Cogne - ice climbing

Last week the winter is officially opened!!! I went to Switserland and Italy for skiing and climbing. After the heavy snowfalls on the main ridge of the Alpes there was plenty of snow. And in Cogne (Aosta valley) it had been cold for more than 3 weeks so there was a big chance that the first ice climbs would be possible.

The first day I did some really nice skiing together with Harold. We spent that day in Verbier. We tested some moments all mountain skis - great stuff. The snow on and off piste was great and it felt good to make the first turns again.

In the evening I drove from Verbier to Cogne. It is just a 1,5 hours drive through the tunnel of the col St. Bernard, down to Aosta and than up again on the other side of the valley. I was really excited about how the conditions of the waterfalls would be. Last winter I have been to Cogne two times and the climbing was great.

Next morning I met Roeland. Originally he is from the same area in Holland where I live but he moved to Chamonix a few years ago and now works as a mountain guide. We decided to start with the chandelle Levure. A cool waterfall in the Lillaz valley with two steep crux pitches. It is close to the Tuborg waterfall and on the opposite side of cold couloir. After soloing the first easy steps we roped up and climbed the first steep pitch. Great to hear the sound of my ice axe in the perfectly frozen ice.

 We continued up through the snow gully to climb the second pitch but unfortunately the second steep pitch looked very thin at the top. This side of the valley gets way more sun and it was still early in the season. We decided not to climb that pitch.

Next day we made a long walk in for 3 hours into the Valnontey for climbing Erfaulet. At arrival the steep top pitch looked too thin and we decided to climb Monday Money, WI4 on the other side of the valley. I already climbed that waterfall last winter but it`s a great route and worth to climb it twice.



On saturday we went to Lau Bij, WI5+ close to Lillaz. A really cool waterfall with a steep first pitch and than followed by a really airy traverse over some pillars to the right - real climbing though.

After three days of climbing it was definitely enough. It should get warm on sunday and that's why Roeland went back to Chamonix and I went back to Verbier for a last day of skiing.

If you like these ice climbing pictures but never tried it here is an interesting option: Roeland van Oss is a certified UIAGM mountain guide. He offers beginners and advanced courses in ice climbing but also a lot of other stuff. Check out his website and learn more about the possibilities: www.intothealpes.com  and you can also find him on facebook https://www.facebook.com/IntoTheAlps