GRANDES COURSES

Having our own valley accommodation means that we can maximise the quality of our mountaineering time by being flexible with itineraries to respond to mountain conditions.

Saturday afternoon: Arrival at Evolene accommodation from 2pm. Dinner and guides briefing from 7pm. You will plan the routes to be climbed during this briefing and adapt the plan over the 2 weeks depending on conditions.

Depending on conditions we can climb a variety of routes, for example:

Mixed and Rock: classic technical routes at AD and D such as the Breithorn Traverse, Dent du Géant and Rochefort Ridge, Dent Blanche, Weisshorn and Zinal Rothorn or the Grand Combin, Lenzspitz or Rochefort traverses. Or head into the lesser-known regions and climb Bietschhorn, Aletschorn...

North Faces: climb snow and ice routes such as the Pigne d'Arolla, Tour Ronde, Lenspitze, or Ober Gabelhorn N Faces.

Middle Saturday: rest day in Evolene.

Third Saturday: Travel home - check out by 9am.

You will have already climbed Alpine AD routes or similar in other areas, so should be familiar with the effort involved! Fitness is important. Many hut approaches will involve 1200m ascents as the Valais doesn't have the easy lift-access of Chamonix. 

Running, cycling and gym sessions (in fact, any regular sport) all provide good fitness training for summer alpine courses, but it's hard to beat good days out in the hills. If you don't have easy access to hills, your gym training will need to be carefully planned - mountain days are long, low-intensity exercise, which is hard to replicate in short gym sessions. Strength exercises (squats, step-ups, stair-climbing with a rucksack) are gaining favour over speed exercises (running, spinning).

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