UKH

Hello all, if you had a few days in Chamonix in April and were happy soloing Grade 3 winter and Severe in summer, what routes would you have on your list?

Looking for esoteric suggestions rather than cosmiques arete.

Will not be hiring a guide but would be happy to hear about experiences of meeting partners out there.

Day routes only please.

I don't expect you will get many recommendation here for soloing around Cham. In the grades you are suggesting (I assume you mean scottish winter grade 3) you could be looking at something like the north face of the Courtes, but April may still require getting about on skis, and I wouldn't suggest going alone up the glacier.

If you gave some suggestions of what you have already soloed in cham and the type of routes it would help. General around april you are looking at mixed routes.

As for meeting people I wouldn't have a clue these days. The old school way was to hang out at the mountain information office, and leave your details in a book there.

As thebigeasy says, solo trips aren’t recommended because in Chamonix routes are invariably off a glacier. Even simple ones like Arete a Laurence. You could try routes off the Plan but would be a braver person than me. I thought the same until I got there this year, it’s quite a big, scary environment. 

There are plenty of FB groups where you could hook up with partners, you pays your money and yous takes your chances though. Some people would be wary though if you have zero experience of alpine climbing. My suggestion would be to bite the bullet first time out and get a guide. Got some contacts if you want. They will teach you a great deal in even a day. I would suggest getting together a basic crevasse rescue set up and practicing at home. YouTube and Petzl have good tutorials.