From how to get fit in the months before you leave, to tactics for the night before you start a route, to recommendations on decision making, IFMGA mountain guide Tom Ripley gives his top tips for aspiring alpinists.

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1. Don't start with Chamonix

The Alps are vast, stretching from Nice to Trieste. There must be several lifetimes of amazing mountain adventures, many on mountains unheard of by Brits, but us Brits do tend to gravitate towards Chamonix, an expensive and extremely busy town at the foot of Mont Blanc.

Now don't get me wrong, Chamonix is amazing, and I've been heading there for nearly twenty years. However, it is not a great choice for a first Alpine trip. Most of the mountains/routes are hard, and the easier ones are extremely busy, and - to be honest - not that inspiring.

The Swiss Valais (Arolla, Saas Grund) with its plethora of brilliant, easier 4000m peaks is a great place to start. If your aspirations are of a more rocky nature, then the Bregaglia, and the Grimsel and Furka Passes, plus the magnificent Salbitschijen are equally fine alternatives. 

2. Get fit

You don't need to be crazy fit, but the fitter you are, the easier it will be.

Medium to long days of climbing, scrambling, and hill walking - ideally back to back - are all perfect training for alpinism. If you can, factor in walking, biking, or running into your commute. Focus on doing long days at a conversational pace, rather than going at mach 10. If you can do multiple days on the bounce, even better. 

3. Go light

The adage 'light is right' definitely applies to alpine climbing. Alpine climbing is about moving fluidly, and if you have stuff for every eventuality you'll quickly get weighed down.

Alpine climbing isn't Scottish winter climbing - you don't go out in all weathers - and heat and the sun are as big a hazard as the cold. My normal set up is light softshell trousers, a long sleeved base layer with a hood, a thin fleece top, and a hooded windproof jacket with a chest pocket for snacks. In my bag I'll have a very light waterproof jacket and a thin belay jacket.

For higher 4000m peaks like Mont Blanc or the Dufourspitze I'd take some overtrousers, mainly to keep the wind off, and a light down jacket. Remember, as a wise old alpinist once told me, the lightest gear is the stuff you leave at home, or better still never purchased in the first place.

4. Get slick

If you are slick you don't need to climb, walk, or do anything particularly quickly, as you don't waste time doing all the other stuff.

Practice building belays efficiently, taking and dropping coils, doing smooth change overs at belays, sorting gear whilst on second, and generally having a sense of eagerness. If you're doing a long rock climb with a multi-pitch descent, get slick at abseiling. A slick pair should be able to descend a 10 pitch rock climb in a little over an hour.  

Make sure you are always looking for a job to do, thinking ahead about what's coming up so you don't have to repeat steps, and that you do jobs efficiently. Make sure your partner is on board with all this stuff too. However, don't rush the route finding as this can lead to a major loss of time and increased danger.

5. Use huts

The Alps have a fantastic network of manned and unmanned huts, which allow you to climb unburdened by bivi gear. For somewhere in the region of £100 per night, you can get dorm accommodation, a three course evening meal, and breakfast.

Hut guardians are generally friendly and helpful, especially if you speak to them - or attempt to speak to them - in their native tongue. They can be a great source of beta for current conditions as well.

If you're on a budget most huts will let you bring your own food and stove to cook with. It is best practice to ask the guardian where they'd like you to cook, don't just brew up in the dining room!

6. Follow Baz Luhrmann's advice and 'wear sunscreen'

Sunburn is no joke. In the short-term it can ruin your trip, and beyond that it can lead to much more serious problems, including skin cancer. Cover up when possible: the UPF 50 hoodies that most brands now make are brilliant for summer alpinism. Wear factor 50 suncream on exposed skin, and re-apply throughout the day. I carry high factor lip balm in my trouser pocket, have a very silly looking bucket hat with a neck flap, and wear a nose guard too - attractive, I know.

Sunglasses are equally important, and a pair of wrap around Cat 4 glasses are essential for glacier travel. For rock climbing I prefer something with a changeable lens, as I find I can't see into cracks very well wearing Cat 4s. They're also just about the only item I'll have a spare of in the team.

7. Take sport climbing gear

There is more to the Alps than just alpinism! Whilst it might not be world class (remember, if you're reading this you're probably from the UK) there is fantastic sport climbing in, or near most alpine valleys. The Arve Valley down from Chamonix for example is full of amazing (sternly graded) rock climbing which barely makes France's C-list.

In my experience, the less rock climbing paraphernalia you bring on your alpine trip the worse the weather will be up high. Conversely, if you throw in sport draws, grigri, and a clip stick, a high pressure will settle over the Alps, and you'll end up doing back to back Grandes Courses…

There is also an excellent guide called Plasir Selection featuring the best multi-pitch (typically sport or hybrid trad) climbs in an alpine setting. Much more fun than actual alpinism, albeit less good for the soul than strapping yourself to a north face - but sometimes that's okay!

