Here's a quick summary of last week's Ice Climbing Intro Course. Conditions weren't ideal - warm weather meant there was no ice at all around Evolene - but Arolla is 600m higher up the valley and provided plenty of climbing despite the spring-like temperatures!
.jpg "Top-roping at the Tsa boulder. Good for technique training!")
After a warm-up day of top-roped climbing at the Tsa boulder - ideal for working on technique - we moved to La Gouille for some single pitch routes.
.jpg "Single pitch climbing at la Gouille")
And then multi-pitch at the Arolla tunnels, with a multi-abseil descent. This route is just shady enough to escape the thaw.
.jpg "Multi-pitch above the Arolla road tunnel")
A day at the Cascade des Ignes with a snow-shoe approach and some genuine Scottish weather marking the return of winter.
.jpg "\"Full\" conditions on the Cascade des Ignes, at 2500m")
And some time leading on single and multi-pitch routes.
.jpg "Leading on the middle pitch of l'Usine Électrique")
