Chamonix Summer 2017

Our bivvy before the Midi-Plan traverse. Braw.

 Scotland in Summer is rainy, although Chamonix Summer 2017 gave it a run for its money! I returned to Chamonix at the end of July to meet up with Sean who was out there on his sabbatical. It was a trip of disappoints and ego bashing, if I'm being brutally honest, which has probably delayed the publication of this post a fair few months. 

Sunrise over the Grand Jorasses.

After catching the early morning flight from Edinburgh, Sean picked me up from Geneva before we parked up at Montenvers and began sorting the gear. The plan was to right some wrongs from last year straight off the bat. Exiting from the Midi lift station the Midi - Plan looked beautiful, its untouched snow arete tracing all the way along high above the Chamonix valley. Walking down the Midi arete always gets the heart going, especially in its current crevassed state after a series of poor Winters and warm Summers. Nonetheless it was great to be back, feeling that crisp Alpine air on your face, crunching neve underfoot and the breathtaking views of the Mont Blanc Massif all around. Sean broke trail down the down the Col du Plan ridge before we located an excellent granite pillar with a flat top for bivvying that night. 

Early bird catches the worm on the Midi-Plan.

We enjoyed a beautiful sun set over the Massif while brewing up and sampling Sean's excellent bivvy food concoction of smash, couscous, tomato puree and tinned fish, with a side dish of chorizo and cheese. Delightful. It was a stellar clear night with excellent views of the milky way and shooting stars. The only downside being that it was too warm!

A quick breather on the Rognon du Plan.

A 3.30 am rise saw us brewing up and back on the ridge early doors with Sean continuing to break trail while I blew along in my unacclimatized state. Conditions were pretty thin with the exposed slope traverse being in particularly poor nick, we were glad to be moving through these areas through the cool cover of the night. Despite the conditions it was excellent as always, taking in the blue hour and sunrise upon the Rognon du Plan. 

Morning light over the Mont Blanc and Aiguille du Midi.

We made quick work of the abseils off of the Rognon, armed with the beta from last year and began the plod through soft snow across the top of the Envers Glacier. It was at this point last year where we quickly realised that an about turn was required. We had started late in the morning and taken in the tops of all rock rognons across the traverse, leading to a rather late arrival above the Envers. The midday sun had done its work by that point and we were mostly traversing porridge, so we thought better of the final snow slope. An unplanned bivvy high above the Chamonix valley was the end result. A steep learning curve but a great and memorable experience nonetheless. 

Final slopes before the Aiguille du Plan.

It was great to summit the Aiguille du Plan and equally it felt like a great start to the trip. Giving confidence for the following couple weeks. We ran back to the Midi station before the impending storm arrived, having a wry chuckle while passing teams who we knew were making the same punter mistakes as us last year. We arrived back at the Midi for 2.30pm just before the forecasted blizzards blew in.

All smiles atop the Aiguille du Plan with the Verte standing behind.

Exit chimneys from the Envers Glacier.

The weather provided us with an enforced rest for a couple of days and it was good to catch up with Sean over a few beers down in the valley. Once the weather cleared we headed to the Blaitiere for some mid mountain rock climbing. Majorette Thatcher proved to be a brutal introduction to Chamonix granite crack climbs. The 6b+ jams through the roof were particularly tough but every pitch was a physical battle despite just dogging my way up on second. The rock was however immaculate but it was all too much too soon.

Myself and Anja. Wild exposure on Majorette Thatcher.

Another days enforced rest before a break in the weather saw us heading up the long but beautiful approach to the Envers hut. The Envers sits far up the Mer de Glace, poised high above on a small ledge. From its terrace your panorama takes in the Verte, Dru, Grand Jorasses and all the way round to the Dent de Geant. Spectacular. Still not fully acclimatized it was tough going with the heavy pack, while an acclimatized Sean sauntered on miles ahead. The Envers is known for providing some of the most immaculate granite lines in the Mont Blanc Massif and was opened up by Swiss alpinist Michel Piola. Those immaculate lines come at the cost of some pretty stiff grading however!

Morning light from our bivvy at the Envers.

Sun rise above Les Droites.

Shortly after arriving in Chamonix Sean managed a bit of a mini epic on Le Marchand de Sable. Unfortunately whilst traversing easier ground a hold snapped resulting in a twenty metre pendulum whinger. Fortunately he escaped with only a badly sprained ankle as well as some physical and mental bruising. So we were here for redemption of sorts. After a fitful nights bivvy, being awoken with the regular booming rockfalls, we were soon skating (literally) our way up the snow cone to the base of the route. Glacial retreat has created a new first pitch across blank ice smoothed granite which you aid across via some bolts to access the original start of La Marchand de Sable.

An Aussie powering up the entry pitch of Le Marchand de Sable.

We managed to beat an Aussie and English boy who were staying in the hut to the start despite skittering our way up the old glacier, so Sean didn't hang about despite a brief false start on the first pitch. Soon Sean was faced by the easy traverse pitch underneath the roof which he took his whipper on a couple months previous. No trouble this time, dispatched. 

The following pitch was described as 'the amazing layback crack' which appeared obvious, soaring up on the steep right hand side wall above the belay. Sean jumped on this and got stuck into what became a seriously physical battle with some pretty tentative feet. In hindsight we had accidentally taken the wrong pitch and the supposedly 5c layback crack was an Envers 6b+ (good lead Sean!). At the time though this screwed with my head big time. How on earth could a 5c layback feel like a seriously physical E3? My head was fried and any prospect of leading any of the following pitches was gone as far as I was concerned. 

