Hi friends:

Headed on an alpine climbing trip in Mid-Sept. in the Saas-Fee area with two partners. I have two specific questions.

First, do I need something as warm as Sportiva Nepal Cube GTX or Salewa Vultur Vertical GTX for 4000m peaks at that time of year, or can I get away with something a tad lighter, like the Salewa Raven 2?

Second, does anyone have advice about rope? I have a 30m Mammut Glacier Cord that I use for low-snow-year ski mountaineering in the US West; is this sufficient for a team of 3 or do I need to get a 50m half rope? I'd love to be able to save the weight and go with the 30m cord.

Thanks for the advice!!

I don't know the three types of boots that you mention but by mid September it would be very unusual to need footwear that's warm enough for winter mountaineering. I wouldn't like to go climbing in too warm boots, I'd sweat too much.

The choice of rope depends first of all on the intended route(s), secondly on the experience that you and each of your climbing partners have. With enough experience, you can climb the Lagginhorn normal route and the Triftgrat on Weissmiess without a rope, to give just two examples.

I take it that you're intending to do easy or fairly easy routes, but some that may involving glaciers. Personally, if I would be with two others on a glacier that might have hidden crevasses that are big enough to be dangerous, I would want to have a 50 m rope. However, this summer has been hot in Europe. Perhaps the glaciers you want to cross are so dry that all the dangers are plainly visible, in which case I would prefer to go without a rope altogether - assuming that my partners have enough experience to do the same of course. For current conditions on particular routes, you should ask the guides in Saas Fee shortly before you head out there.