Climb every mountain

MOUNTAINEERING Over the summer, members of the Oxford University Mountaineering Club travelled to Chamonix, in the French Alps. We practised ropework on a glacier, before climbing to the dining-table sized summit of the Aiguille Des Petit Charmoz (2867m) and Mont Blanc du Tacul (4248m), where we could watch the sunrise from the summit. Several group members then moved to Saas Grund in Switzerland, where we climbed the Lagginhorn (4010m) and the Weissmies (4017m). Meanwhile, others moved to the Petit Aiguille Verte (3512m), and the Table de Roc spur of the Aiguille du Tour (3544m), followed by the Aiguille de Belvedere (2966m), the highest peak in the Aiguilles Rouges with great views of Mont Blanc. Alison Parker summed up the team’s enthusiastic reception of the trip, “The first thing that struck me about the Alps is that it is such a different scale to anywhere I’ve climbed before – but I have certainly gained a lot of experience this summer and I’m starting to plan next years expedition!”ARCHIVE: 1st Week MT2003