UKC

Any suggestions for these please?

Off for some r&r with my other half after we do a triathlon. I'd like to so something more than walking but she is firmly against any sort of actual 'climbing' (and we wont have room for kit) despite loving n ridge of tryfan, crib goch and the like.

If there is anything similar (or on a bigger scale but easily doable in a day), that would be great.

Thanks.

In reply to ClimberEd:

Don't know the area especially well myself but you'll probably want to look at routes in the Aiguilles Rouges - the opposite side of the valley to MB. Could still be plenty of snow up there though so not sure what will be viable. There are some good ideas in this book:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chamonix-Mountain-Adventures-Cicerone/dp/185284663...

The Aiguilles Rouges are not massively dissimilar to something like Skye, so should be a playground for scramblers but in reality most of the documented routes are rather harder. For example the Traverse of the Crouches is mostly Grade 3 scrambling but has a couple of abs and a VDiff crux, definitely rope territory unless you regularly solo serious stuff - I guess that's considered an easy stroll for the Chamonix demographic though!

In reply to Oujmik:

Thanks, I'll have a look.

In reply to ClimberEd:

Top tip - If you go to the Circone website you can download the routes individually - makes it cheaper if you're only around a few days.

In reply to Oujmik:


Crochues

In reply to ClimberEd:

As Jon suggests, the Crochues is excellent - though the first pitch might warrant Diff. An easier option, to a summit with a better view, is the Belvedere - very easy, with one short pitch.

In reply to jon:

Apologies all round - I should have read the previous posts more carefully. Must do the full traverse sometime.

Nice pic. Not sure if it was that resident we encountered but they're fine beasts, and aren't averse to dropping a few rocks on the heads of intruders.

In reply to ClimberEd:

Thanks for all the input guys, and great ideas, can't wait.
Love it up in the aiguilles rouges but have only really been there in winter.

In reply to Solaris:

My turn to apologise - it wasn't ClimberEd's spelling, it was Oujmik's!

In reply to jon:

I double checked the spelling too, and then typed it wrongly...

We also met an Ibex on the approach to the Crochues, just on the loosest and steepest bit.

We had been planning to do the Belvedere as well but never got around to it. Spectacular area though. Also slightly surreal when, on the descent, we rocked up at Lac Blanc with heavy bags, B3s and axes (which were unnecessary in the end) to find people sun bathing in bikinis.

In reply to ClimberEd:

I'd just like to mention that for the Crochues traverse and the south west ridge of the Belvedere, although the climbing is no harder than French 3 and would present no problem for anyone capable of soloing (I do both routes on my own every now and then), a rope is pretty handy for the two abseils, one in the middle of the Crochues and one on the descent of the Belvedere. Both sections can be downclimbed if you REALLY want... but if the OP isn't bringing any kit, then both routes might be just an inch or two out of reach.

I think that quite an exciting day out that requires no ropes is the ridgeline starting above the Montagne de Peclerey, between Le Tour and Argentiere, that works its way towards the Col du Passon over two lumps called the Bec Rouges Inferieur and Supérieur. The ridge has various subsummits and cols that present themselves as optional turnaround points if the day starts to get a bit much, and there are a few interesting rocky sections scattered along the way, getting harder as you get closer to the Col du Passon. There is also a short section just before the Bec Rouge Sup. on a flat bit of pocket glacier.
As soon as you gain the ridge from the steep alpenrose meadows below, the views onto the Argentiere glacier and the Le Tour glacier are stunning, and you've got the Aiguilles Rouges in all their splendour behind you. Being a ridge route it's a day out that I often do on bad weather days because it's pretty tricky to get lost, but it's really worth going up on a bluebird day, because the views really are as good as anywhere else in the Chamonix valley.
You can start from Old Argentiere or Le Tour, if you make it all the way to the Bec Rouge Sup., I think it's around an 1800/1600m day, respectively.

In reply to Pete Houghton:

Worth just saying that the abseil on the Crochues is easily (and often) avoided by simply following the ledge system on the left that leads to the same spot that the abseil does.

In reply to jon:

Didn't know that, I'll have to give it a look the next time I'm there. Cheers.