Alps 2012

Alpine holiday from Friday 10th August to Thursday 30th first with Gabriel and Tim, then with Neil.

Images are © Jonathan Gregory 2012.

See also the MOBILE VERSION of this album, and the OTHER ALBUMS.

Each thumbnail image below is a link to its own picture page, and each picture page has a link to the next one.

f001-0011 On the journey from Genève to Visp, Friday 10th.
Walking up to the Almageller hut from Saas Almagell, Saturday 11th
f001-0015 Approaching the Almagellertal hotel.
f001-0014 f001-0018 f001-0019a View down the Almagellertal towards the Mischabel peaks (Alphubel, Täschhorn, Dom, Lenzspitze, Nadelhorn, Balfrin).
f001-0054 Strahlhorn, Rimpfischhorn and Allalinhorn seen from the terrace of the Almageller hut.
Mittelrück, Sunday 12th
We climbed Mittelrück (3363 m) from the Sonnigpass.
f001-0026 Sonnigpass at dawn. f001-0037 Looking up the ridge towards the summit.
f001-0040a Looking down the ridge from the summit to Sonnigpass.
Portjenhorn, Monday 13th
Gabriel and I climbed most of the way to Portjenhorn directly from the hut (on the descent route from the traverse of the Portjengrat), turning back below the summit because of the loose rock. Tim was resting his toe that had been injured the previous day. We then descended to Saas Grund.
f001-0046 f001-0044 Monte Moro and Strahlhorn.
f001-0042 f001-0050 Weissmies. f001-0049 Mischabel peaks.
f001-0051 Lower slopes of the Portjenhorn, with the Almageller hut on the R. f001-0025 Portjenhorn.
f001-0057 Hillslope between Saas Almagell and Saas Grund.
Lagginhorn, Wednesday 15th
On Tuesday 14th we took the cable car from Saas Grund to Hohsaas, from where we climbed the Lagginhorn (4010 m) by the WSW ridge on Wednesday.
f001-0060 View of Weissmies from Hohsaas. f001-0175a On the summit of Lagginhorn.
f001-0061a Weissmies. f001-0177a Saastal, Mischabel peaks, and the Weisshorn further away on the R.
f001-0174a Fletschhorn.
f001-0176a f001-0178a f001-0179 Descending Lagginhorn.
Petite Aiguille Verte, Friday 17th
We travelled to Chamonix on Thursday 16th, and the next day attempted the Petite Aiguille Verte from the Grand Montets, turning back below the summit because we had taken too much time.
f001-0072 Mont Blanc. f001-0073 Petite Aiguille Verte (rocky crest above the near glacier and bergschrund) and Aiguille Verte (much higher snowy peak behind).
f001-0075 Glacier d'Argentière in its deep trench, and Aiguille du Chardonnet on the L.
Weisshorn, Monday 20th
I parted from Tim, Gabriel and Sebastien on Friday evening, and met Neil the next day in Chamonix. On Sunday he and I walked up from Randa to the Weisshorn hut, from where we climbed the Weisshorn (4506 m) on Monday by the E ridge.
f001-0078 View of Dom and Täschhorn from the Weisshorn hut. f001-0079 Looking down the rocky part of the E ridge.
f001-0080 Looking up the snowy part of the ridge towards the summit. f001-0086 On the summit of the Weisshorn.
f001-0088 View along the N ridge to the Bishorn.
Lenzspitze and Nadelhorn, Wednesday 22nd
On Tuesday we went up to the Mischabel hut from Saas Fee, from where on Wednesday we climbed the Lenzspitze (4294 m) by the ENE ridge, traversed the Nadelgrat to the Nadelhorn (4327 m), and descended by its NE ridge.
f001-0091 View towards Lenzspitze from the lowest point on the Nadelgrat. f001-0092 View towards Nadelhorn from the same point.
f001-0095 Neil. f001-0168a On the summit of Nadelhorn.
f001-0166a View of the Nadelgrat and Lenzspitze. f001-0096 Dom.
f001-0097a Weisshorn. f001-0098 View down NE ridge of Nadelhorn towards Windjoch.
f001-0104a Nadelgrat on the skyline.
Moiry hut, Thursday 23rd
We went up to the Moiry hut on Thursday with the intention of climbing the Grand Cornier the next day, but the weather was not good enough.
f001-0112 Pointes de Mourti. f001-0113 Glacier de Moiry.
Aosta hut, Sunday 26th
We walked up to the Aosta hut from Bionaz.
f001-0119 Dam of the Lago di Place Moulin. f001-0124 Dent d'Hérens (peak on the L) above the Lago di Place Moulin.
f001-0127a View of Lago di Place Moulin from Prarayer.
f001-0129 f001-0130 Looking up and down Torrente Buthier.
f001-0132 f001-0134 f001-0135 Upper Valpelline with the Haut Glacier de Tsa de Tsan.
f001-0133 Margin of the Glacier des Grandes Murailles on the E wall of the upper Valpelline.
Dent d'Hérens, Monday 27th
We climbed the Dent d'Hérens (4171 m) by the W ridge.
f001-0137 Tête de Valpelline.
f001-0136 f001-0170a f001-0154 f001-0160 Dent Blanche; its S ridge, which is the normal route, faces us.
f001-0156 Matterhorn and Monte Rosa. f001-0157a Looking over the Glacier des Grandes Murailles towards the Lago di Place Moulin.
f001-0161 View back up the W ridge towards the summit. f001-0162 The party from Grindelwald abseiled from the W ridge to the glacier.
f001-0163 Glacier des Grandes Murailles; the nearer large peak on the R is Mont Collon, and the more distant one slightly to its L is the Grand Combin.