Mountaineering Bruce Goodlad Alpine Mountaineering a Practical Manual

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A l p ine M ine g ountaineerin Alpine MountAINEERING Bruce Goodlad Alpine Mountaineering a Practical manual

A complete introduction to Alpine mountaineering. Glacier Travel

If you are planning your first trip to the Alps or Speed vs. Security anxious to improve on your performance on previous trips, you need this book. Even seasoned movement on Rock alpinists will benefit from Bruce’s clarity and depth of experience. movement on snow & ice

Everything you need to know is here and none Alpine weather of the issues are ducked. From dealing with hut guardians to moving roped together. Alpine Routes The first part of the book deals with the knowledge and techniques you will need. The second part Your first route consists of a choice of good routes to help you gain experience, presented in guidebook style. Bruce Goodlad Bruce

isbn 978-1-906095-30-7 10000

9 781906 095307

a Practical manual eSSENTIAL kNOWLEDGE FOR budding alpinists

BMG-Alpine-Ad 28/7/11 13:29 Page 1

I n n e r t k i c h e n

Brienzersee e S p i e z Thunersee y R o m o n t I n t e r l ake n o O b e r w i l r B e G r i n d e lwa l d m m i S Fr u t i g e n L a u t e r b r u n n e n B u l l e Monch Where ever you are headed, G r uye r e s Zwe i s i m m e n we'll be right with you. A d e l b o d e n K a n d e r s t e g Aletschhorn L e n k tten All around the world British Mountain Guides are busy sharing adventures with people just like o Vevey Balmhorn R L a c you. People with dreams and aspirations. And wherever you dream of going next, from your local L é M o n t r e u x m a crag to the high mountains of the Himalaya you'll always find a British Mountain Guide who is n keen to take you there. Wildhorn

A i g l e As qualified members of the International Federation of Mountain Guides they hold the world's highest possible qualification for leading in the mountains and the only UK qualification valid M. Leone abroad for climbing and skiing off-piste on glacial terrain. M o n t hey Whether it's a few miles away or on the other side of the world there's no-one better experienced or more qualified to provide personal coaching, keep you safe and inspire confidence or simply to show you the way. G r i m e n t z Rhône Z i n a l S a a s G r u n d Bishorn Weissmies So if you are planning an adventure, from an ambitious route in the UK to an ascent of a towering Peigne de la Le S a a s Fe e Evo l e n e S a a s A l m a g e l l Alpine peak, why not consider taking a guide along with you. M a r t i gny Pointe de Mourti Allalinhorn Fe r p e c l e Ta s c h Visit www.bmg.org.uk to find a Guide in your area. A r o l l a Z erm a t t La Luette

Aiguille du Tour Mt Blanc de Cheillon Breithorn Aiguille Crochues Pigne d’Arolla B r e u i l - C e r v i n i a Castor

Pa s s y Pollox Piramide Vincent C h a m o n i x

S t B e r n a r d Tu n n e l A l a g n a -Va l s e s i a M o n t B l a n c Tu n n e l C h a m p o l u c G r e s s o ney Mont Blanc - l a -Tr i n i t e Va r a l l o a L e s C o n t a m i n e s i s C o urmaye u r e M. Fallère S Dome de Miage M. Barone D A o s t a o ra Bá lt ea M. Emilius

Testa del Rutor Po n t - S t - M a r t i n C o s s a t o Isère B i e l l a C ervo M. Giavino Gran Paradiso E Po n t l B o l l e n g o vo

D British Mountain Guides O o Cava g l i a rco r S a n t h i a are proud to be a member a B Fo r n o - A l p i - G r a i e C u o r g n e á of the International

e Federation of Mountain a R iva r o l o - Guides Associations. B a l m e C a nave s e B e s s a n s C a l u s o

S t M a r g o n o u ra d i L M o d a n e a

n z B u s s o l e n o o ora D R ip aria Tu r i n alpine Mountaineering Bruce Goodlad

First published 2011

Published in Great Britain 2011 by Pesda Press Tan y Coed Canol Ceunant Caernarfon Gwynedd LL55 4RN

ISBN: 978-1-906095-30-7

The Author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Publisher.

Printed and bound in Poland. www.polskabook.pl

Acknowledgements

Mountaineering is a team sport; experiences shared in the mountains and relived in the valley over a beer or a cup of coffee stay in your mind forever. Writing a book is also a team sport – although it is my name on the cover there has been a team of people helping me along the way. I owe a massive thanks to Kate (my better half) who has taken all the technical photographs, turned my terrible spelling and grammar into English and shared many happy days in the mountains.

