Chamonix Mountaineering Conditions Summer 2011
Soft Snowy Summer Conditions on the Tete Blanche North Face, Chamonix
14th August, Showery in the Aiguilles Rouges - but still great climbing
As has been the case a lot this summer the weather forecast was wrong on the timings today and it was raining hard whilst we were taking the first lift up the Index chairlift! Diverting from a longer day on the Belvedere we stopped instead at the fine looking 'Tour des Crochues', only half an hours walk from the top of the lift. Choosing a steep mountain sport climb to give an easy descent we set off up the Michel Piola route 'Piano Forte', 180m F6c+. Whilst the rain continued on and off the route generally stayed dry, at least the steeper harder bits did anyway. It is an excellent rock climb on fine Aiguilles Rouges Gneiss and is well worth a look for a shorter day. The five pitches give a good sustained feel with excellent bolting (as you would expect from Piola). Overall it felt a bit easier than the 6c+ grade suggests.
10th August, Perfect Weather & Conditions in the Capital of World Climbing
A truly perfect day of alpine mid-summer weather today gave extremely pleasant conditions for almost any chosen mountain activity (snowy snow and rocky rock!) We traversed the upper Vallee Blanche from Hellbroner to the Aiguille du Midi and in the process saw many teams out enjoying the warm dry granite on the Grand Capucin, Pic Adolphe Rey, Pyramide du Tacul, Point Lachenal and the South Face of the Midi. Teams were also enjoying good snowy, icy & mixed conditions on the Chere Couloir, Left Edge Route, Contamine Mazeuad, Frendo Spur, Midi-Plan Traverse and various other classic itineraries including a large number of teams heading in to the Col de la Fourch Hut for the Frontier Ridge. There was a large track and many teams climbing the Voie Normale on Mont Blanc du Tacul. Good to see Jon Griffith out on the hill, keep an eye on his excellent Chamonix Blog and perhaps see what he got up to. In the meantime check out the Jon's classic shot below of me guiding on the Frontier Ridge a few seasons ago.
Photo: Jon Griffith
1st August, Les Lépidoptéres, Aiguille du Peigne...Friendly, Mid-Summer, North Facing Chamonix Granite
An enjoyable short outing which, for a fast team, could be combined with the Voie Normale on the Aguille du Peigne (AD) to give a long day with a lot of Chamonix Granite at a relatively modest level. Conditions were good on the Peigne slabs but, despite the re-bolting that has taken place, there was not a single other team on the crag. Fashions change. We traversed the lower mountain by topping out on Les Lépidoptéres, continuing for 2 pitches up the fine spiky arete, then descending the Papillons Couloir with a couple of rappels. There was a little bit of slithering on snow but we were glad we had not taken ice axe or crampons. The route itself gives 5 good pitches with bolted belays (new staples to back up the old bolts) and the occasional bolt runner. Most parties will be glad of a small rack of nuts and set of friends.
30th July, Good Snowy Conditions Continue on the Swiss Side of the Range
July's cool showery weather has left the Trient Glacier looking white and well filled in. The North Face of the Tete Blanche was plastered with soft snow and will take a few days at least to settle down to give better climbing, but the outlook is good. The Couloir Copse on the Aiguilles Dorees looked to be well snowy and filled in. After a good days rock climbing on the South Facing 'Aiguille de la Cabane' (2999m) above the Orny Hut we traversed the Tete Blanche. An ascent of the short, but good East Ridge followed by a slightly more complicated descent of the longer NW ridge gives an excellent PD alpine training route. The meteo for the next few days look sunny with cool nights and warm days which should give some really excellent summer alpine mountaineering conditions. Good climbing and let us know, via a comment below, what routes you get done, Rob.
28th July, Italian Side of the Mont Blanc Massif
Snowy conditions prevail throughout the range with fully white glaciers, North Faces and snowy crags. We made enjoyable mixed traverses of the Aiguilles d'Entreves & Marbrees wearing crampons throughout. On tuesday the 25th July a brief parting in the showery weather enabled a spirited attempt on the classic East Ridge of the Pyramide du Tacul, see gallery below. After 8 pitches and an easing in the ridge conditions became very snowy in the cracks and grooves and the well situated & rigged abseil descent was taken, just beating the arrival of the snow back down on the glacier.
