Neil Hitchings with day one of a HMG course heading up the Mer du Glace |
Practicing ice skills on the ice |
The ice on the Mer du Glace |
Neil |
I was out today with a High Mountain Guides team today who was led by Neil Hitchings. We headed out to the Mer Du Glace for an 'ecole du glace' day which covered movement in crampons and also some crevasse rescue.
I was pretty shocked to see the glacier having been up and down it before when it was visibly much larger it was easy to see that the great glaciers in Chamonix are going and going fast. When I get home I shall have to pop up some before and after shots. The ice grotto which are rapidly becoming the end of the glacier perhaps only have five more years before the are no more. When I was last here there where some pretty big cravasse sections which where great for setting up a rope and having a practice on but now they are pretty shallow as it sinks.
Nice day in the end and got some good shots although the day began pretty wet after last nights storm.