Winter views from the Alpinism & Ski base in Wanaka

A month has flown by and the change from ski touring in New Zealand into the Northern summer season and mountain guiding in the Swiss Alps has gone smoothly. The long winter here has left many places with lots of snow which is excellent for mountaineering addicts, especially on glaciated terrain. Because of the everlasting snow falls during Spring, the awesome and colorful flora is still displaying many more beauties than usual during this time of the year. Gary was with James at the Dix hut last week to climb Mont Blanc de Cheillon. When talking to the hut warden to reserve their bunks, they were told that nobody had been to the summit yet because of a big corniche. Before heading up and to let some storm pass, the team spent a day rock climbing in Valais:

On Bravo Lapp, a fantastic 5 pitch climb

Rock climbing in Valais, Switzerland

Awesome effort for James!

After the trip, it turned out that James had suffered from two broken rips because of a mountain biking accident just before his alpine climbing week. Gaz said: bloody good effort!