8. Do a Conville Course

Don't know your Bergshrunds from your Rimayes (joke - they're the same thing) and are under 30? Consider doing a Jonathan Conville Memorial Course. These are subsided courses, run in the memory of Jonathan Conville, a young alpinist who died on the North Face of the Matterhorn in the 1980s. During the three days IFMGA Mountain Guides aim to teach young mountaineers all the skills they need to climb in the Alps under their own steam. They also run weekend courses in North Wales and the Highlands.

If you're over 30 you'll have to hire a Guide (most agencies run introductory courses, and many independent guides will run a bespoke course for you), or learn the hard way. 

9. Go with a solid partner (ideally who's been before)

This is probably the most important piece of advice. Go with a close friend who you've done a load of climbing and mountaineering with, someone you already have a solid partnership with, who you can rely on when the going gets tough, and who feels they can rely on you in the very same situations.

I was lucky enough to be taken to the Alps by a family friend who'd been a few times before. This was the main reason my first trip was successful, and we managed a few moderate routes, rather than getting shut down, or worse, on something too ambitious.

My second trip to the Alps nearly ended in disaster. Aged 18, with no solid partner and delusions of grandeur from reading too many Mark Twight books, my summer was full of failures and close calls, often climbing with near strangers, ending with a rescue from the Grandes Jorasses North Face.

Amazingly this didn't put me off, and I returned the next summer with a couple of mates who I'd done a bit of climbing in the UK with, and got a stack of great routes done.

10. Consider taking or hiring a car

Sometimes the weather doesn't play ball, or you get psyched out. Sure, places like Chamonix and the Swiss Valais are very accessible by public transport, but sitting in the Argentiere campsite for a week in the rain is far from enjoyable. 

With a car you can normally escape to somewhere dry, or at least somewhere where the weather is less scary. If you're staying for a longer time, then it's also handy for doing supermarket shops in big towns, rather than expensive shops in alpine villages.

11. Go with the flow to avoid disappointment

The best options for an enjoyable trip are:

• Go with no tick-list at all.
• Go with a really long tick-list (that'll be even longer by the end of your trip).

If you've only got one route in mind (typically Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, or the Eiger) then you're destined to end up disappointed if, and when, your plans get thwarted. 

12. Know where you're going, and recce the approach the night before

Stumbling around in the dark wondering where the @#*& the route is supposed to go isn't much fun. It's also a great way to waste time. Instead, once you've arrived at the hut (nice and early, having walked in from the valley in the cool of the morning, at a relaxed pace, not sweating like a race horse, arriving just before dinner), have a drink, leave your packs, and go to check out the first 45 minutes or so of tomorrow's routes.

This will hopefully keep you on track the next morning and help save a stack of time. If you've got a fancy GPS watch you can set a track to follow the next day. During this phase you can also stash kit, giving yourself a lighter bag the next morning. However, if you choose to do this, make sure that:

• Your kit won't get drenched if an unexpected storm rolls in overnight
• Birds or animals aren't going to eat your lunch
• You've not stashed your head torch
• That you'll be able to find it in the dark the next morning!

Another tip, and one I should heed myself, is to really learn where routes go. Do your research on blogs or camptocamp, look at different topos, read the guidebook on the loo, print off and laminate topos and descriptions so you've got them to hand, and make copies for your partner too.

To really get things to go in, I find typing out your own description of a route really helps lodge information in your brain. Oh, and don't forget about the descent either!

13. Go for more than a week

Whilst you can get a bit of alpine climbing done in one week of annual leave, it doesn't give you much time to acclimatise (I'm not sure you can acclimatise in a meaningful way in six days), nor does it give you much margin for error if the weather doesn't play ball.

A longer trip definitely improves your chances of success, allows you to acclimatise properly for big objectives, and takes some of the pressure off. Getting to the Alps is the major cost of most people's trip, so staying a little longer once you're there is a cost-effective way of getting more Alpine experience under your belt.

14. Practice scrambling, and a few thoughts on moving together.

Most alpine routes, even the really, really hard ones, have stacks of moderate ground. Moving quickly and efficiently over easy ground is key to success - you can't just pitch it!

Whilst we don't have any alpine mountains, we do have lots of scrambling in the Lakes, North Wales, the Highlands, and best of all Skye. A great way to replicate alpinism is to spend your weekends practicing going up and down these routes in big boots with a light pack; throw in a few VDiffs too for good measure. 

