Climbing in the Alps?

Hi Mountain people 

Australian climber living in NZ looking to advance his climbing. Have been climbing on rock ice and alpine for some time but not particularly difficult grades (PD+, 6a, WI4).

I would like to get mileage to progress the grades and thought of heading to the European Alps, particularly Chamonix over the summer season to get onto some alpine and rock routes.

Would be self sufficient but need to meet climbing partners, keen to hear thoughts of others 

Cheers

Brad

Might be worth it to ask specific questions, but in a word, yes.

Chamonix is home to a plethora of classic alpine climbing routes across the grades - and therefore also popular, crowded and pricy.

Victor Machtel wrote:

Might be worth it to ask specific questions, but in a word, yes.

Chamonix is home to a plethora of classic alpine climbing routes across the grades - and therefore also popular, crowded and pricy.

Thanks Victor.im just putting out feelers really.im just wondering if there's enough across the grades. Expensive? I believe there's camping options in the valley?

Sure, but everything else is also more expensive. Food, drink, supermarkets, lifts... But then again, nowhere else in Europe will you find that many routes on such a small area. 

My suggestion would be to pick up a copy of the Rockfax guide for Chamonix to get an idea of what's possible. 

Cham is definitely not a budget climbing destination if thats what you are looking for. Its not like Yosemite where you can ninja bivy, live off of leftovers from the pizza deck, and climb massive routes after 10 minute approaches. You might be able to snag some of the limited camping spots, or sleep in a van outside of Cham town limits, but groceries, lift tickets, and hut stays are all pricey here. Its also not great weather all the time, so expect to be hanging around in town or driving to other destinations if you want to keep climbing. That said, its the place to be if you want an incredible range of nearly all types of routes. 

Like Victor said, the Rockfax book is a good starting point to start to put a list of objectives together, and there are lots of more comprehensive and area-specific books out there once you decide the zones you want to spend most of your time in. Once you are here you can get more guidebooks at Snell or at the bookstore directly across from it. 

Easy access routes in the lower grades tend to be very busy, like the Cosmiques. Routes up in the mountains tend to require a lift to get up into the zone, and a glacier approach, so be prepared for that. Routefinding isn't always trivial either, you wont be following lines of bolts or continuous crack systems on most routes. It is the alpine after all! For partners you can post on MP, and there are some facebook groups for chamonix climbing partners that are pretty popular as well. 

Hey Brad! I will be around the italian side of the Monte Rosa(close to Alagna lifts and saas-fee) in the summer, as im originally not from italy im also looking for partners so we can get in contact. 

 Also I can recommend the Oak app ehich is a social media/tinder for climbers/mountain sports, which is getting popular in the alps.