Inevitably, during winter (and early spring) in Chamonix, there are a few warm spells that create conditions of varying favorableness Chamonix sport climbing adventures in the vicinity. In the midst of Europe’s slow vaccine roll-out I “quarantined” in Chamonix instead of staying in Milan.
Terri Corti and I brought the GoPro to the crag on a couple of climbing outings in March. Using hands as camera mounts we can’t be mistaken for GoPros, but maybe we’ll consider some fancy attachments for the next time. Despite the shaky camera hands, Terri made a good edit of some climbing days in Balme and Barberine.
It began when Vladimir “Vova” Belousov and I made plans to go rock climbing one not-so-balmy day in March at Balme. Funnily I’ve had the guide book for Vallee de L’Arve for more than a year and I kept missing opportunities to go climb there (aka I need more friends with cars). Terri joined the team and we drove 40 minutes to arrive at the crag.
I don’t remember how we picked the route, but we settled on Angle d’Attaque (7a+) which may have gotten the name from the ‘half-circle’ first pitch which bends left then traverses right at the end. Whatever the reason, the climbing was ‘stiff’ as is the reputation for Vallee de L’Arve. In reality, we were going to finish on another route and skip the 7a+ final pitch which put the climbing between 6a+ and 6b+. Encountering some rain on the 4th pitch we decided to come down and call it a day. [March 13, 2021]
A couple weeks later…
Barely across the French border into Switzerland is the La Zone crag, a popular destination for Chamonix sport climbing enthusiasts. Technically, we park the car in France (Barberine, France) and walk across the border. Terri invited me to climb with our other friends Joe and Callum (cameo in the video).
As evidenced in the video I was more interested in napping than climbing, but I wasn’t going to stay at home on a sunny spring day. Less than 48 hours earlier I was climbing on the north face of Aiguille Verte via Goulotte Bettembourg Thivierge which meant I was very much in recovery mode. Barberine is south-facing and excellent for spring climbing (or spring napping).
Terri sent her project retro flashed (is this really a thing?) Lune de Miel (7A) and I got some ZZZZZs in the sun. Life is good. [March 28, 2021]
Check out Terri’s and Vladimir’s media:
https://www.instagram.com/teresa.corti/