Moving together is a dark art that is hard to put down in words. Here are a few basics: 

• Only do it on ground that everyone is very comfortable on. A fall won't be pretty and should be considered a 'never event'.
• Take coils so the rope is short enough that you can hear each other, but long enough that you can have at least two runners/spikes between you. Remember you can lengthen/shorten the rope if you need to. 
• Keep the rope snug, you don't want lots of slack between you.
• Be mindful of skinny single ropes, and sharp granite edges. They're more fragile than you think.
• Cams, bolts, pegs, and natural spikes are great for runners. Wires often aren't as good, as they're not multi directional, and are fiddly to place/remove. 
• Always look ahead, and anticipate the terrain. Make sure you don't end up on too tricky ground without a belay/runners.
• On very easy ground, gather the rope up in your hands and walk holding it. 
• Don't be tempted to simul-climb on technical ground until you've gained much more experience. 
• If in doubt - pitch instead.

15. Go long on glaciers to avoid falling into a crevasse

Wet glaciers are a major hazard of alpine climbing, and one that we can't really replicate in the UK. The major hazard on a glacier is crevasses, cracks in the ice created by the changes in terrain. These can range from tight squeezes, which your body heat will slowly melt you deeper into until you suffocate/succumb to hypothermia, to cathedral sized holes, which if you fall in you'll never been seen again! In short, falling into a crevasse unroped doesn't really bear thinking about. 

Here are my top tips for glacial travel.

• Rope up and wear crampons. You won't be able to hold a crevasse fall without them.
• Go long. The minimum length between your whole party should be 20 metres (or 12 arms spans of rope if you're 180cm-ish).
• Keep the rope snug. If you fall in with any slack between you and your partner, not only will you fall in further, but you will also shock load them, making it harder for them to hold you. A good rule of thumb is the rope between you and your partner should be gently kissing the snow. If you keep the rope snug, hopefully you won't fall that far in the first place. 
• Get up early. Snow bridges are much more solid after an overnight refreeze. An early start from a hut/bivi should keep you right.
• Tie knots (big fat ENSA knots - Google it) if there is a big weight difference in the team, or if you're crossing the glacier in the afternoon sun. Knots are a pain, they drag, catch, and generally annoy you. However, when they catch on a the lip of a slot, they make holding a fall a comparative doddle. I normally tie four knots (each take a little over half my wing span to tie). I put 3 wingspans between the climber and the first knot, and two wingspans between the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th knot, then another 3 wingspans to the second climber. The reason for the bigger gaps near the climbers, is you want to avoid a knot going into a crevasse at all costs, as it will make hauling someone out a complete nightmare.
• I don't normally bother with knots if there are more than two climbers in the team. If you are going to tie knots you will need to learn to pass a knot whilst hauling, or bypass all of them by using a drop loop. I prefer this method, but it does require a lot of spare rope. 
• Safety in numbers - if you're going somewhere remote, or crossing a really complex glacier, a team of three is much safer. It is much easier for two people to rescue one person, than just one to do it. One person can hold the fall, and the other can prepare the anchor - much easier and less stressful than having to do both at once! If you're a team of three, rope up with 12 metres between each climber. I like to tie the middle climber on with a short isolation loop, using a rethreaded overhand. 
• Learn to self rescue. Whilst hauling people out and 3:1 hoists are all well and good in a field on a campsite, if you have the misfortune to go into a slot, and are unharmed, prussiking out is probably going to be the quickest and safest option. Practice transferring onto prussiks whilst hanging in space. For bonus points do it wearing 30m of body coils and a heavy pack.

• Protect the edge of the crevasse, for example with a second ice axe or a walking pole, to prevent the rope cutting in.
• Build a really good anchor. If you have to hoist someone out for real, make sure your anchor is perfect. A long ice axe, buried deep in soft soggy snow, and backfilled with more snow is pretty ideal. Ice screws are great if there is ice. Make sure you clear any crud away with your adze first. In my book two medium ice screws each is a good number for a party of two.
• If your glacier is going from dry to wet, rope up early. If you're walking from the valley often your glacial journey will begin on dry glacier: Hard ice covered in gritty rock, where you can see all the crevasses. If it's flat/simple terrain ropes aren't necessary here, but long sleeves, gloves, helmets and good crampon technique are essential. As you rise in altitude dry glacier can turn to wet glacier, and crevasses can start to be plugged with snow. My advice here is to rope up early, as it can be tempting to continue unroped if it is only a short distance on wet glacier to the hut. I tried this once and my leg punched through into a slot.

Bonus Tip:

The Alps can be busy. There are lots of people, and whilst some of them follow good practice, others are downright dangerous. If you come to a decision point, where you need to change what you're doing - for example when you have to cross a Bergschrund after walking on a glacier - rather than blindly copying everyone else, stop, and think 'what would I do if there was no one else here?', and do that!

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Thanks to Will Harris, Tim Miller, and Tim Oliver for their help with this article.