April 2011 - Switzerland, France - Ski Touring and Sport Climbing

Kathryn and myself spent April in Switzerland and France doing a mixture of ski touring and sport climbing. It was very hot almost too hot for most of the time. Snowfall in the alps has been very small this season, we probably had more in Scotland! A combination of heat, lack of snow and huts being full had to think about where to go. Helena and Chris joined us for a 2 day tour from Arolla to Dix hut and over Pigne d'Arolla. Then we moved over to ski the West Oberland tour, starting from Diaberlets to Leukabad - a 6 day tour with 4 peaks. Fortunately we had a day of powder at the start and most other days were good visibility. After skiing we wanted to do some sport climbing we headed to Provence in France. We spent just over a week visiting lots of crags from Orpierre to Buoux and getting in plenty of rock millage.