Ice axes aren’t only for ice

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Where I woke up this morning. Les Dents du Midi. Just stunning... swissinfo.ch

The tape that holds everything together. My knees seem to be getting better each day. swissinfo.ch

I'm running late, but could you pass up a fueling station like this? Swiss huts, just when you need one... swissinfo.ch

The White Teeth (Les Dents Blanches) in an icy jawbone. swissinfo.ch

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The border ridge I was following cliffed out and I couldn't get down. I had to backtrack uphill and finally found a very steep grassy gulley.

It was so steep and slippery in fact that I had to use both ice axes to climb down. I lost so much time there that I ended up crossing below the next peak, which would have cost another hour. The problem is that my friend Cam Burns arrives in Chatellard tonight. We were going to head south toghether on Saturday, but now I’ll be thankful to arrive that night. I had seriously underestimated this stretch of mountains! OK, I just put crampons are on to start the climb up Les Dents Blanches (white teeth). I must start climbing now. It’s 6pm and I still have hours to go…