There are many places in the alps where you can get ‘up close and personal’ with a glacier.  But none can be as easy to walk to as the Glacier du Mont Miné in the Ferpècle valley.  After parking your car at the end of the valley, it’s an almost flat walk to the base of the glacier. On a warm day you can observe the huge forces of nature at work, as chunks of ice fall or, more likely, are pushed off the edge of the cliff by the ever moving glacier behind.  A further scramble and climb up some rock slabs to the left also reveals a fine view of the Ferpècle glacier.  This glacier is often used as a training ground for would-be mountaineers to hone their crampon and ice axe skills (as I did a few years ago) under the watchful eye of a professional mountain guide.  Indeed, today we have 2 guests, Clive and his son Elliot, doing exactly that with Frost Guiding.