I wasn’t sure what to expect, having been a regular attendee from Ailefroide in 2005 to Saas Grund in 2015. Prior to my conversion, I had never seen the point of travelling to the far reaches of Europe to camp in a field full of fellow paddies, but Aillefroide changed all that. The gap of 11 years, can only be explained by perfidious life getting in the way, (or sometimes, the date and venue tended to be announced too late- in my opinion, so I had signed up for something else already).

Anyway, this year we were for Gressoney. I had been there in 2015, after the MI Meet in Saas Grund, doing pretty much the entire Spaghetti Tour. This year the incentive was Margaret’s beloved grandson Ethan had signed up for an Alpine course to celebrate his 18 th coming of age, (there was absolutely no way out for me) and an added attraction was the presence of another Margaret (our club secretary) fluent in Italian as she had lived in the Aosta valley for some years.
What could possibly go wrong?

Well, it was a good week, after we overcame the mortal combat with our technological inadequacies with Ryanair at Dublin airport, and fleeced by the car hire firm at Bergamo, the Alps were a pushover, and a delight to be in. I wondered would I know anybody, but there were a number of familiar faces, along with a surprising majority of young fit Irish individuals, keen to extend their knowledge, and experience of other bigger mountains.

The meet is a mixture of educational and social activities, there are courses with qualified guides, and others just turn up for the craic, the company, and the grapevine info, regarding what are the best things to do in the area. This aspect is invaluable. MI (or rather MI organiser Jane), tend to pick venues with lots of options, wonderful paths for hillwalkers, via ferratas, sport crags for those who like that sort of thing, and big snowy mountains, for those with a taste for sleepless nights in huts, and getting up in the dark. Gressoney had all of these, plus a friendly campsite, a picturesque village, and most importantly, 2 litre wine bottles for 3 euro. We took part in all of these within the confines of our one- week visit, the highlight being a record-breaking ascent of the Vincent Pyramid. No one will ever take as long, particularly on the descent, with Margaret’s recovering broken leg, and my gammy knee.
Long live the Alpine meet.

I have always been surprised as to why the majority MI hillwalking community have never embraced this event. The Alps are for everyone, and if small children can romp along the scenic paths, why do many Irish walkers consider them elitist? It was encouraging to see so many young Irish people there, particularly at a time when our clubs are failing to attract youth to their ranks. It appears to me that our Alpine meet has become a one man, (or woman), show. Jane, our training officer, extending her duties to include organizing food, social events, and whatever else is required to promote mountaineering Ireland. Despite an apparent lack of support for Jane, numbers continue to increase.
Personally, I think she could do with more support.