I would like to thank two long-suffering clients Kat Congleton and Mark Dearnley, who read early versions of the manuscript and returned invaluable comments about style and content.

Thanks also to Mark Charlton, who did a great job of technically editing the book. I first met Mark when he was assessing me on my summer guides test in North Wales, and we have shared many great days on the hill since then. A big thank-you goes to the many friends who have contributed photographs and also to Franco at Pesda Press for taking my idea onboard and letting me have a free rein while putting the book together. I hope all these people have enjoyed the process as much as I have.

A final thanks to all those friends who have shared many happy days in the mountains with me; I look forward to many more in the future.

Bruce can be contacted via: www.mountainadventurecompany.com

Photographs

Photos by Pete Benson, Jon Bracey, Mark Dearnley, Rob Jarvis, Richard Lundberg, Andy Perkins, Terry Ralphs, John Taylor, and Andy Teasdale are acknowledged in the captions. All other photos are by Bruce Goodlad or Kate Scott.

4 Bruce Goodlad About the Authors

Bruce Goodlad

Born in Ayrshire with both parents employed as teachers, Bruce spent most of his childhood in the outdoors. Summer holidays were spent sailing the west coast of Scotland, exploring the coastline and islands. He is quoted by his father as asking, at a young age, “Dad, why do we have to climb every mountain?” He’s been climbing mountains ever since!

After studying geography at Glasgow University, Bruce spent a year at Glenmore Lodge (the national outdoor training centre in the Scottish Highlands) on the Night Watch scheme as a trainee instructor. He has worked in the outdoor industry ever since, guiding and instructing all over the world. Bruce qualified as an IFMGA (International Federation of Mountain Guide Associations) guide in 2001 and is now involved in the training and assessment of British Mountain Guides. He lives in the French Alps where he runs his mountaineering business, sharing his passion for the mountains with his clients in the form of climbing courses in the summer months and skiing and ice climbing in winter.

Away from the mountains, Bruce has been a regular contributor to Climber magazine for many years. This is his first attempt at a book!

Eric Pirie

Brought up in Grantown-on-Spey in the Scottish Highlands, Eric has skied and climbed from a young age. He qualified as an IFMGA guide in 2006 and splits his work time between his home in Scotland and the Alps. He has a particular interest in Mountain Rescue and has been an active member of the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team since 1982. Eric is a course director with the Wilderness Emergency Medical Services Institute (WEMSI-Europe) and a qualified Emergency Medical technician. Eric was the obvious choice to write the Alpine rescue chapter for the book.

5 Introduction

The terms ‘climbing’ and ‘mountaineering’ are words which cover a huge spec- trum of activities. They encompass an enormous range of skills and techniques that can take us from climbing on small crags close to the road to the giants of the Himalaya. One of the many attractions of mountaineering is that there are so many different things that you can do in the mountains at whatever level feels comfortable for you.

In this book we focus on the European Alps and assume that you have done a bit of walking but nothing more technical in the mountains. We take you through all the skills you will need to enable you to climb independently or with a mountain guide in the Alps.

The book is in two main parts: an instructional manual and a detailed guidebook. In the first part, we begin by looking at the Alps, their geography and the features that you may find there. We then go on to look at the equipment you will need and how to use it. Once you have been shopping, we explain the techniques you will need and how you can put them together so that you can move safely through glaciated terrain, across rocky ridges and climb beautiful peaks. We have also included a chapter about climbing via ferrata, which is an exciting activity if you want a day off from the high peaks.

In the second part, the guidebook section has all you need to know to enable you to get out there and practise what you’ve learnt in the first chapters. There is a selection of 20 routes in the Western Alps where you can hone your skills on rock, snow and ice. The routes start with glacial training areas, move through increasingly more adventurous climbs and culminate with Mont Blanc.

We have selected routes that will allow you to develop at your own pace; you can start on shorter climbs moving onto longer and more difficult itineraries as you feel comfortable. The author has climbed all the routes, many of them with budding Alpinists, so the information is current and accurate. We hope you will enjoy them as much as we did.

Before you head for the hills, the author and Pesda Press would like to remind you that climbing, hill walking and mountaineering are activities with a danger of personal injury or death. Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions.

