Grépon: Mer de Glace - 850m, 5.9, IV

Just had a long and surreal weekend in Chamonix with Boris, a new friend and climbing partner. For our first outing together he had initially proposed doing the the Bonatti route on the Grand Capucin (up to 5.11+ for a 1000' at altitude), which I politely declined given the lack of hard climbing I've been doing recently. His second proposal, doing the famous east face of the Grépon, all in mountain boots and with a bivy in the middle of route, sounded perfect. First done in 1911, the route represents the first 5.9 climb in the Mont Blanc massif. Like everybody else, I was absolutely blown away by the first ascentionists' ability to find a doable line up such a large face and then to rally for the famous "Knubel crack" on the last pitch. The combination of near-perfect rock, spectacular setting and a steadily building crescendo of difficulty make this one of the most satisfying climbs I've done yet.  

LEFT and RIGHT: Sunset views from the bivy. I can only imagine the damage Hillary would have done up there with her fancy camera and photographic eye. In the middle of the second photo, you can see the Aiguille du Moine (3412 m) that we climbed a couple weeks ago on via the right hand ridge.

Several pitches below the summit, with the Drus, Aiguille Verte, Droites and Courtes demanding respect across the way.

LEFT: Boris getting it done "en grosses" in one of many 4c (5.6/5.7?) chimney pitches.

RIGHT: Renoncule des glaciers >3400 m, au rendez vous.

LEFT: The famous "Vièrge" of the Grépon, serving as both belay and rappel anchor. 

RIGHT: A view down the Nantillons glacier, which we would descend but not fast enough to catch the last tram back to the Chamonix.