Winter Training - La Grave

In mid March I spent some time in La Grave with friends ice climbing and ski touring. We flew into Turin then it was just a 1.5hr drive through stunning scenery from Italy into France.

The small village of La Grave sits in a valley over-looked by the nearby mountain of La Meije. Given the shade in the valley, the rivers and streams that flow down the chasm walls freeze in the winter, forming some great ice climbs. We stayed in the apartments les Chalets de la Meije, with many of the routes just a walking distance away.

The first couple of days were spent climbing around La Grave, tackling a number of fun ice pitches including La Colere du Ciel. The walk-ins themselves were hard work up the mountain at times, but worth it to get back on the ice and practice my ice climbing skills. I certainly felt a bit rusty after a year's break but soon got into the swing of things (quite literally!). Afterwards we'd abseil back down into the village (or slide!) for some well earned Leffe beers and tartiflette.

Given the warm weather and avalanche risk on the other climbs in La Grave, the next day we decided to head over to the Vallon du Diable to do some ski touring and discover the ice climbs in the area. I've never ski toured before but my friends showed me how to stick the skins on my skis and I followed them along the path by the river and through the trees into the valley. Carrying all our climbing gear and pushing uphill in our skis in the snow was certainly good practice for Denali!

We reached the base of Le Hemos a Godo (WI4) a few hours later. The climb was sustained on the first pitch, with the added challenge of chunks of ice falling down on us from the climbers above! The second pitch was shorter but steeper and I enjoyed the challenge of finally getting over the lip at the top. My friend Andy did a great job leading the climb, creating a bucket belay after the first pitch and a standing belay supported by tat at the top of the second pitch for the three of us, not to mention abseiling off abalakovs to get himself down!

It was getting dark by the time we got down the climb and skiied back to the car. We made it just in time to still see the way, albeit with our headtorches! However we celebrated for too long with the Leffes once we were back in La Grave and managed to miss the closing time for dinner - an impromptu Pringles, peanuts and chocolate meal had to do after such a long day in the mountains!

The next morning we had a few hours before our flight to do a bit more touring, before getting in the car and heading back to Turin. Although tough at times, it had been a great few days spending time with friends, getting some training in for the trip and just being in the mountains. The count down to next years season has begun already...