Glacier Mort & Col du Belvédère

March 13, 2014 / joelevanschamonix / 1 Comment

When your aiming to do two Aiguille Rouge tours in one day you need everything to fall into place. Getting to Brevent at 8:45 without my ski pass was not a good start. Running to Cham sud for a lift home and back to Brevent I caught up with the boys at the top of Floria drag just before 10am.

We were quick up the first col and then the Mort bootpack was also dealt with in 25 mins. The snow on the descent was variable. Chalky snow at the top with some nice powder pockets, some wind slab and nice spring snow. Flying down through the trees we caught the 12:18 bus back to Argentiere and after getting some food we were back at Flegere about 13:30.

: Looking down the col

: North face of Index and Mont Blanc

: Sleigh on his way up Mort

: Just before the top

: Catching air in the nicer snow

: Back in Buet for midday

Heading back up the Floria drag lift and traversing to where you start the skin to the Col things were starting to get very hot.

We started the 1 hour skin to Belvedere in roasting hot sun. We were feeling pretty good at the start but the sun took its toll on James and I and we started to slow down falling behind Tim who was cruising off in the distance. When we reached the top we saw the side slipped entrance and wished we had brought a rope and a harness. Using the fixed 60m rope we slowly made our way down the icy gully and just about managed to ski from where that ended. Nice chalky snow again down the north face and similar snow as the Mort descent. We made it back to Buet for the 16:18 bus. Very sweaty, very smelly and very tired. A massive day touring in the Rouge. Thanks to the boys for more fun in the sun.

: The side slip down the north face

: Tim powering up the Col

: Sleigh on the upper chalky snow

: and finding some nice powder down below

: Me struggling on my 82 underfoot skis

: Tim in some boot deep powder

Midi conditions update.

On wednesday Me and Sleigh skied over 11,000m descent and about 70km off the midi. He had to ski 4 midi laps for a bet and I had nothing better to do. Valley Blanche, Petit Envers, Grand Envers and Gros Rognon. The conditions were all the same. Hard snow and wind blown. Deep mogles by the requin and a slushy James Bond track. All good fun and a real test of the legs.

This morning I also went up and climbed the Cosmiques Arete. Perfect conditions. Firm consolidated snow and very well filled in. Think climbing season might be upon us if we don’t get any new snow!

Petit Aiguille Vert 3512m

December 13, 2013December 13, 2013 / joelevanschamonix / Leave a comment

Yesterday I skinned up from the Bochard gondola at Grand Montets towards the top station, Upon reaching the col on the left hand ridge I changed to crampons and scrambled up the rocky snowy ground towards the top station at 3300m. This was good fun and I was keen to go that bit further and continue up to the summit of the Petit Aiguille Vert. Deciding against it at the last minute I headed back down.

Alone on the summit of the Grand Montets.

Going back up with Ally Hurst today the plan was to repeat what I did yesterday and then climb the ordinary route on Petit Aiguille Vert. After getting the second bin up GM at 9:30 we were on our way up the Bochard Gondola and soon we had skied the short traverse to where we would skin from. It took us just under an hour to get to the Col du Rachasses, 3037m, from here we changed to crampons and continued up the north ridge of the Grand Montets towards the viewing platform on the summit.

Ally Changing into his crampons with the North Ridge of GM behind him. You can see my track from yesterday on the right.

This ridge is very similar to the first section of the Cosmiques Arete and is good fun and relatively easy with a few moves thrown in for good measure, maybe grade 3/4. We flew up the ridge in under an hour with about 250m height gain.

Pausing on the summit for a few minutes we then headed down the steps that lead out of the back of the top station and started up towards our main goal, Petit Aig. Vert.

The red line indicates our route to the summit, We came down the same way apart from near the Bergschrund, I will say why later.

We made quick progress up the snow slope but then hit a problem at the Bergschrund. Ally found a way over but on the other side was 50′ bullet hard black ice, this would not normally be a problem with two axes and a rope but we only had one lightweight mountaineering axe and no rope, harness or anything! After I ran up the steep slope another 30m and found no other way across, Ally came back down and we started to look for another route up.

