Hello,
I am taking 3 weeks vacation to Europe starting 01 Oct 2013(earliest I can get away due to work constraints) and am thinking about perhaps doing a guided climb or two in the Alps? Will be spending most of that time in Switzerland, with a few days in Bavaria and Austria.
I am a fairly new climber, only a few alpine climbs under my belt and nothing as of yet with crampons/ice axe.

Any help is much appreciated.

Hello Tim,
if for Alpine-Style climbs you mean ice climbing or high mountain great courses, October is truly not a good choice in the Alps: the glaciers are very dry, the crevasses are open and the ice-slopes are black and poor of ice, after the summer.
Rock climbs are available, but the weather may be a bit cold, so you must choose East and South facing routes running on peaks not too high.
If you wish further informations i'll be happy to give you.
cheers, alberto

I appreciate the info, Alberto!
Any climbing I could get in over there would be great, even rock climbs on East or South facing routes.

I may just ask you for some more information here in the next little while.

Thanks again.

I don't know about climbing, but October is a great time at least for hiking in the alps. Very quiet and beautiful colors on the trees. I was in France, near Briancon, last year around that time of year and we had some truly amazing hikes. We also had some great days in the Vercors, lots of inversions were you find yourself above a sea of clouds. October is now officially my favourite hiking season... waaaaaaaaaay better than summer.

But if you insist on climbing, I think one of the most important things is to realise that days are getting a lot shorter! Near the end of Oct., the sunrise was around 8 - 8:30 if I recall correctly, sunset somewhere around 19:00 (but do check some reliable source before you go). And yes, it can get cold

Hey Rick,
Sorry I didn't see your post sooner. Even if I 'just' get to hike in the Alps, it will be worth it.

Thanks!

Send Alpinist a PM. He should know!

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Brutal

Marmaduke wrote:^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Brutal

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TimB wrote:

Marmaduke wrote:^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Brutal

?????

It's regarding a "back and forth" Chad and Alpinist had on another thread.