Hello, I will be traveling to southern france in october, and would be interested in doing some alpine routes. I plan on traveling to Chamonix and the pyrenees, and was wondering what kind of wheather I might expect. Certainly there will be storms, but are there also periods of nice weather? Any suggestions on warm-weather places for rock climbing? Jeff

-- jeff kennedy (jrk8@dana.ucc.nau.edu), March 14, 2000

Answers

Howdy Jeff, I've been to Chamonix twice in late fall (1997, 1999) and also a couple of times in summer. I've had quit good weather both times, however in 97 it was too good. It had snowed in september, and when we got there it was 18 degr Celsius, which took care of a big layer of soft&deep snow. It took us three hours to get from the Alb.1 hut to the col purtscheller. Basically there is a lot of luck involved in going there this time of year. When the weather is good, you got a few people, which is exceptional for the MB-region. You can enjoy the region on your own. When the weather is bad you may get snowbound or worse because of storms. Also keep in mind that there's less daylight and that not all telepheriques run, or will run on an adjusted schedule (depart later and last ride willbe earlier). But the good thing about Chamonix is that in case of bad weather you can climb in the valley and if it's really bad, also in the valley, it's less than a day's drive to the Callanques

-- Simon van den Bergh (Simon.vandenBergh@alg@ag.wau.nl), March 24, 2000.