New Rock climbing in the Alps Guidebooks
The months of July, August and September are a great time to visit the Western Alps of France, Switzerland, and Italy to go rock climbing. As well as the high mountains, there are many lower crags scattered throughout this region, providing a mixture of single pitch and multi-pitch rock routes. 3 new guidebooks have recently been published covering these great Alpine areas.
The Crag Climbs in Chamonix Guidebook covers many crags in the lower Chamonix Valley, describing 34 separate sport climbing areas, plus 4 bouldering areas. Included are crags from the village of Le Fayet in the west, along the valley past Chamonix and Argentiere, to the Swiss border. This area offers a good mixture of single and multi-pitch sport routes across a wide range of grades. The type of rock is a mixture between granular gneiss and granite. These crags are at various altitudes from a few hundred metres to over 2000m giving plenty of choice depending on how hot it is or the time of year.
The Schweiz Plaisir West Volume 1 guidebook describes the rock climbing and sport climbing in the Western Swiss Alps between Fribourg and Goschenen. It covers 52 separate crags describing routes up to F6c, ranging from single pitch sport routes to long alpine style multi-pitch routes many 100’s of metres long. The guidebook covering 3 main areas:
1) Fribourg to Frutigland – An area to the south of Bern including the impressive walls at Gastlosen and the alpine routes on the Bire near Kanderstag.
2) Interlaken to Meiringen – Interlaken is widely considered as having some of the best sport climbing area in Switzerland, including Hintisberg and the fantastic multi-pitch routes near Engelhorner.
3) Susten, Grimsel and Furka – These 3 Swiss alpine passes in the heart of the Alps provide a wide range of single and multi-pitch routes on gneiss, quartz and granite rock
Buy this Schweiz Plaisir West Guidebook Volume 1 from our shop.
This Val Veny Mont Blanc Guidebook describes 116 routes in the Val Veny area from the Aiguille du Chatelet to the Tour de Jethoula. The Val Veny area is on the Italian side of the Monte Blanc range that often has better weather than the Chamonix area. The guidebook covers the long Brouillard, Innominata and Peuterey ridges, along with the Brouillard Pillar, Freney Pillar and the west face of the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey. These routes are major alpine undertakings that require experience, fitness, acclimatisation, and mountaineering experience.
Buy this Val Veny Mont Blanc Guidebook from our shop.