UKC

Has anyone ever left work on a Friday, flown down, got two days climbing in and back at your desk for Monday morning? Finances and carbon emissions notwithstanding it could be fun! =o)

In reply to highaltitudebarista:

I've done it driving from Paris. Six hours down the motorway to Le Tour, arriving at one in the morning then off at five... Came back Sunday evening. A three day weekend would have been better. Did the same to the Vercours - sleeping in the car this time. If you flew it would be the last bit that would perhaps pose a problem - hiring a car would add a lot to the expense.

In reply to highaltitudebarista:

I do that every weekend, but without all the travelling. Much better solution!

In reply to highaltitudebarista:

Easy fly to Geneva and take bus down Rhone valley. Lot's of stuff within an hour of Geneva.

In reply to highaltitudebarista: I once drove down to La Grave on Friday, leaving work in Cheltenham at 4pm, did several ice climbs and was back at my desk Monday morning at 9am. Felt fine on the Monday but it hit me on the Tuesday. Never again. Flying is easy in comparison and I have done it many times.

Al

In reply to highaltitudebarista:

There was once an article in High Magazine about a couple of guys who did this, leaving work on Friday evening, doing the Frendo Spur I think, and back at work on Monday morning.

The key was the paper clip trick, back at the office.

In reply to highaltitudebarista:
I got a flight over on a thurs night after work got to zermatt, woke up fri and went up to the solvay hut on the matterhorn slept and went to the top of the matterhorn on the sat and all the way down and flew home on the sunday, in october best trip ive ever done

In reply to highaltitudebarista:

Not the alps, but Buoux for the WE from Derbyshire in an Austin Metro... so flying to Geneva etc shouldn't prove a problem at all.

In reply to highaltitudebarista:

We do this quite often. Consider flying in to and out of different airports to get the best times. Most good car hire companies will allow you to return your car to a different airport as long as it's within the same country.

In reply to highaltitudebarista: It's doable. Just. But if you can take four days, you'll get more done. I once did a winter four day weekend driving all the way and got both the Mallory-Porter on the Midi and the Couturier on the Verte ticked. Tiring, though.

In reply to highaltitudebarista: leaving after work friday and back before 9.00 Monday is difficult unless you buy expensive flights. If you can take 1 or 1.5 days off, much better and more productive. Last year from Liverpool there were easy jets flights leaving about 2.00pm, I went to work for 2.5 hrs then blasted up to the airport, and there was a great flight back that left Geneva at about 9.30pm. Left Friday back Monday. Did it a couple of times and worked well. Best if you have 2-3 definite plans, one for poorer weather and one for excellent weather. Altitude (4000m) challenging as no aclimatisation. Need to be organised and focused, and best if you can aford to hire a car. Best to look at prealps or lower alps(and better chance wi weather). Having said that, I might try hornli like this, but things like la grande arabesque are the ideal for this approach. Sad to think when I was a student I used to go for 5 weeks + at a time!!!! But there is something quite surreal to be in an office in Wolverhampton in the morning and a bar in Argentiere looking out on the Chamonix mountains in the evening!!

Yeah I once did this for a long weekend (Thurs to Mon as I recall) and got three routes in, including a 4000m top. Which was way more productive than many 2-week trips in the pre-work-and-family years! Taught me a lot about choosing routes.
Had some luck with weather, though.

In reply to highaltitudebarista:

There are a couple of guys on here who have done the Ginat in a weekend from the UK! Good effort!

R

In reply to highaltitudebarista:
I've done a long weekend driving to the alps and back and it is a bit of a sod We only did it to prove you could get to the alps faster than Scotland from the south of England! It completely ruined me for about 2 days after we got back so I wouldn't do it if I had to be productive in the first 3 days of the week!

In reply to highaltitudebarista: My mate does it most weekends! Flies Bristol to Geneva and is in Cham late Friday having finished work that afternoon. Reckons it's well worth it

In reply to highaltitudebarista: Highly recommended and if you can do a few weekends on...weekends off you'll even get a wee bit of altitude fitness retention too - its a grand way of ticking a few routes and if you book the flights early enough they're cheap enough to abort if the weather craps out!!

In reply to Timo Austino:

What do you do at the Chamonix end, rent a car?

In reply to highaltitudebarista: I’ve done it before. Door to door in central london in around 48 hours.
Fri night, London City Airport flight to Geneva. Cham Bus (or something similar) to Chamonix. Saturday, first cable car up to Midi. Acclimatization/warm up climb, felt very miserable afterwards. Early check-in in Torino Hut, slept off the headache for 12 hours or so. Sunday, wake up at 3am, did the Rochefort Ridge. Back in town by around 2pm or so, Cham Bus back to Geneva, flight back to City Airport, etc.
Worked for me on AD climb, not sure about people climbing at higher standard.

Sleeping the first night at altitude rather than in Chamonix town would have probably worked better.

In reply to Fredt:


What is the paper clip trick??

In reply to DreadyCraig:



The guy left work on Friday evening, did the Frendo Spur and was back in his office, just in time, on Monday morning.

He closed his office door and scattered a box of paper clips on the floor by the door. Then he lay down against the door and went to sleep.

If someone tried to open the door, it woke him, and he would immediately start picking up the paper clips.

In reply to Fredt: Any tips on how to get around this if you are working in an open office environment?

In reply to JXM:

Get a pair of those glasses with eyes painted on them?

Spend the previous week laying the groundwork for a good reason you need to wear sunglasses in the office?

Find a "job" to do in the server room / stationery cupboard / other small sapce that you can sleep in?

Arrange to do something that requires no distractions, let everyone know not to disturb you and go and sleep in an office (possibly best combined with the glasses idea above?

Si

Drink LOTS of strong coffee?

This all sounds great, thanks! =oD

In reply to highaltitudebarista:

how much is it gonna set ya back mate?

I've been through all the flight times and it seems to be impossible to do it in a weekend from Nottingham. Gah!

In reply to highaltitudebarista:
Managed to climb both the matterhorn and the Eiger in weekend trips. pretty rushed and relying weather to be good, but main issues was being un aclimatised.

Leaving late on a Thursday night is a big help..

In reply to Fredt: the paper clip trick sounds good however the mattress may give the game away.

In reply to highaltitudebarista: Anybody know anywhere else you can fly to Geneva from? Trying to find somewhere via skyscanner/kayak in the midlands but its not working!

In reply to highaltitudebarista: A mate and I left Somerset at 12pm one Friday, drove to Chamonix, got on the Frendo Sat morning and if wasn't for a storm and the cable car station being closed we would of been back down Sunday morning and home for work on Monday. took a hue effort, but nice to look back on.