We eventually decided to climb up the mixed ground to the right of the normal way up to avoid the ice and this turned into somewhat of a challenge. The above photo shows the way we went up in red and Ally down climbing the way we didn’t feel would be easy going up. The route in red we took was harder than the exit couloir on the Cosmiques Arete and coupled with loose powder snow and no protection it felt like AD or even D grade, and for some reason I went up first, clearing the snowy ledges as I went. Next time ill send Ally up first!

Once we were through this mixed ground and onto the main ridge it went quick and it was pretty easy going.

Following the obvious ridge to the left of the rocks you follow a series of snow slopes and small mixed steps to come to a short but steep rock move up to the summit ridge.

Me coming towards the short rock section. Photo Ally Hurst

Ally freeing it up the upper rock section, Some tricky moves to make without a rope!

Once over the rock section there was some more mixed ground and snow ridges to get to the summit. Ally is one step away from the summit here, with the Aiguille Vert to his right.

Me following Ally on to the final summit ridge with the Aiguille Rouges and Mont Buet behind. Photo Ally Hurst

After reaching the summit there are two ways down. In the summer me and John Vincent rappeled down the north face with 3 50m raps. With no rope Ally and I had to reverse the whole route, Down climbing in soft sugary snow was somewhat precarious but we made quick time.

Me down climbing the upper section. Photo Ally Hurst

We had no problems and then when we came to the section of ice above the Bergschrund I went down first kicking in big steps in the snow until we got to the ice then it was front points only for the last 20m.

After getting past this section we were down and back at our skis within 25 minutes. Getting our skis back on we headed down the north face towards the upper slopes of the Bochard and found some nice sections of soft snow, then down some steepish couloirs we had some nice chaulky snow to finish.

Me skiing half a mile away from Ally. Photo Ally Hurst

All together another great day climbing and skiing up at Les Grand Montets. Some powder would be nice now! Thanks to Ally for the company!

Shit Route

November 1, 2013 / joelevanschamonix / 1 Comment

Since I made my way 2/3rds of the way up the Rebuffat-Terray route last week with Tom Grant I have been keen to get in some more mixed routes before the snow starts to fall and stick, and the approaches get longer; The Aiguille du Midi closes in the first week of November.

I had heard that a couple of my friends Alex and Ally had climbed Vent du Dragon on the north face of the Cosmiques Arete and after Tom had also climbed it last week and said it was in good condition I thought that could be my next objective.

Vent du Dragon follows roughly the red line.

On Tuesday I bumped in to James Clapham, a very strong climber who took my up my first Alpine climb, Aiguille du tour-Table couloir, over a year ago. He mentioned that he is heading for work in Scotland on Saturday and was keen to get on one last route before he leaves.

Pitch 3 of Vent du Dragon, perfect 75′ gully, Taken the day before. Climbers unknown.

Meeting at the Midi at 8:15 there was a lot of climbers who already had their helmets on and looked ready to go, this was a good sign that they were going to rap of the bridge and head to the same route we were going for.

We tried to be quick out of the bin and down the tunnel but despite our speed there were at least 6 teams ready to rap. Vent du Dragon was out of the question!

Climbing for me is fun, I don’t want to get involved with 12 or so people trying to get on the same route then having ice and spindrift hailing from above for the whole climb!

As I was up the Midi the day before scouting routes and checking conditions I suggested the ‘Shit Route’. I had heard about it before and had a good idea of the route; Emily had climbed it last month. It gets its name because the top pitch of ice is made from the overflow of the toilets, or so I’m told!

The ‘Shit Route’ is the obvious gully starting up from the red arrow and finishing on the hanging ice.

There was only one team on the platform when we went to rap down the route and they took their time so we started rapping down the route. There are 2 50m rappels to the bottom of the 100m mixed gully. James did have to climb back up 10m after the first rap as the rope became stuck in a crack.

