolerated very little, but the climbing is absolutely amazing, some of the best :ok_hand:

Corsica is fab, a top destination with stunning beaches and all the rock pools… The best climbing seasons are October or April. I was in Restonica and Bavella this September and it was very hot, absolutely not possible to climb in the sun. Most of the climbing is south facing, so we started running out of shaded things to climb in our 2 weeks there. The topo is great, very informative :+1: Its possible to stay in Col de Bavella and walk to some of the climbs, but I would say that you need a car if you want to really get the best of the place, the big walls are on the east side with no wild camping or accommodation available, just pigs inhabiting old abandoned buildings.

Val di Mello is beautiful, Luna Cadente and Kundalina are world class. A word of warning: the high mountain granite is hard for the grade and quite macho, absolutely minimal bolting, often A2 passages, so you have to read the topo carefully. Also, the walk-ins to any of the walls beyond Qualido are absolute killers. But, there’s donkeys, mini ponies, Italian mountain huts with fabulous food, lots of bivvy-hotel-boulders and infinite amount of (scary) granite climbing that will yield a lifetime of stories. If this didn’t convince you enogh, the valley is lush and full of great bouldering.

Chamonix sure is always a safe bet, expensive and crowded but I think if you time the visit to the sweet spot when Envers hut hasn’t opened yet, it can actually be done cheap :wink: I will be in and out of Chx, so I’ll be up for a few routes for sure! Aosta valley is on my way home to Finale Ligure, so will try and make a stop there if anyone is around.

And if anyone ever visits Finale, you must let me know!! We live 15min walk from the campsite, so drop me a message to catch up for a beer or a climb.

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Currently I’m thinking the best options are

Chamonix
Val di Mellow
Dolomites

?

What about including Tasch (sorry can’t figure out the bloody umlaut) as an option based on Kris’ advice above? It sounds a bit less crowded than Chamonix and seems to have a good variety of stuff for various tastes as well, albeit Switzerland has a reputation for being brutally expensive. Maybe we could do a straw poll to gauge interest based on the options presented?

Given the ones mentioned I’d definitely go for Val di Mello. I’d also mention the proper Tyrol in Austria as a place that I’ve never climbed in summer and would love to visit.

Hi all, HNY to you. Apologies to be off theme but I need guidance on posting a new ‘trip’ chat. Could someone give me instructions on this please.

I’ve got to here

Many thanks

Regards

Rich

Hi Rich,

Happy New Year to everyone as well. I think if you want to start a new topic, you do it from the main chat thread page. See attached screenshot…

Is the thread you want to start possibly about a Scottish winter trip? :grinning:

Hi Ian

Thanks for your reply. I don’t seem to have that ‘button’. Is it something someone needs to turn on? Makes sense that I can’t do it. Thought I was just being a thicko :sweat_smile:

Yes, I wanted to gauge the enthusiasm for a winter trip in late March to Ben Nevis, staying in the cic hut. Also if anyone wants to ice climb this winter in the alps? I’m there January through February ish.

Regards

Richard

Hey Rich,
I’ve just reset your forum permissions so hopefully should show up now! Alas can’t help with the rest, very much on the winter sport side rather than the white stuff :sweat_smile:

Thank you Sarah, got it. Apologies to all for emails

Regards

Rich

Hi all, Happy New Year!

Following this with interest - very keen to get out in the mountains this year!
No strong opinions - I did a cheeky week in the Dolomites last year and loved it. Keen to get back there for more via ferrata as well as climbing and mountaineering.
Haven’t done enough research of the other options to have strong opinions. Would be a bonus if I can bring my camper…

@Rich Will also keep an eye out for your winter trip plans - hoping to be in Patagonia early March, but if I’m back in the UK in time I’d LOVE to join!

Cool. I was also planning on starting a thread to see if anyone is interested in a Scotland trip. Were you able to get the issue sorted with posting new topics? If not, I can start a new thread.

But yes, I am interested if you can book space in the CIC hut, and March should suit well for me although I’m not sure about others who might want to join.

Also, I might be interested in joining for a long weekend in the Alps later in January depending on the logistics. Can PM you to discuss.

Hi Ian, I’ll start a new thread

Regards

Rich

I think the fundamental choices are:

  • What kind of activity mix (rock climbing mainly? classic mountaineering? harder mixed stuff?)
  • What time of year - this will intersect with the above

Chamonix vs Dolomites vs Tirol offer very different activity mixes, so probably worth settling on the “kind of trip” we want first, then pick from the areas and timings that can offer that.

For me personally, I’d love to go somewhere with mixed options, not just pure rock climbing like Ailefroide or Dolomites. Don’t really care about cragging options, as there’s other trips for that.

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Chamonix or Val di Mello then? I’d be happy with either of those for sure.

I do agree with Lada’s point about having some options for mountaineering/mixed climbing being the USP of an Alps trip.

I think Chamonix is probably a better option in terms of choices of activities and has some classic routes I want to do. However, in terms of less crowds and atmosphere Val Di Mello does sound more appealing. It’s also about a 1h45m drive from Val di Mello to the approach to Piz Bernina on the Italian side, and it looks like you could turn Piz Bernina into several days of hut-to-hut touring, which could be an option for those of us who want to do some more mountaineering/mixed routes. Would that work in terms of allowing more choices of activities?

I am opting for Val di Mello with more mountaineering options.
I believe the valley has everything from bouldering to mix-climbing :slight_smile:

Hello! I’d definitely be keen to join a trip to Val di Mello if open to new members? - just got back from Chamonix last night and though I love it I’d like to try somewhere new if possible

Hi Verity, you’d need to meet us down the wall at some point beforehand but otherwise yes, put it in your diary! It does look like the majority interest is towards Val di Mello at this point (I’m also keen to go there).

Val di Mello/Masino are mainly considered for bouldering by Italians, the longer routes are all terrifying slabs - beautiful - but absolutely terrifying. The valleys are illegally pretty.

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Sounds like British trad climbers should love it then. Perfect for the NLMC!

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