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General Climbing Discussion

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Learning mountaineering in France? 21-Nov-2011 At 7:31:49 PM barney800

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Hi Tony,

If you're eligible, be sure to apply for a Conville course (http://www.jcmt.org.uk). It's by far the cheapest option and is how I learnt the ropes. Otherwise, it sounds like three days with a guide doing something similar will set you up nicely.

You could do worse than basing yourself in Chamonix. The atmosphere is great (camp in Argentiere - http://www.campingchamonix.com - and you'll have no problem meeting partners) it's super convenient and there's loads of valley cragging if the weather's bad up high (check out the Vamos book "Crag Climbs in Chamonix"). The Aiguille du Tour is a classic training peak and there are some decent options for your first independent routes: Cosmiques Arete is great fun and with rock experience you'll have no problems.

For local guides, I've had excellent experiences with Andy Perkins and Roger Payne. All of the other British guides in the area are probably good too. I'd perhaps steer clear of the French guides though, unless you like feeling like a dog on a lead.

If you're don't manage to find someone to share a guide with on here, it might be worth posting on UKC. There are always people on there asking about this sort of thing.

Have fun! And once you've learnt basic alpinism you can pack it in and go ski touring instead!