After James had built a belay and I had joined him we started the climb. With the steep icy granite walls all around you get a true north face atmosphere.

James started up the first mixed pitch with no real difficulties.

I then came up second, this was some of the hardest mixed climbing that I had done but I felt safe on top rope and really enjoyed the climbing.

Meeting again at the belay there was only one pitch left to climb.

The next pitch was slightly harder with some difficult moves near the top, finishing on 15m of 85’ water ice which had a distinct smell of toilet water and cleaning products.

As James was nearing the top of the Ice he knocked down what he thought was either frozen turf, or a frozen turd. Whatever it was it hit me on the knee and drew blood through my soft-shell trousers. James then finished the ice and was onto the metal platform and started setting up a belay for me to second.

I was quick seconding the first 20m then I hit the steep mixed ground before the ice which I found much harder than the lower section. I had one new pick on my Quarks, Snell had only one in stock and after reading my last blog my Dad decided that I could use some new ones for my birthday, I wish they had 2 in stock! Before you got on to the hanging ice there was an awkward step over some large rock bulges and you had to get some high axe holds over the ice and then pull yourself up and over, it was daunting and hard but I made it over without falling just breaking a big sweat.

I was now on the 85’ ice and my calves were burning, James wanted me to stop for a photo and I gave him one second before moving again, so I could get off my front points and rest my legs. I was up on the Cosmiques ridge and into the sun and I could relax.

We were 2 hours on the climb plus 30 mins for the 2 rappels down. We were chuffed that we had managed to climb something even after our first choice was a no go. Finishing at midday you could still see many teams on the Vent du Dragon and I was glad not to be stuck in the thick of it on hat route with all those climbers.

Thanks to James for the climb and some photos and my Dad for the new pick(s)!

Rebuffat-Terray, V5 M 550m, Aiguille des Pelerins 3318m

October 23, 2013October 25, 2013 / joelevanschamonix / Leave a comment

After living with Tom Grant for over a year this was my first climb with him. He could find no-one else to climb this challenging mixed route so in the end he had to settle with me, even though I thought that the route might be slightly above my level, but with nothing else to do I would give it a go! What we climbed was mainly an ice and snow route because it was so filled in; normally there is more mixed ground and ice filled corners.

The black dot indicates roughly where we turned around.

We arrived at first bin at the Aiguille du Midi cable car at 8:30 and we were well on our way, after a quick toilet stop, by 9am.

The nice footpath quickly changed to breaking trail through huge boulder fields in the moraines in sometimes thigh high crusty snow. After an hour we had made it through this minefield and onto the lower slopes of the Aiguille des Pelerins and we were ready for crampons to start the climb.

To get to the start of the serious climbing we had to start up the small mixed gully to reach some 55/60 degree neve slopes that took you up to the first pitch.

Once at the start of the first pitch I could get a grasp of the extremity of the climb and it didn’t look too difficult, I changed my opinion after the first pitch difficulties though!

The first mixed pitch. 65/80 degrees of mixed ground.

I was still feeling ok after this first mixed pitch and then there was another 60m or so of open neve to climb before the next mixed pitch which was steeper than the first one.

We had a little trouble when Tom was trying to get over a 80/90 degree ice bulge which did not look very safe, and three Italian climbers were rappelling over him and kicking down a lot of ice and spindrift. He made it over after a short wait hanging from his tools and then it was my turn to second it.

The next pitch was the hardest climbing I have done on rock or mixed. I really had to trust my front points and tools as I tried to reach over the bulge and get a strong hold before putting all my weight on two axes, which are very blunt and in need of new picks!

After I managed to use brute strength and no technique to overcome the crux move I had to stop for a minute or two to regain my breath before joining Tom at the belay.

Me just after the vertical wall and just after my five minute breather!!

The next pitch looked very manageable but I insisted to Tom that we head down, I was pleased to have made it as far as we had and I really didn’t want to miss last bin at 4:30 and have to walk from the plan down to Chamonix! We had climbed about 350m of the 550m route.

