Many thanks to John Carney for sending this report in today from the brilliant ice climbing in the Cogne Valley above the Val d'Aosta. John and I climbed the Frendo Spur on the North Face of the Aiguille du Midi last autumn and it seems he has been out on the ice a lot since!

Disclaimer: The views expressed below are not necessarily those of High Mountain Guides. Use this information with along with your own personal mountaineering judgment, as always!

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"After shelving our Supercouloir plan, we decided to do something different and found ourselves heading to Valnotey to tackle Repentance Super. With the valleys getting a lot of sun there was a considerable risk of avalanche in certain parts, and also the odd fracture line here and there as noted from our walk in to the route. Nonetheless, the icefall was still fully intact and from a distance looked quite solid. Unfortunately, this was not the case and it turned out to be a day of bold climbing with generally poor protection and a lot of shrapnel dislodged by the other 2 teams on the route. Luckily there were some small 'caves' to duck into where the icefall had hollowed out while falling icicles and chunks of debris thrummed past. We both got a bit of a bath from the incessant melting going on! Most teams were taking the path of least instability which eased the angle a lot, but we opted for a fine free-standing pillar on the right and continued that way - occasionally someone's head emerged from a cave indicating that people were opting to climb within the icefall rather than on the face...which is the essence of the route and best tackled full on! French teams in matching blue jackets observed on Ago di Money and Monday Money, plus an Italian group on Patri, but this really is the season finale and now the valleys are going to be transitioning to spring so best avoided - but I know we will be back for more at the end of the year.

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Repentance

Repentance, Early March 2011, Ice Climbing in Cogne

Avalanche seend across the valley from 'Repentance', Cogne

Repentance, Ice Climbing in Cogne