From mountain photography to ice-climbing – try it all at this summer festival in the French Alps

Improve your mountain skills by day and party by night at the Arc’teryx Alpine Academy in Chamonix After a day spent hiking across the Col d’Entrèves glacier, a sugar hit is required. I descend on the cable car and join the queue at the ice-cream counter. Above me, surrounded by jagged peaks, looms the huge white figure of Mont Blanc, serene and pure against a brilliant blue sky. Although it’s late afternoon, people are still heading up the mountain, and there are two clear groups. On one sid...

By Kevin Rushby