2012 Continental Ice Climbing Meet Report, Cogne 7-14 Jan

Meet Coordinator: Gus Morton

For many years now the Alpine Club has been indebted to Francoise Call for organizing the annual continental ice climbing meets and it was with some trepidation I stepped into her shoes for this year’s meet. I remembered the advice from Dave Wynne Jones, when organizing a meet a few years ago. Organize the venue etc. but under no account try to organize the participants.

I need not have worried as it would have been hard to find a nicer twenty or so climbers. This was the first joint ice meet, with members from the Alpine Club, the Climbers' Club and even a representative from the American Alpine Club, who flew over from Boston specially.

The meet got off to a good, sociable start with many of us meeting up for the first time in a restaurant in Les Houches on the Saturday night, and plans were made for an early departure for Cogne. Sunday morning saw most of us in the Valnontey valley, where compared to Chamonix, there was a lot less snow but much better ice.

Laura Millichamp on Flash Estivo © Derek Buckle

Nick Donohue on Patri Droite © Derek Buckle

Conditions for the week were good with plenty of ice to go at. The weather was postcard perfect. The Hotel La Barme at Valnontey was an excellent base camp, with comfortable rooms, plenty of good food and very friendly staff. It is a testimony to the quality of the dinners that everybody always managed to get back down from their climbs in good time.

A great selection of ice climbing and skiing activities were undertaken with most of the classics in Valnontey, Valeille, Valsavaranche and Lillaz being climbed. The best was, perhaps, saved for the Friday, when Nick and Steve climbed Repentance Super (II,6) and Andrew and Mike reached the summit of Gran Paradiso on skis. I was able to make quite a few improvements to the route descriptions in the online guide book project currently going on between the AC and Camptocamp.org.

The dates for next year’s meet will be 12th-19th January 2013. The venue has yet to be arranged, suggestions welcome.