UKH

Hello!

I was hoping for a bit of advice

I’m really keen to get out to the Alps for a couple of weeks this summer. I’m a decent rock climber, I’ve done a fair bit of winter stuff in the UK and a lot of walking abroad.

However, the mate I might be going with is a really experienced walker but hasn’t done much climbing at all.

Is it possible to get up to some snowy peaks (3,000m+) and feel like you’ve done some interesting mountaineering routes, without actually doing any climbing?

Thanks in advance!

Jack.

Yes, a number of peaks you can do without climbing.  The bigger question is do you need glacier mountaineering experience which is far more likely.

The Mt Buet circuit with Cheval Blanc is pretty decent. Great views and a couple of huts to visit on the way.

My standard tip for a high mountain in a stunning alpine area that can nevertheless be done without any glacier experience is Hochfeiler in the Zillertal alps.

3500ish meters, and no glaciers on the Italian side. There are plenty of similar mountains in that area, certainly more than enough to keep you busy for a couple of weeks!

CB

It depends how you define climbing. Long scrambles on rock of variable quality are pretty common! If you get hold of a guidebook and go for anything graded F or F+ you can be pretty confident there won't be anything like climbing. But as someone else said, there are many important skills to master before heading safely into the high alpine environment.

I went to Saas Fee with a friend who was an experienced hillwalker in all seasons but had done no climbing at all. He picked up the skills quickly enough and we bagged three 4000m peaks in our first week (if you count the bimble up the Allalinhorn!)

Agree.  You really need to say what it is that you want to avoid.  Generally the fun of easy mountaineering is either easy scrambling (often over big drops/views) or easy glaciated terrain.  Both which don't require much technical "climbing" but obviously require loads of other skills.

If you just want to "walk" up snowy peaks you still need to know how to do that safely with axe and crampons.  Otherwise you have to go for just big hills with no or very little snow - like rock/scree.  There are loads of these distributed all around most of the other snowy/icey alps.

Via ferrata routes in the Dolomiti might be a good compromise, if you want to learn a few skills, or just walk up some of their big rocky hills (3000m+).

As has been said Saas Fee, Allalinhorn etc or via ferrata -  there are some in Sass Fee as well which are good.

More laid back than Cham etc. 

Thanks everyone, that's really useful info.

My mate is fine with scrambling and we'd be able to do a bit of practice moving together before leaving.

I'd actually quite like to do some glacier travel. I've got harnesses, ice screws etc. is it something we could practice before leaving?

Thanks again!

The Almagellerhorn is a great 3000 metre peak you can walk/scramble up. There are some sections of via ferrata to navigate in the first part ( when I did it we didn't have any via ferrata gear so just used the cables and footplates without the protection) You can start from Saas Almagell and get the chair lift up to the top station. Great views of the Mischabel range from the top. 

Well its sounds like Mont Blanc itself would fit the bill nicely.

Al

Worthwhile paying a guide in the UK to give you a day's instruction for crevasse rescue. You don't need a crevasse or indeed any snow to get the basics. However, if you need to use that skill for real it's not really that easy with only two people.

As for a recommendation, the Weissmies ( Saas Fee ) is a brilliant trip, though I've heard that the classic traverse S - N has become a lot more hazardous with serac danger. You could retrace the route to the hut ( Almageller? ) instead of the glacier descent.

Definitely. Just rope up and chuck each other over a wee drop (not literally!) where you can set up a belay point above as if it were an ice axe in the ground, then run through the options for hoists. Practice makes perfect Check out the videos that cover the basics  youtube.com/watch?v=HaweXnjx1CY& etc