British Guides Alpine Summer Test..

I have spent the last week on the British Mountain Guides Alpine summer test along with Mark Walker, and full guides Terry Ralphs and Graham Ettle.

The week started last Sunday with a traverse of the Aiguille d'Entreves and an ascent to the Col de la Fourche Bivouac Hut. We left early the next morning in cloudy and windy conditions to make an ascent of the Kuffner (or Frontier Ridge) to the summit of Mont Maudit. A fine mixed line with a famous, and much photographed snow crest.

Tuesday saw us approach the Cabine de Moiry in the Swiss Valais, before doing some crevasse rescue in changeable weather. Wednesday resulted in a traverse of the Pointes des Mourti and the Dent des Rosses, a pleasant rock ridge made more interesting with a dusting of snow.

On Thursday we walked in to the Almageller Hutte before climbing a route on the Dri Horlini and making the classic traverse. Finally, we left the hut early on Friday morning traversing the Sonnighorn and the Sonniggrat, descending to Saas Almagell. A long but excellent day of ridge traversing thanks to Terry Ralphs and Graham Ettle's local knowledge.

I will be heading back to the UK in a few days but conditions remain very good here in the Alps. With the recent snowfalls in August the mountains are in a much better condition than in recent dry summers. The chances are that with stable weather the big classic mixed routes will make excellent objectives. From the Fourche Bivouac we could see that the Grand Pilier D'Angle was in good condition, the Cecchinel Nomine receiving a couple of ascents. Check out Jon Griffith's report here.