European Ice Climbing - day trips on seriously good ice and then back to the Hotel for the night. Chamonix, Fournel, or La Grave are some of our favourite areas. © Victor Saunders
We take you to climb some of the best ice in France and Italy where you can elect to climb anything from short one-pitch routes through to multi-pitch adventures. Based from local hotels with predominantly short hikes to the start of the routes each day, you have the option to climb the plumb lines in several of the best regions or stick to one region and climb as many routes as possible in your timeframe. Areas we recommend such as Fournel, Chamonix or La Grave have an exceptional abundance of ice climbing opportunities and this certainly is the most civilised way to climb some incredible routes. Season is from mid December to March depending on area visited.

  • the fast track way to improve your steep ice climbing skills
  • ice routes off the beaten track in France and Italy
  • learn from and be guided by the professionals

Dates:   December to March annually  

Duration:  2-8 days

Departure: ex Chamonix, France 

Price:   1:1 guiding EUR€390 per day plus expenses

Read on for more details:

They say, of mountain sports,  the difference between skiing and mountain climbing is that skiing brings great pleasure, while mountain climbing brings great satisfaction.  Ice climbing sits somewhere between the two, and often brings the best of both worlds together.

The Alpine winter in Chamonix brings us ice-climbing with reasonable access. The days will be full on mountain days, but they finish with hotel nights. You return to hot showers and beers. Chamonix has very good ice climbs, some areas such as the right bank of the Argentière glacier are world class with classics such as Grand Blue, grade 4+ and Shivaling, grade 6,  while the left bank has the easy-to-access classics Nuit Blanche, grade 6, and Déferlante, grade 4. 

Not far from Chamonix are a host of reliable ice climbing venues.  A favourite area is the Cogne valley, a world class ice climbing spot. Although there are some very hard mixed climbs (example:  the X Files one of the first M10s, climbed in 1997 by the eccentric Stevie Haston) there are also an abundance of climbs ranging from the easy (Lilaz Cascade, grade 3, is arguably the the best climb of its grade in the Alps) all the way up. One that is worth mentioning is Lau Bij, grade 5, which finds a reasonable route through overhangs of icicles, producing a wonderfully airy situation with overhangs above your axes and a void below your crampons, all at a surprisingly reasonable technical level. If conditions are good it may also be possible to go to Switzerland instead of Italy.

 

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