We had been in the area for family holidays and a little sport climbing and I knew there were big mountains nearby but it took Johnny's post card of the Massif des Ecrins from his 2008 visit to inspire me with going back to climb the Barre des Ecrins, 4103 m. Beautiful sweeping glacier snow slopes with a fine rocky mixed climb ridge finish. We got used to the altitude by staying in the lower Glacier Blanche Hut and climbing the Montaigne des Agneaux, with similar 3a.m. risings, torch light starts, graceful snow slopes, interesting scrambles and pitches on the summit ridge. 3 days later, having slept well and eaten huge meals down at the camp site at Ailefroide, we went up again to the higher Ecrins Hut, where there were many tough, brown and rather young hearties. How did they immediately know we were English?

Climbing in Italy

Although there is a Col de Bos, the name also applies to the big wall that overlooks the Falzarago pass road opposite the Cinque Torri, in the Dolomites. The Alvera route goes up the right hand side and as it was on our tick list, we were enjoying its wonderful rock on this beautiful sunny morning.

Stripped down to our base layers and thankful that the overnight rain had cleared the air, we looked forward to the challenging twelve pitches ahead. We had warmed up the previous day on the Cima de Lago, an easy touch, but a reminder to us of what the Dolomites are all about.