Winter on the Frendo

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 tjoliver 21 Mar 2017
For anyone that's interested, here's my recent trip report from the Frendo Spur:

https://timoliver.me/2017/03/20/winter-on-the-frendo/

It was a great adventure and just as enjoyable in winter as it is in summer!
 mrphilipoldham 21 Mar 2017
In reply to tjoliver:

Excellent write up! Enough to give me itchy feet..
 jezb1 21 Mar 2017
In reply to tjoliver:

Good blog
 TheFasting 21 Mar 2017
In reply to tjoliver:

What do you think the Scottish Winter grade would be?
OP tjoliver 22 Mar 2017
In reply to TheFasting:

I'm not sure the Roman part of the Scottish grade translates that well to Chamonix-style mixed and there's a lot of potential, especially in the upper part, to climb different lines. However, I'd say go in expecting a good bit of tech 5, several sections of tech 6 and a crux in the tech 7 region. As always though, grades don't tell half the story.
 TheFasting 22 Mar 2017
In reply to tjoliver:

By tech 7 do you mean M7? Because that sounds pretty gnarly
OP tjoliver 22 Mar 2017
In reply to TheFasting:
By tech 7 I mean the technical component of the Scottish winter grade e.g. VI 7. Certainly wouldn't say it's M7. I thought the crux probably around M5+/M6.
Post edited at 10:53
 TheFasting 22 Mar 2017
In reply to tjoliver:

Oh right, must read up on those grades more then I guess. I thought M7 sounded like overkill, hah.
 Simon4 22 Mar 2017
In reply to TheFasting:

Without wishing to put words in his mouth, I think what Tim is saying is that you need a great deal of spare capacity, both in terms of technical ability and overall situational awareness in Alpine climbing, especially in Winter. All manner of things can happen that can suddenly make the situation much more serious than expected, also the descriptions of Alpine routes are fairly sketchy so you can find yourself faced with something much more difficult than you anticipate. Or you can just be off route!

Great effort BTW Tim, and nice pictures. Hard to imagine climbing it in Winter, pretty full-on.

I was especially amused by the caption "bienvenue a Chamonix", very apposite.
 SuperstarDJ 22 Mar 2017
In reply to tjoliver:

Great article and nice photos. Thanks for sharing

David
OP tjoliver 23 Mar 2017
In reply to Simon4:

I guess what I'm trying to say is that there's far more to climbing a big alpine route, particularly in winter, than the technical grades of the crux pitches. To pick an extreme example, the Rupal Face on Nanga Parbat has only a bit of WI4 and a pitch of M5. Though I can comfortably climb at these grades, I'm not about to fool myself into thinking that I have the skills, ability and experience to climb such a route!
 plyometrics 23 Mar 2017
In reply to tjoliver:

Great piece.
 Eki 25 Mar 2017
In reply to tjoliver:

Great report. The crowds were a big surprise on my firts visit to the valley in 2014. I mean how many people could possibly want to climb a mountain in France?
 pneame 25 Mar 2017
In reply to tjoliver:

Very enjoyable - must confess, though, I'm glad I'm following from a chair. Looked tough - quite different proposition fro m summer!
 tingle 25 Mar 2017
In reply to tjoliver:

Looks great. Hijacking your post to say if there's anyone attempting the frendo in summer and wants a pretty inexperienced team member, to message me !
 HosteDenis 28 Mar 2017
In reply to tjoliver:

How hot is it in chamonix right now? Do you reckon this will stay in "winter nick" for a few more weeks or is the snow melting rapidly?
 pass and peak 29 Mar 2017
In reply to tjoliver:

Nice one Tim, good write up and you have another follower!

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