My First Alpine Summer by Elouise French
“Hi I’m Elouise” I am a keen mountaineer in the UK enjoying long multi pitch climbs, scrambling days in the mountains and embarked on my first independent winter mountaineering routes this year.
After joining an international meet in the Dolomites with WAAC last year,my eyes were opened to a whole world of opportunity and adventure beyond the UK, which I at first thought was beyond my grasp. The difference between operating safely in the UK compared to the Alps seemed like a huge gap. There seemed so much more to consider, glacier travel, altitude, efficiency of you and your team and more. I was inspired to know how do I gain the skills required to head to the Alps?
I had heard of the Johnathon Conville Memorial Trust (JCMT) courses before and did a bit of research and decided to apply for the 3 day alpine course in Chamonix. It seemed the perfect place to practise, refine and learn new skills under the watchful eye of British mountain guides.
For those of you who don’t know JCMT was set up after the death of the young mountaineer Jonathan Conville.The trust was set up as a legacy by his family and every year they are ‘equipping young people with the skills they need to make informed decisions in the mountains, empowering them to develop, grow and safely pursue their passion’ (JCMT Website 2021). The JCMT offers subsidised skills courses for young people aged 18-30 enabling them to progress safely in their alpine adventures.
Fast forward to Chamonix…
The morning of the course the guides and course candidates meet together to check over gear and split into teams before heading out to catch a lift into the mountains.
The first day was spent recapping and introducing skills such as moving on snow and ice, taking coils and alpine ropework including moving together, abseiling and glacial travel.
Day two we got up early as the weather was meant to deteriorate late afternoon. We headed up to L’Aguille Rouge to do the rock route Via Corda Pic Janiver (PD+). As a group of three we had the chance to practice moving together efficiently over complex terrain, taking turns to lead all while under the supervision of our guide Dave Rudkin. We ended the day with a dash to catch the last lift before the characteristic afternoon storms of the alps came in.
The final day of the course was the chance to practice some more complex skills. We headed to a local crag and looked at all things crevasse rescue - ascending a rope, using 3-1 hauling systems, and hauling past knots in the rope.
Once the JCMT course was complete I travelled to Saas-Grund, Switzerland to join this year’s international WAAC meet. When attending international meets with WAAC there is the opportunity to have a skills check with other women who have also come unguided. This day is a great chance to polish your skills, meet climbing partners and pick the brains of the fab team of mountain guides. For me it was the perfect opportunity to consolidate what I had learnt on the JCMT course.
I teamed up with El, Lucy and Maddie for the rest of the week. With the best weather window at the start of the week, we packed our bags and set off into Sass-Fee on Monday morning. We had a leisurely walk into the Britannia Hut, the start point of our alpine objective, the Hohlaubgrat route on the Allalinhorn.
Tuesday morning we woke around 3am and filled up on bread, cheese and muesli before leaving the hut by torch light towards the Hohlaub glacier. We roped up as a 4 and made the crossing of the glacier, followed by ascending steep snow slopes (fueled by pocket snacks!) before ascending the rocky crux just below the summit. We reached the summit and were welcomed by panoramic views and to a lovely surprise in the form of the intro to alpinism group! We descended via the Normal route in time for sandwiches before heading back to the campsite.
The skills I learnt and practiced on the JCMT course proved to be the perfect stepping stone to becoming independent in the alps. It allowed me to access other opportunities such as the WAAC international meets and find like minded and similarly skilled climbers. I came away feeling confident in my ability to look after myself and my climbing partners in an alpine environment and therefore get the most out of my time on the WAAC meet. And ultimately resulted in being able to summit my first 4000m peak independently, surrounded by other strong women!
If you are aged 18-30 and wanting to take the next step in Alpine mountaineering I would definitely recommend applying for a JCMT course! Follow the link below to find out more on their website!
