If you're good at excuses, life will pass you by...

For the second attempt in a row my climbing partner Karen and I were thwarted on our big, alpine climbing objective, the Peuterey Integrale. This massive 4500m ridge to the summit of Europe's highest peak, Mt Blanc, has suffered from the notorious heat waves and climate change effecting most glaciated parts of the Alps. It was a hard decision to not go and we kept asking ourselves if we were just making excuses to avoid a big, committing climb; but ultimately but we are proud of ourselves for recognizing the high likelihood of getting hurt (killed?) by forcing a climb that simply wasn't in condition. Instead, we climbed many beautiful, classic consolation prizes including the Matterhorn. Alpine climbing doesn't always have to be a scary, cold, sufferfest...and it's always better to do something than to stay home!