13th August. Cosmiques Arete.

Hannah walking into the Valley Blanche, with the camp site well established in the distance.

Abseil around the first Tower.

Below - 2 other climbers have just finished the route - which followed the ridge to their left.

A classic route. Starting from the former Simond Hut at 3593m and finishing at the Central Summit of the Aiguille du Midi 3842m. The hardest climbing was grade IV going up the chimney couloir. We used the day to practice fast moving alpine style using short roping and fast belays. It was great except for the loose rock, size of a small fridge (that I didn't even touch) that decided to slip onto my ankle. I thought it was broken and trapped, but after dramatising, realised it was badly bruised and not trapped lol. About half an hour after Hannah managed to climb past it without disturbing it further, we heard a massive rock fall from the gully behind us. The route was busy behind us, we can only hope that nobody was injured. Alps - always exciting ! The result for me was a rest day the following day when I couldn't even walk around the campsite without limping like an idiot.