Tom was fine with this as I only agreed to climb with him if I decided when were done! So with this we started the 5 or 6 rappels we did to get back down to the start of the route.

The next pitch above where we turned around, The route is in a much fatter condition than Tom remembers it the last time he climbed it about 3 years ago.

The rappels went smoothly and we made quick ground back down.

Me on one of the last rappels, you get a feel for how steep this route was.

We had a much quicker walk back to the Plan as there was a more established path in by this time. We made last bin and I still had a smile on my face!

Thanks to Tom for the climb and for wearing my GoPro and getting some cool shots!!

Le fee Des Druides 5c/150m

September 4, 2013 / joelevanschamonix / Leave a comment

Le Fee des Druide is a 4 pitch rock climb situated on the slab wall directly behind the Aiguilette d’argentiere, 45 minutes walk from the Col des Montets.

The route is in red and continues diagonally left to the start of the grass at the top

It is mostly easy climbing around 5a/b with the first pitch being 5c. Stef and I had attempted this route a couple of weeks ago and had to bail with a crab in a bolt as we didn’t have enough rope for the abails. Surprisingly my crab was still there when we went back!

Me on the first pitch.

Looking back down towards the Aiguillette and Stef on the second pitch.

Some amazing views on offer throughout the route.

After the tricky first pitch you are on mostly mellow slab with a lot of smearing and relying on the grip on your climbing shoes! It is fun climbing and it never feels easy as there is generally not much to hold on to.

To return to the bottom there are 4 rappels that go straight down to the left hand side of the climb.

We used a 50m tag line so that we didn’t have to carry an extra 50m single rope. The first rappel was over a small lip and the tag became stuck so it was my first go at tib locking back up a 50m rope, after freeing it it was back down to continue with the other 3 rappels.

Stef on the 1st rappel, before the rope became stuck!

This route is a great starter for multi pitch climbing you just need to make sure that you are comfortable setting up multiple rappels, if I did it again I would take two light 50m twin or double ropes and just put up with the extra weight on the walk in and out!

Photo’s from iPhone so not great quality sorry.

L’Aiguillette D’Argentiere

August 26, 2013August 26, 2013 / joelevanschamonix / Leave a comment

Having a morning off before work is always good, especially when the sun is out. Me and Stef headed up to the Aiguillette around 10:30am. Parking at the Tre-le-champ car park there is a 45/60 min approach to the crag. It was surprisingly quite even though there as a few people doing a zip line from the top ladders.

We opted to do the classic route on the monolith as Stef had not done it before, 4c. Then after that we did the first pitch of ‘La Fee des Druides’ a 3 pitch route, 5c.

I had climbed a few routes here last summer so had a good idea of what to expect. The Classic route up and over the smaller monolith has a very exposed step over to the larger one, so even though it is a 4c, it is quite unnerving!

Stef came up second then we rappelled down towards the Le Tour side as its slightly overhanging and made for an easier descent. We took a single 70m rope and 10 quickdraws.

The view from the top.

After this route we did the first pitch of the Druides, this rock is realy nice and not polished at all. There are some nice grippy small holds and some committing moves for a 5c. The first pitch is over 35m as we found out and when I was nearing the half rope length I had to come back down with a mallion in a bolt! You have to commit to the 3 pitches to avoid loosing gear, but we didn’t have enough rope for the rappels.

The rock is all great apart from the overused classic routes but this crag is in an amazing location offering some tremendous views and fantastic photo opportunities. Here are a couple from last year!

Trying to get on some rock

August 22, 2013 / joelevanschamonix / Leave a comment

Another 3 days off work trying to get something done in the mountains. After bailing on John last week due to a very stiff ankle after Mont Blanc traverse we headed up the Midi at 7am with the intention of climbing the classic Rebuffat route on the south face of the Midi, about 5c/6a.

The weather forecast said 60% sunshine, this turned into hail and cloud! As we got to the start of the route the rock was quite dry and we decided to give it a go regardless. John headed up first and as he was half way up it started to hail.

