The Frendo Spur in the Mont Blanc Range is one of my favourite alpine routes. It’s a great line – the initial rock buttress leading up to that perfect delicate central snow crest before the final rock gendarme – a wild adventure rising up beneath the crowded tourists of the midi cable car, almost within touching distance yet so far away. Ian far from the madding crowds put his theory into practice... In fact I like the route so much I’ve done it three times. The first time was as my second ever proper alpine route in a very long two days and two nights and most recently in a 5 hour afternoon jaunt. It’s interesting to look at the difference between those two ascents, why so much quicker? Okay I was a little fitter and I knew the route, but really the key was a change in my approach. My first visit to the Frendo was a typical British approach to alpine climbing – big intimidation and big pack, rack-wise we brought everything we’d use on the hardest rock routes at home and then added even more kit because we were scared. The last time I was there we trimmed all our kit down to its essentials and were able to live up to the alpine credo - light and fast. Remember the less time you spend on the route the less time you are exposed to storms and all the other nasty dangers lurking in the mountains. | 