6 Contents

Acknowledgements 4 Technical Equipment 59 About the Authors 5 Personal technical equipment 59 Introduction 6 Crevasse rescue kit 64 Contents 7 Group equipment 66 Suggested kit lists 69 Going Alpine 9 Choosing technical kit 72

The skills blend 12 Ease of access 13 Alpine Movement 77 Alpine infrastructure 13 Moving on rock 77 Alpine scale 15 Moving on snow 79 Alpine features 16 Moving on ice 94 Moving on mixed terrain 95 About the Alps 17 Geography and geology 17 Protecting Yourself 97 Alpine huts 19 Knots 97 Acclimatisation 20 Belaying 105 Altitude sickness 21 Prusiking 112 Alpine terrain 23 Creating anchors in snow 114 Alpine grades 29 Creating anchors in ice 116 Creating rock anchors 120 Objective Dangers 33 Building a belay 123 Abseiling 128 Rock fall 33 Ice fall 34 Crevasses 34 Glacier Travel 133 Cornice 35 Spacing on the rope 133 Storms and lightning 36 Taking coils 135 Avalanche 37 Moving on the glacier 137 Human psychology 40 Crevasse rescue 138 One-to-one rescue 139 Alpine Weather 41 Highs and lows 41 Speed versus Security 147 Fronts 42 Protection on snow 147 Effect of mountains on weather 43 Moving together on rock and mixed ground 150 Summary 44 Protection on ice 153

Kit for the Alps 45 Navigation in the Alps 155 Clothing 45 Navigation tools 156 Other personal kit 52 How to use your navigational tools 159 Food and hydration 56 Using a GPS 160

7 Alpine Rescue by Eric Pirie 161 Planning an Alpine Trip 177

Organisation of mountain rescue in the Alps16 1 Pick the right team 177 How to get help 163 Questions to ask yourself 179 Helicopters 164 Valley bases 180 Managing an emergency 166 Using huts 186 Bivouacs 188 Using maps and guidebooks 191 Via Ferrata 169

Via ferrata kit 169 Am I Ready? 193 Grading via ferrata 172 Where to find good via ferrata 174 Your first route in the Alps 194 Chamonix 175 Zermatt 175 Saas Grund 175 Guidebook 199 Evolene 176 Glacial training areas 199 Val d’Anniviers 176 Mountain routes 203 Appendix 1 – Kit List 258 Appendix 2 – First Aid Kit 260 Appendix 3 – Bibliography 261 Appendix 4 – Index 262

The Author and Publisher of this book agree with the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) Participation Statement that:

“The BMC recognises that climbing and mountaineering are activities with a danger of personal injury or death. Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions.”

Every effort has been made to ensure that the content and instructions in this book cover all aspects of personal safety skills and techniques required in Alpine mountaineering at beginner and up to intermediate level. The Author and Publisher cannot accept any responsibility for any accident, injury, loss or damage sustained whilst following any of the techniques described within.

If you feel that you need additional instruction in order to use this book then it is advised that you employ a suitably qualified and experienced mountain guide.

8 Speed versus Security

Speed versus Security

Using a direct belay In the Alps, the balance between speed and security can often be the differ- round a block; a ence between being safe and putting yourself in a dangerous position on great demonstration the mountain. If you are too slow on a route then you may end up walking of how to balance down a glacier in the heat of the day when the snow bridges covering the speed and security. crevasses are weak, putting the team in danger. If you are slow you may also expose yourself to rock or ice fall or get caught in an afternoon storm. You will need to develop a general sense of urgency of getting on with things, rather than just standing looking at the view. The techniques we are going to look at in this chapter will help speed your safe progress through the mountains and develop the balance between speed and security.

Protection on snow

Protecting the team while moving on snow is incredibly difficult; most of the terrain you will be on is of an angle that leads you to question the usefulness and security that a rope may provide. If you are on a snow-covered glacier, the advantages are protection against crevasse fall; if you are on a narrow snow crest then if one person falls one side of the ridge, the other person can jump onto the other. On steep snow slopes where you may be at the limit of what you are comfortable climbing with one ice axe, then running the rope out and creating a snow belay offers a balance between speed and security. You may find if you dig through the snow you find some ice you can place an ice screw in.

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It is the easier angled snow – where a slip or fall could have serious consequences but pitching would be too slow – where it is difficult to get the right balance between safety and security. Ask yourself: what am I adding by having a rope on here? If the answer is that you are simply ensuring that if one person falls then you will both fall, then you should be thinking about the appropriateness of your technique. I was climbing a route on the North Face of Mont Collon above Arolla many years ago where the rock was so poor that we couldn’t get any good belays. We decided to put the rope away and solo; that way, if one person fell off they wouldn’t pull the rest of the team off as well.