I decided to give it a go seconding as we had come all this way, and it was my first time climbing this type of rock, in a crack with hail falling on wet rock! It was a challenge to say the least. We completed the first pitch despite me wanting to stop a few meters below the bolts and just rap from there, But John made me come to the bolts even with my frozen hands! Still with a smile on my face!

The top of the first pitch is not double bolted and we had to rap through a single bolt with some tat which was unnerving as John said try not to bounce around as its not that good!

John stayed at the top station for acclimatisation and I headed back down to town.

Yesterday I headed down the very popular Gaillands crag in Chamonix with my housemate Stef, I had not climbed in the Frendo area and we went to give it a go. The route I chose looked nice and cruisy but it was a 5+ and it was quite desperate and I struggled on up with the final very exposed move being quite tricky. The rope then became stuck on the way back down resulting in me having to walk all the way up to free it before Stef had a go seconding.

We then did a nice small flake on the left hand side of the main crag. Its 5c and is fun and quick. It wasn’t that busy there considering it was a lovely hot day.

Hopefully next week I will get something a little bigger and more challenging done, more rock I think!

Until next week…

Mont Blanc Traverse 4810m

August 13, 2013August 15, 2013 / joelevanschamonix / Leave a comment

After doing nothing last week apart from drinking and partying I had to do something to redeem myself, I thought that Mont Blanc could be a tough challenge for a monday morning!

The route is around 20km long with 1400/1600m ascent and 4000m descent.

The last time I was up high was two weeks ago when I did the Entreves traverse and this was only 3500m, so with no acclimatising I headed up the Midi first bin with Emily who only discovered that I was going to do it the night before at about 9pm, she is off on expedition soon and needs the high altitude training, and with over 7 hours above 4000m this was perfect.

I wanted to do it solo originally so that I could go as light as possible, Emily had the same idea, and as we did it together we had no ropes or crevasse gear just a harness, sling and ice screw. The only thing we did bring that most others wouldn’t is trainers. After suffering last year on the descent from the Gouter refuge I knew that I would love to put on some new socks and comfy trail running shoes for the scramble and the miles and miles of trails back to Les Houches.

Leaving the midi station at 7 we were quick down the arete and straight onto the Tacul, the crevasse in the middle of the face is now a bit of a overhang climb for a couple of moves, once over this obstacle we were at the shoulder before 9am, 2 hours in and looking good.

Once over the shoulder it is on to Mont Maudit, this is a little more technical than the Tacul as there is a section of about 30/50m 45′ snow slope to climb. We started the steep climb as many teams were on their way back down so it was a bit of a mess with ropes and people everywhere. The climbing itself was not too bad, you had to rely on your front points at times as it was icy.

We were over the shoulder of Mont Maudit just after 11 and we were both feeling good. I didn’t fancy down climbing the slope we had just come up so pushing on and completing the traverse was the only option!

After the Mudit we could see the summit and this is when the wind really started to pick up and it was howling. The temperature on the Tacul and Maudit was pleasant, and then on the summit slopes we were freezing, hands and face were burning with the cold winds.

We slowly plodded up the summit slopes and got to the summit at 1pm, 6 hours after setting off from the midi. We were both pleased with this time as we had not been up high for a couple of weeks and the wind did slow us down slightly.

A quick stop on the summit, I took a Finnish Flag up for my Girlfriend Katariina as she didn’t manage to make it up Mont Blanc this summer, then we started the descent. Not a lot of good photos from the top as it was so windy I didn’t want to take my gloves off for very long!

We descended the ordinary Gouter route towards the Vallot hut, where we stopped for some food and water and shelter form the wind.

After this short stop we made a quick descent to the old Gouter refuge where we changed into our trainers and shorts, this was so nice to do as it made the rest of the climb back to Les Houches comfortable and more enjoyable than if we had done it in big boots.

The start of the Gouter scramble.

