N.Face Aguille Sans Nom, Chamonix Valley, French Alps
Tim & Owen top out on the North Face of the Aiguille Sans Nom at Dusk, Chamonix Valley, French Alps
Brief description of a June ascent of the fine North Face of L'Aiguilles Sans Nom high above the Chamonix Valley
For once the all too frequently exclusive factors of weather, conditions, mates and just being there came together. As we drove into the valley it was obviously icy – the best mountain ice conditions for a year. It would not last long though and in another week the isotherm would be soaring from 2200m to 4200m and the icy faces, particularly the lower ones like the Grande Charmoz, would be stripped in days.
Owen Samuels, Tim Blakemore and I found good ice on the lower half of the face and were soon debating the best line through the upper headwall. We had intended to take the Cohen-Collister finish but this was not obviously icy. We kept climbing and took the first obvious line which provided some fine icy mixed climbing up to Scottish V and turned out to be the Baumont-Cardis Gully finish – described in Damilano’s Mont Blanc Guide, Volume 1. A breezy but highly atmospheric bivvi by the Horns of Pointe Croux, and descent of the Whymper Couloir rounded off an excellent round trip from Montenvers.
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