January in Chamonix can be frustrating. Chest deep snow, mind-numbing temperatures and low psyche usually mean you go out the door with skis rather than axes. However, once you realise this you know what to aim at.
With the sun hitting the Rive Droite earlier than in December, routes such as Shiva Lingam and Icelander are no goers now. However, much fun has been had on the other side of the valley, especially on "Tequila Stuntman", a wacky mixed route, kind of like a hard scottish 7 in to a delicate stalactite for another 30 metres. I unexpectedly took a sizeable winger off the easy part of the stalactite due to careless tapping.......
A homesick Pete Benson along with Mr uber-psyche Bullock have been up to a lot of new routing in the same area. Funky pitches of very scottish climbing have been put up in the VII's and VIII's, four of which Jon Griffith and i have repeated in the last week or so.
A big thanks goes out to Jon Griffith at Alpine Exposures for allowing us to use his images on the Marmot UK blog.
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