Other teams climbed the Tour Ronde, Freshfield Arete, attempted the North Face, Aiguille de Toule and a snowy Dent du Geant.
24th July Another very wintery traverse of the Aiguilles Crochues, Chamonix
Classic Alpine Mountaineering in Chamonix
A real pristine feel to the traverse today after a very heavy dump of overnight powder snow. We wore crampons for the whole traverse which gave a goodsustained wintery alpine route at about AD or Scottish grade III. All the rock climbs in the Aiguilles Rouges were totally plastered with snow although the steep South Face of the Belvedere started stripping even in the minimal amount of sun during the morning.
22nd July, Clouds Part in the Mont Blanc Massif to Reveal a Wintery Summer
Climbed a busy Cosmiques Arete today in excellent snowy conditions. Lots of snow on the ledges and in the Chimneys giving good mountaineering sport. The first parting of the clouds for a few days revealed the extent of the last few stormy days in the form of pristine snowy glaciers and faces. Mont Blanc du Tacul and the Tour Ronde North Face look particularly plastered. A cloud inversion and relatively cool air temperatures meant the snow down to 2500m in the Aiguilles Rouges largely held on and with a cool and showery weekend in store this looks set to continue. So, not perfect mountain weather at the moment but good cool snowy conditions (for mid summer) that will help preventing the dry, icy conditions associated with some recent hot summers.
21st July, A Wintery Traverse of the Aiguilles Crochues, Chamonix
Snow, in the air and on the ground, down to just above the Lac Blanc Refuge in the Aiguilles Rouges today. This gave a sporting wintery traverse of this classic Chamonix PD+ scramble which was a grade harder but with far less queueing in todays conditions. Rosy cheeks and a chocolate chaud in the hut cafe on the way down wrapped up a good short foray into the currently wintery mid july mountain conditions!
17th July, Menegaux Route, North West Face Aiguille de l'M
Hand jamming up steep cracks with lots of pegs gives a classic Chamonix Alpine rock feel!
Decent dry if nippy conditions on this classic old alpine mountain rock climb. Lots of in-situ pegs as anchors and runners (or points of aid if necessary!). Some fairly worryingly loose granite flakes higher on the route. Descended via 3 short rappels to the Col de la Buche and descended this loose stony gully to the ladders which access the lower Nantillons Glacier. A good round trip from the Plan de l'Aiguille
15th July, Rochefort Arete
Fine snowy conditions reported on the Rochefort Arete today.
13th July, Domes de Miage - Bionassay Traverse
Good conditions reported on this brilliant classic high level alpine traverse in the Mont Blanc massif. For more details check the Northern Mountain Sport Blog here.
June 2011 Summary
Despite the dry winter & spring conditions, high on the faces and glaciers of the Mont Blanc massif there remains good early summer snowy conditions. Thanks to some squally and stormy early June weather things have been 'topped up' nicely with wet, sticky snow. Some clear cool nights have laid the foundations for consolidating this and gave great conditions for classic snow ascents in and around the Valley.
The smaller and medium sized North Faces in particular have been in good condition with teams climbing the Tour Ronde North Face in good style as well as the smaller and easier Tete Blanche North Face overlooking the Trient Glacier.
Snow ridges have been pretty much ideal too with some swift ascents of the Midi-Plan traverse, the traverse of the Tour Ronde, Rochfort Arete and many other classics. Ice wise the triangle du Tacul has been popular with folk reporting good conditions on the Chere Couloir, Perroux Gully and Left Edge Route.
More recently a substantial track has been put in on Mont Blanc du Tacul's normal route and there are more detailed reports about using this as an ascent route for Mont Blanc on the Mont Blanc conditions report page.
Stay tuned on these pages for more route specific updates over the summer 2011 season and please keep us posted on your ascents with comments below.
Good, safe climbing, Rob.
Chamonix Mountaineering
An impressive collection of galleries giving an insight in to the quality and huge variety of mountaineering within and around the Chamonix Valley. Routes include classic beginners alpine ridges, 1000m+ classic North Faces, winter style Chamonix Goulottes and many more.
Mountaineering in Chamonix
Chamonix. The capital of world mountaineering. 'The Valley of Dreams'. A mecca for climbers and mountaineers who come from all over the world to sample the quality and variety of alpine mountainering available... more>
Comments
Log in or create a user account to comment.