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Climbs to try yourself

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Some route ideas for you to consider after an Icicle course

At previous reunions, some clients have asked "What should I do next, and what can I reasonably do on my own without a Guide?". Whilst at a first glance it may seem in our interest to tell people to just come back straight away on another course, this may be counter-productive. Most people benefit from going away to consolidate the skills that they learnt on the course, before they even consider another course. There is no one answer to the question above, but this section is to give you some ideas. The aim of most of our courses is to make you much more autonomous, so the first thing you should remember is that you have learnt a lot of skills on a course, and to remember them, you must practise them regularly (whether in the Alps, Scotland, the Lakes, Snowdonia, a crag, climbing wall, or even just on your stairs at home - just ignore the strange looks!!!). Once you have consolidated your skills somewhat, you should build up to attempt routes that you climbed with a Guide, and then harder routes. It is at this stage that you might again benefit from the skills of a Guide again, and you should consider another course.

Alpine Routes in the Mont Blanc Massif
1. Cosmiques Arete on the Aiguille du Midi
2. Tete Blanche & Aiguille du Tour above the Albert Premier hut
3. Petite Aiguille Verte from the Grand Montets lift
4. NW face of Mont Blanc du Tacul from the Cosmiques hut
5. Domes du Miages from the Conscrits hut
6. Traverse of the Aiguille du Crochou from Index
7. The normal route on the Aiguille d'Index
8. Glacier to the Leschaux hut, returning via the Couvercle hut
9. The Midi-Plan traverse from Aiguille du Midi
10. Traverse of the Vallee Blanche from the Midi to Helbronner

Alpine Routes outside the Mont Blanc Massif
1.Normal route on Gran Paradiso from the Victor Emmanuel hut
2. The normal route up the Jungfrau from the Jungfraujoch station
3. The Pic d'Arolla, and many other easy peaks in that region
4. The Breithorn from the Klein Matterhorn station above Zermatt
5. The normal route up the Barre des Ecrins, near to Grenoble

UK Alpine Style Routes
1. Cuillin Ridge on Skye in Scotland, or Tower Ridge on Ben Nevis
2. The north ridge of Tryfan in Snowdonia & then the Bristly ridge
3. The Snowdon horseshoe from Crib Goch to Snowdon & Llywedd
4. Striding Edge from Ullswater to Helvellyn's summit in the Lakes
5. Sharp Edge or Halls Fell to the top of Blencathra in the Lakes