8/28/14 - The Midi-Plan Traverse

While +Laura Kottlowski  is in Chamonix she wanted to summit Mont Blanc.  She doesn't have much experience with alpine glacier travel or snow climbing, but we thought we could probably give it a go.  Since +James Schafer  and I had already done the Bosses ridge route, we thought it would be fun to try the Tois Mont route this time.  After helping Bucky with some work stuff on Wednesday morning we made it up to the Vallee Blanche and had camp set up by around 1700.  With three hours of daylight left we decided to give the Cosmiques arete a go and get Laura some good alpine rock and snow experience.  With some rock climbing, snow climbing, and rappels the Cosmiques arete has a good variety of climbing.  Laura did well, even on a tricky diagonal rappel that was only her second rappel ever.  We made it to the summit while the sun was setting, but made it back down to camp before we had to break out the headlamps.  We set the alarms for 0300 and hit the sack.

We hit the trail at 0330 on a very chilly morning.  We started up the most dangerous part of the Tois Mont route with a great deal of exposure to serac fall and a large bergschrund.  This really isn't a place that you want to take breaks, or hang out for an extended period of time.  As the face grew steeper, Laura was feeling really uncomfortable with the steepness and hardness of the snow.  After having climbed about a quarter of the face we decided it would be best to turn around.  We frontpoint down climbed a decent way before the slope mellowed out enough that we could walk down and back to camp.  With the snow freezing hard over night, Bucky and I decided that instead of going back up the Tois Mont route we should attempt to complete a route we had turned around on last week because of too much fresh snow; the Midi-Plan traverse (III, 2, 4a).  We left camp at about 0545 and headed back up towards the Aiguille du Midi.  The very first section of the ridge is a nice mellow walk, but soon enough it drops very steeply down a knife edge of snow.  At some points the ridge was so narrow

through this section you couldn't even fit your feet together side by side!  After the recent snows had wiped away any previous path, a few people had done the route the day before so we at least had a few foot tracks to follow.  However, going down that ridge, face in, in the dark, was a very slow process.  Bucky led and kicked out nice footholds which I, and all subsequent parties of the day were able to use.  From the bottom of the descent we had to cross a large bergschrund via snow bridges at two locations and from there we began to climb again.  The air was very chilly, even after the sun rose, so much so that I was wearing every layer of clothes that I brought and still wasn't overheating on the climbs.  About two hours in we came to the Rognan du Plan and had our first route finding problem.  The faint foot track led in two directions.  One leading up and over the rocky spire, and

Sunrise on the Midi-Plan traverse

one going down and around.  We started by heading up.  Bucky started to traverse across a wide rocky ledge, but upon turning the corner and looking down, he determined that it was not the proper route.  We headed back and went down and around.  I was in the lead at this point and as I approached the ridge line the snow turned more and more rotten.  Trying to actually gain the ridge was a very tricky, and dangerous, maneuver with snow crumbling under my feet.  I managed to gain the ridge with my nerves a little rattled, and belayed Bucky up from the safety of the rocks.  From there we followed the ridge up and down a few more times before coming to another place where the route was not so obvious.  The guide book says that you are supposed to rappel to a series of snowy ledges before down climbing to where the glacier meets the rock.  After one rappel and a short down climb we came to a ledge, but there was no way we were going to down climb all the way to the snow.  Luckily, many people before us felt the same and there were two more rappel set-ups that we used to get to the bottom!

Summit of the Aiguille du Plan, looking NE

Summit of the Aiguille du Plan, looking South

After reaching the snow we looked back up at the rock face and wondered where we were supposed to ascend the thing after reaching the Aiguille du Plan and turning around.  We had noticed some parties following behind us after the sun rose so we hoped that at least one of them would know the route back.  The guide book says simply to re-trace your steps, but the face we had just rappelled down looked like 5.10 climbing, not 5.6 like the guide book says.  We turned our backs on that future problem and continued on toward the summit of the Aiguille du Plan.  At this point we were on the South side of the ridge and the sun was very intense and hot.  The snow started getting very soft, even at 1030, and we removed most of our layers.  After gaining the rock, Bucky took the lead as we pitched out the final 30m to the summit.  We climbed to the summit on the North face, and being in the shade, with the wind howling, we had to put back on a few of the layers we had just removed!  It was cold enough that all we managed to do was snap a few pictures on the summit before we turned around and rappelled back down to the snow and the sun.  We had reached the summit in about 4.5 hours, or about an hour longer than the guide book said.  We talked to one of the parties as we turned back toward the Aiguille du Midi to ask if any of them knew how we supposed to get back up the rock face we had rappelled down.  All anyone knew, however, was to just go back the way we came.  When we got to the rock Bucky took the lead on the first pitch.  With a few pulls on a fixed rope that some kind soul had left behind, he managed to make it to the top of the first pitch.  I took the lead for the second pitch and had an easier time, which was good for me.  From here the fun of the route ended, and the difficulties began.  With the exception of the very first ridge, the way to the Aiguille du Plan was steep climbs followed by more mellow descents.  On the way back, then, we had to down climb all of the steep climbs.  Down climbing in the steep snow is something Bucky and I do not have a lot of experience with.  Normally when we do steep snow and ice routes you down climb somewhere else more mellow or rappel.  No chance of that here.  I was taking the lead on the way back since Bucky led on the way there, and I was moving slow and deliberate.  I tried to face downhill and walk at the beginning (much faster) but after a few of the steps we had kicked in on the way up blew out on me and I had to catch myself, I turned around and down climbed

Returning to the Aiguille du Midi (distant right peak)

face-in (slower, but safer).  The down climbing seemed to go on forever, and the going was very slow.  Two parties passed us before we made it back to the final knife ridge that we had come down in the dark so many hours before.  At that point I knew we had no more down climbing ahead of us and I was very grateful.  I never really felt secure the whole time we were climbing down, and five hours is a long time to feel uncomfortable!  It was probably a good experience for us, since there are a lot of similar routes in the area, but at the end both Bucky and I said we never wanted to do that route again.  We made it back to camp at about 1630.  The 8 hour route had ended up taking us almost 11 hours!  Add on the 2 hours that we had spent on the Tois Mont route earlier in the morning and we had been moving non-stop for 13 hours by the time we returned to camp!  We both felt bad for Laura, whom we had left at camp with the impression that we would be returning only eight hours later.  She had made the best of her time in the Vallee Blanche, going for some short hikes on the "safe" paths criss-crossing the glacier, and taking a lot of pictures.  We were also very grateful to her for having camp all torn down and packed up when we got back.  All we had to do was fill up our packs and go.  We knew that the tram had recently changed its hours of operation and we thought it might be shutting down at 1730.  Having got camp packed up by 1645 we had to hustle to make it to the summit of the Aiguille du Midi.  About half way up it was 1715 and we were really hoping we were wrong about the 1730 shut-down.  Very luckily we were and we found many people milling about and the tram still running when we reached the summit!  I checked the website today to see when the tram is officially supposed to shut down and it indeed says 1730.  I don't know why they didn't shut down until 1800 yesterday, but I am very grateful!  After 15:30 of near constant movement, Bucky and I did not have much energy when we got back to town.  A quick dinner in our bellies and we were both passed out by 2100.