UKH

Hi Guys, 

I made a post a few months ago about my thoughts/feelings on making a decision to climb Mont Blanc with a guide - original post link below: 

https://www.ukhillwalking.com/forums/expedition+alpine/mont_blanc_-_final_thou...

I am pleased to say, despite my concerns, fear of heights, etc - we went ahead and successfully summited on the 21 August 2023 with no major problems whatsoever

Being with a guide definitely helped us feel like we weren't doing anything we shouldn't be doing.

The weather was clear, wind was only 30kmh max, temperatures on the summit were
-0 - 1 degrees (a bit warm hey?) 

Only a couple of hairy moments 

1) Nearly being pulled into a crevasse on the decent of Gran Paradiso by another party on the rope team - they jumped over it without warning and pulled me forward. Luckily I was able to jump over it. 

2) There was a huge rock fall on the decent towards the Grand Couloir at 50:32am which injured a climber about 15 minutes ahead of us.  
I managed to partially capture some of this e experience on video:  https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JljkkkWlY_E

All in all, it was an excellent experience.

Next year we are looking to do Trglav and Grossglockner  

Thanks for the feedback, we rarely get that! And congratulations - hope the fly fishing week in Aosta was also successful!

Thank you! 

Unfortunately, the fly fishing wasn't a great success.

I went to Lac De Mayen near Valtournenche -  there was a lot of rain the night before and the waters were very dirty and the river was running very fast.

It was also p**ing it down on the day, so it became impossible!

Thanks for posting! Great stuff! 

Great stuff, well done.Thanks for letting us know how it went.

Do I see a pattern emerging?

2025 Zugspitze and Dufourspitze?

Already done Zugspitze last year.

I recognise this list! You will enjoy Triglav (take via ferrata kit) and Grossglockner (alpine - can get crowded on the narrow Kleine-Gross  section). I would strongly recommend:

1) Gerlachovsky - tricky route finding: we used a guide - (in fact, by chance we hired Slovakia's leading guide Peter Sperka, who was tragically killed by terrorists at Nanga Parbat base camp five years later).

2) Mt Olympus - Mytikos peak: a fabulous trip, with the Aegean sparkling in the distance

I expect you know about the Cicerone guide?