Ice Climbing in Cogne and La Grave

Continental waterice climbing is very different to winter climbing in Scotland. For a start the ice is a lot thicker and generally steeper! You need sharp picks, sharp crampons and can get away with weaker legs as the walk ins are a lot shorter!

Two of the classic ice climbing destinations in the Alps are Cogne in Italy and La Grave in France. La Grave is the place to go if you want to combine your trip with some awesome off piste skiing. For me Cogne has the edge as a beautiful place to visit and a wider selection of grades to climb. My friends and I normally rent an apartment in the village itself and this works out pretty cheap between 6 of us. The bets time of year to visit is early winter before the temperatures rise and the snows fall. Jan to March is usually good.

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