I’d planned to meet Steve (Mountain River Adventures) at Pierre de Moëlle near Leysin for some rock climbing there but when I arrived it was pretty clear it was going to be too cold to be very much fun. I know the area a little but I wasn’t sure where would be substitute location with some shelter from the weather, an obvious choice was right back down on the Rhone valley floor but it seemed a long way to go back down. But I also know Roger Payne, IFMGA guide and local Leysin resident so I called him and found him at Geneva airport on route for an expedition in Sikkim, he suggested Les Plans just near Leysin which was ideal.

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This was a warm up day before starting a multiday tour so our target was a small peak in the Leysin area, the Tour de Famelon where I’ve hiked in the summer (blog entry). This is a straightforward ascent although the last few metres we roped up and used ice axes and crampons to make the actual summit, mostly just for practise though.


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