Arolla
My final week in the Alps this summer season was based in Arolla. I used to spend weeks working here each summer for PYB but had only really passed through over the past few seasons. This weeks work was a conclusion to the Doctors Diploma in Mountain Medecine programme that I’d been working with in Scotland over the past few winters. Basically the final course and assessment for the diploma participants.
We travelled to the Ferpecle glacier below the mighty Dent Blanche to refresh our Ecole de Glace skills on day one, followed by a trip to the Aiguiles Rouge hut and an ascent of the Pointe de Vouasson. These days also included lots of accident/medical scenarios along the way.
The final 2 days I traversed the little scrambling ridges above the Pas de Chevre on the way to the Cabane de Dix and an ascent of the Voie Normale on the Mt Blanc de Cheilion. This was in primo conditions for the time of season and we were totally spoilt by an unbroken panorama of the Alps. A perfect last summit and it felt like the descent from the summit was going to be all the way back to Wales.