Short roping

You will see guides short-roping clients on snow. This technique involves the guide carrying some locked-off coils of rope in their downhill hand with the rope, then running snugly to their client or clients. The rope is held snug so that if the client slips it can be stopped before the slip becomes anything more serious. The team keep close together so that no momentum can be gained during a slip. This technique requires a huge amount of practice to have any value; if the members of the party are of equal ability there is no great advantage to short roping. If one member is stronger and better on their feet, then it will allow the team to move quickly with more security.

Guide short-roping a client; this takes a huge amount of experience and practice.

The key points to remember are if you are of similar abilities and are comfortable with the terrain, move together with a few metres of rope out between you. Don’t bother with coils in your hand; keep the rope snug between you. Even though it won’t offer much security, the rope is ready to use when you want to change technique or the terrain changes.

148 Speed versus Security

Steeper snow and bergschrunds

If the snow steepens to a point where you are no longer comfortable moving together, then run out a few pitches using the snow anchors discussed earlier. If you dig down in the snow, you may find ice underneath that you can use as an anchor. The most common location where you may need to do this at the start of your Alpine career is to cross a bergschrund. Crossing a bergschrund can be the crux of some routes, and even if there is a good snow bridge it may collapse at any time. If you are concerned about the bergschrund, stop just below it and belay one of the party while they climb across. If the bridge does collapse, the fall is easy to hold; if the leader falls down the hole they can then climb back out. Once the leader is safely across they can set up a belay using rock, ice or snow and protect the rest of the party while they cross.

Snow crests

If you are moving along a narrow snow crest then the most secure method of travelling would be to have someone on either side of the ridge. In reality this isn’t usually practical as the snow may be really steep or soft on one side, there may be a cornice or it might simply be easier for you to both move on the track or footsteps that are there already. When you are moving along a crest, have five or six arm spans of rope between you. Both people should carry some coils in their hand, which are not locked off. If one person slips, the other drops their hand coils and scrambles or jumps down on the opposite side of the ridge. This creates a counter balance and stops the situ- ation getting any worse. You then both climb back to the ridge and continue, taking a bit more care this time.

Jonny Baird and Andy Perkins moving on a snow crest; both climbers have hand coils.

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This technique works really well on horizontal or easier angled ridges. If you are on opposite sides of a steeper ridge and have both lost your footing, you may slide down the ridge until the rope catches on something. (Hopefully this would happen before the rope is cut.) On steep ridges, view this technique as a back-up to good footwork; if the ridge gets steep and icy you will just have to run the rope out, do pitches and put in ice screw or snow belays.

Moving together on rock and mixed ground

Moving together using the rope for protection is an essential Alpine skill that will allow you to move quickly and securely through technical terrain. The techniques we use on mixed ground and rock are the same, so we will look at them together. To be able to move quickly and make good decisions you will need to practise these techniques. Any time you can spend practising before coming to the Alps will stand you in good stead. Develop Moving together on an awareness of the terrain; by looking ahead all the time you can decide on the traverse of the the most appropriate techniques in advance to speed your passage along Entreves, Chamonix. difficult sections.

When moving together on ridges, the technique you use will depend on how comfortable you find the terrain. If you are climbing well within your limit you may take a less conservative approach than if you are climbing towards your limit. When you see other people moving really fast on your route and placing less protection, don’t be intimidated and feel you have to keep up. They may be reckless or they may be much more experienced climbers than you are.

When moving on a ridge, have five or six arm spans of rope between you. I have found from years of Alpine climbing that this spacing works on most terrain. With any less rope there isn’t enough in the system and any more will increase rope drag and make it more difficult to communicate. It is essential that you move at a speed that keeps the rope snug between you at all times. If there is slack in the system and someone falls off, the other climber will receive a big shock load as will any anchors.

Communication is the key to moving together smoothly. As you move, look for spikes that you can weave the rope around; try to have at least

150 Speed versus Security

one spike or piece of protection between you at all times. You may be on the crest of a ridge, in which case you can weave between spikes. If the climbing is on the side of the ridge, you can flick the rope around spikes and features on the crest. Remember that the best rock is usually on the crest, so try not to be forced onto the sides.

Use the terrain to weave the rope between spikes and around blocks to create natural protection..

If you can’t find any spikes that will work, look for sling placements. If there aren’t any of those, then consider placing a nut or a cam.

If there are no spikes to place slings on or weave the rope round, then you could place a cam to protect yourself.

