Earlier this month, Hillary and I spent a solid two weeks getting after it together, which we were able to do despite the recent loss of our beloved Chipie (1999 Renault Clio). Our adventures took the form of two distinct chapters: first, we borrowed Olivier's car, who was on-call for the fire department and thus rolling in a pompier whip, and headed to our favorite valley/parking lot in the world, Ailefroide; second, after a steamy interlude in 100° downtown Grenoble, we then wrangled a bus and three trains to get to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc to kick off five days in a similarly limitless playground. Both chapters had the shared goal of ticking off as many of Gaston Rébuffat's 100 Plus Belles Courses as possible (3 in the Ecrins, 1 in Mont Blanc)...
Chapter 1: Ailefroide, Ecrins
CAR CAMPING AND CRAGGING i.e. living the dream
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| Hillary pulls through pitch 4 of Caramba, TD 250m, within walking distance of the camp ground. |
HIKE UP TO THE REFUGE DU PELVOUX (2700m)
Joubarbe alpin - Sempervivum alpinum
ARETES DE SIALOUZE TRAVERSE (D, 3576m)
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| Our ridgeling on the left, looking humble next to the bulk of the Pic Sans Nom. Upon completion of the Sialouze ridge traverse, Rébuffat encourages readers to casually continue to the summit of the Sans Nom, in order to spend a complete and well-balanced day in the mountains (book time is 10 hours just to do Sialouze - Gaston, you're crazy!!). |
Contrary to popular opinion, there is good rock in the Ecrins!
PELVOUX TRAVERSE (PD+, 3946m)
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| Scoping Pelvoux from Sialouze, showing our route the next day up the Couloir Coolidge on the right. Would be sweet come back with skis... |
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| View of the Pelvoux from the Lac Tuckett. We descended the glacier on the left. |
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| On top and happy at 6:30am. |
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| Beginning the LONG descent down the glacier des Violettes (2600m drop + route finding...) |
Chapter 2: Chamonix, Massif du Mont Blanc
AIGUILLE DE LA REPUBLIQUE VOIE NORMALE (D, 3305m)
A quick note on public transport mountaineering: it is possible, but don't be fooled by the 'montagne sans voiture' propaganda -- it's super hard! First off, you need time (weekend warriors are out) and willingness to deal with sup-optimal conditions, especially in town (big packs at the bar at the end of the day + carrying 5-days worth of stuff at all times because there is nowhere to stash anything). All of this is possible however thanks to a thorough public transit system and above all, huts (we only had to carry lunch food and a silk liner for overnight gear).
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| The République spire poking above the Mer de Glace. Clouds conveniently hide much of the taller neighboring peak, the Aiguille de Charmoz (3445m). |
The last pitch is now an A0 bolt ladder, but it is worth noting that the first ascent was accomplished in 1904 using a cross bow and sketchy counter balancing tactics.
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| Summit = 3' wide!! |
RIGHT: View of the business out back behind the hut. The configuration is generally a half hour of walking followed by up to 2500' of steep granite.
HEADY PHOTOS FROM THE ENVERS DES AIGUILLES TERASSE by Hillary
We wisely wimped out at the last minute and opted to climb the King of Thailand instead of the highly-coveted Grand Capucin. Our route, done in a day from the Aiguille du Midi, I think is best described as 'perfect granite pleasure-boating' in an outrageous setting. Although some of the pitches were among the best I've climbed, to put things in perspective I think playing mini-golf up on the Col du Midi would still feel pretty epic.
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| Early morning light on the S ridge of the Aiguille du Midi. |
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| The Original Czech King of Beers. |
Big pretty est super chouette!
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