Aussie delicately dispatching the techy finger crack crux on Le Marchand de Sable.

This was a real shame because this route is mega and should be savored. Unfortunately for me I was just wanting to get to the top and begin the abseils. I felt bad because Sean was having some of the leads of his life on it and I was fully aware that I was being a dour sod. I think the tough introduction on Majorette Thatcher combined with this really screwed up my psyche and I was finding everything really tough going mentally and physically. 

The crux finger crack slab is something special. Techy finger locks combined with thin feet and a constant demand on keeping your balance, whilst being situated high on the face with the exposure dragging at your heels creates a pretty memorable pitch. Sean kept his cool and moved through the series of locks with confidence. 

Sean high on Le Marchand de Sable.

Easier climbing then led to the summit where we briefly watched in awe as the Gendarmerie plucked a climber off the neighboring pillar. A series of quick abseils saw us back at the base and heading to the hut for a refreshing pint whilst watching the sunset over the Verte. 

Not a bad view from the terrace. Sunset on the mighty Verte.

We decided the following day to do the classic La Piege directly above the hut. This would allow us to march back down the Mer de Glace later in the afternoon. It yet again provided some superb granite climbing and good pinnacle top out. My head though was all over the place so it was difficult again to take it all in, at least this was climbed clean...on second :/

First pitch of La Piege.

It was all getting pretty frustrating, two weeks holiday, a lot of rain, a flooded tent, a brutal introduction to Chamonix granite, a complete loss of psyche and an acute awareness that I was letting Sean down as he was stuck climbing with a gibbering punter for a fortnight. 

The soaring exposed arete pitch on La Piege. Brilliant.

Thankfully we toned things down the next day, Sean obviously in need of a rest after some seriously impressive back to back leads over the past couple days. We opted for an easy active rest day taking in the Arete a Laurence along with the Cosmiques. It was good to be back up high taking in the views of the Massif and this helped rekindle some psyche. 

An easy but enjoyable day around the Midi.

Another weather enforced rest day saw us assemble a full fry up in Sean's van while the rain battered down, along followed an afternoon of movies. Not really what you come to the Alps for, more what I do in my day job.

The weather cleared and thankfully we had a great day with some great weather on the Peigne. We arrived nice and sharp at back of 6am to catch the Midi lift, unfortunately about a thousand or so tourists had the same idea! Fortunately sporting my new Patagonia Nano Air jaekit, I passed as a guide and managed to blag a couple of guide's express passes, allowing us to swan straight to the front of the queue. We enjoyed a leisurely walk across the Plan de l'Aiguille to the base of Papillons Arete. 

Entry chimneys on Papillons.

The arete itself was brilliant, we moved together in approach shoes hauling on the finger lock crux move only. It takes in some great scenery and rock through some easy but enjoyable climbing. The highlight is the 'letterbox' pitch where you thread right through the ridge at a jammed block before continuing up a steep corner then rib on the right. Then follows and excellent exposed slab traverse underneath the crest of the ridge before finishing more directly along the crest. We stopped for a quick chat with an Irish lad we had bumped into a few times before continuing on from here up the Peigne Normal Route to take in the summit. 

Teams ahead on Papillons with Aiguille du Peigne standing proudly above.

From the couloir you traverse rightwards to reach the Breche which is a flattish but loose piece of ground before making some steep but juggy pulls before soon reaching the Salle a Manger. Unfortunately here we witnessed a bad fall. An Italian guide was belaying his English client across the downward traverse on descent. Unfortunately high above on the pedestal the woman slipped taking a twenty-metre pendulum straight onto her head. Nasty. Through luck she wasn't seriously hurt and put a very brave face on it. Meanwhile the Italian guide was being...well Italian! Moving on we continued up some steeper but loose chimneys before reaching the excellent exposed summit ridge of the Peigne. It was great to eventually enjoy a proper day out and take in a great top at the same time. We made quick work of the abseils before running on down to make sure we caught the lift back down to the valley.

Some great settings on the Papillons.

The weather was back in again for the last few days of the trip so we took in Crakoukass which is a meandering bolted route off the Brevent. The route wasn't up to much but it had us doing something anyway despite the clag.

Sean coming up from the Letterbox corner pitch.

The exposed slab pitch on the Papillons.

In reflection I learned a lot again, namely Chamonix granite is hard and it takes time to grasp the style. Realistically for me going back out there I would just want to run big easier routes with grades in hand, at least till I have a feel for it. The rock is sublime and it must be thoroughly satisfying climbing on it in such fantastic surroundings. It was a tough couple weeks mentally, as we had bigger objectives in mind, but unfortunately the weather and conditions put them to bed. The limited amount of clear weather also meant a limited amount of time on the rock so it was impossible to get flowing on the granite. Finding the small amounts of routes which we did manage to squeeze in pretty hard going meant it was difficult to enjoy them as Sean was rope gunning for us meaning I was more a surrogate on the route. 

The airy summit of the Aiguille du Peigne.

Beginning the abseils off the Aiguille du Peigne.

It wasn't all so bad though, being in Chamonix and spending time up high is good in itself, as the place has its own buzz and atmosphere being filled with like minded people. It was also great to catch up with Sean and see that he's climbing strong these days. Not sure he will qualify as a punter when he's finally home! Hopefully this ramble wasn't all doom and gloom but I guess it gives some balance as climbing trips aren't always great despite what social media would have you believe.

The Alps are good. Honest.