A nut can be used in the same way.

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These are slower to place as they take a bit more judgement to get the size right. As the second reaches the protection, they remove it. When the leader runs out of kit, they stop, brings up the second, reorganises the kit and continues. If there are three on the rope, when the second arrives at the protection they unclip the protection from the rope in front of them and re-clip the rope between them and the next person on the rope into the protection. The whole thing is a balance between speed and safety. If the ground is really easy you may feel comfortable moving without the rope clipped into anything, but make sure you don’t carry on like this when you move back onto more difficult terrain.

Short pitching

If you get to a point where the climbing looks a bit difficult for you to climb comfortably by moving together, stop and climb a pitch. There are a couple of ways you could do this.

If you think you have enough rope between you to climb the more difficult section and the leader is comfortable on the terrain but the second isn’t, you could just keep moving together. The leader places some protection as normal; they are belayed by the body weight of the second and when the leader reaches the top of the difficult section, they make an anchor and bring up the second. This relies on you correctly judging the length of the difficult section as you don’t want to have a weaker second climbing on ground where they may fall off and take the leader with them.

If you aren’t comfortable with moving together like this, the leader stops before the harder section, makes a quick anchor and brings in the second. The second can then belay the leader up the pitch; the leader can then build a belay at the top and bring up the second. If you think you will need a bit more rope than you have between you, When moving drop a few extra coils before you set off. It can be difficult dropping together and coils mid-pitch, but if you do make sure the second takes in the slack climbing short rope. You can put the coils back on before you move off again. While pitches as described the leader is bringing the second up, they should be scoping out the here, lots of people route ahead. try to place as little protection as possible to save If you can use direct belays as we discussed earlier, it is much faster than time. I find that building anchors with nuts and cams. I will always look for a spike that I can I climb faster if I run the rope behind first, then a spike that I can place a sling over or thread place a few more a sling through. After that, I will look for a nut or cam placement. When runners; this also looking for runners I will always look for things in that order. With practice increases safety. you will find that cams are faster to place than nuts, especially if you are on granite which has lots of cracks.

152 Speed versus Security

If you are on a mixed ridge of snow and rock, you will use all the techniques discussed above. The only difference is that, if you have sections of snowy ridge to negotiate, you will take hand coils and move together as described earlier. If you come across sections of ice you will be able to put in an ice screw instead of placing rock protection.

When moving onto exposed faces you can use the same techniques to move together, with the leader placing protection as they go. This does require a high level of judgment as, unlike a ridge, you don’t have the option of using the ridge to counterbalance members of the party. There are lots of tricks that you can use to save time on this type of terrain, but they are beyond the scope of this book.

Protection on ice

Unless you have done a reasonable amount of ice climbing before coming to the Alps, you are unlikely to set off onto an icy face in your first few seasons. On the other hand, you may come across a short section of ice which you need to pitch or you may want to do a bit of ice climbing on a steep section of glacier, so it is worth looking at a few techniques.

Protection on ice, the author has placed two ice screws to protect this steep ice pitch on the Chere Couloir, Chamonix. Photo: Mark Dearnley

One of the biggest dangers when ice climbing is ice fall from other climbers, particularly your climbing partner, so always wear a helmet. Think about where you position your belay and where you climb up, so you don’t knock any ice onto your partner. If you need to use an ice-screw belay, make sure you use two screws as described on page 118; never be tempted into thinking that you will be faster if you only place one. You will soon be plenty fast enough placing two screws if you practise, as well as much more secure. When you leave the belay, place an ice screw for protection as soon as possible so that if you fall off you won’t directly load the belay. When

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you climb, move away from the belay to the side so you don’t shower your belayer with ice. Long pitches are better than short; the fewer changeovers you have to do, the faster you will move as a team. When climbing ice you don’t have the friction that exists when the rope is running over rock, so you can use the full length of the rope.

The essence of moving quickly in the Alps is being comfortable with the above techniques and being able to choose the best technique for the terrain. Experience is the only way to get really good at using these techniques and will help you make the right decisions for the terrain and, most importantly, your team. The more practice you get before climbing in the Alps, the easier and more enjoyable your time in the Alps will be.

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A l p ine M ine g ountaineerin Alpine MountAINEERING Bruce Goodlad Alpine Mountaineering a Practical manual

A complete introduction to Alpine mountaineering. Glacier Travel

isbn 978-1-906095-30-7 10000

9 781906 095307

a Practical manual eSSENTIAL kNOWLEDGE FOR budding alpinists