Looking back up towards the Gouter face, Still a long way down from here!

Great views of the Chamonix valley on the way down.

The walk down to Les Houches took 7:45 from the summit and its 3800m descent, we were ringing all our friends for a lift back from Les Houches, we didn’t have much luck at first, Thanks Ally Hurst, but then Emilys friend Bella came to our rescue and picked us up from near the town centre and took us both home, the real hero of the day!!

I am writing this with a very sore and stiff ankle and the tightest quads I have ever had, a good sign that Yesterdays traverse was a beasting! Glad to have been back on top of Mont Blanc and this time in daylight, It was Emilys first time up there so smiles all round. I think I am over it now, maybe once more up there in the spring, but with Skis!!

Aiguille d’Entreves, SW Ridge PD

August 2, 2013 / joelevanschamonix / 2 Comments

Teaming up with a new climbing partner Fabio Mastroianni we headed across the panoramic to traverse the Entreves ridge on the Italian side of the Massive. I met Fabio driving him to and from the airport and then having bumped into him on the Tacul last week we thought it was best to go and do a nice easy route together before taking on anything serious. This route was perfect for Fabio as he was returning back to his homeland with some Italian drinks to finish!

The traverse goes from right to left along the top of the ridge.

The route starts a mere 40-minute walk from the cable car station, this did mean it was very busy, sort of an Italian Cosmiques! The whole traverse is done in big boots but without crampons, as it is 100% rock. The route is graded PD and has a couple of tricky rock moves in the middle just below the first summit. With a couple of down climbs thrown in it is a good beginner alpine rock traverse and even though it was very crowded we both had a great day finished off with a beer and a grappa!

Starting up the ridge.

Just before the first down climb, Probably the most difficult section of the route.

The first and hardest down climb.

The ridge leading to the summit, you can see the crowds of people ahead!

Stopping for some lunch after the summit, only a 20 min traverse from here to finish.

Just relaxing in the sun!

The view from the Torino enjoying a beer and Grappa!

Going back across the Vallee Blanche towards the Midi at the end of a nice day in Italy!

Frison- Roche 220m 6a

July 25, 2013 / joelevanschamonix / Leave a comment

After completing a number of Alpine mixed routes over the last couple of months I decided to take a step in a different direction and climb a route I have been looking at for over a year. Frison-Roche is a sport rock route under the top station at Brevent.

With a sunny sunday off work Me and Katariina headed up the top of Brevent at first bin 8:15, so that we could avoid the crowds and the hot sun. We arrived at the bottom of the route just before 9am and started up the first pitch, 6a slab.

The route is 220m in 6 pitches with the hardest pitch being 6a.

Katsu at the bottom of the route ready to go!

I Led the first pitch as it was the 6a slab and the crux move was hard! I hadn’t been on rock for over a month and going straight onto this was a challenge!

Kat coming over the top of the first pitch.

We had the whole first half of the route to ourselves, and the only other people we saw climbing it passed us when we stopped after the 4th pitch for some food. This was a surprise as it is a popular route.

Kat led the 2nd and 3rd pitch which were 5b and 5c, these pitches moved back towards the right and then up to the start of the crux corner pitch.

After some food I started up the 4th, crux pitch. After not climbing for a while and Kat being a relative new comer we found this one very hard. I struggled with the lead and made it up very pumped and exhausted then Kat gave me a lesson in Finnish swear words as she came up second!

Me leading the 4th crux pitch, and Kat coming up second.

The 5th pitch is a short traverse left to the final 6th pitch.

The final pitch was real good fun, a nice 5b corner with some great climbing. We were both very tired by this point but we made it up with time to grab the lunchtime deal at Zatzuki.

As kat was heading back to FInland I offered to take her up her 1st 4k peak. Mont Blanc du Tacul is a nice 2 hour climb from the Midi and you reach 4248m. Finishing up the Cosmiques arete, (Again!) we had a nice sunny day up the mountains to finish off Kats Chamonix summer!

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Joel Evans

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