9/10/14 - Catyoucha Man!

Bucky and my final day of climbing in Chamonix!  Somewhat sad, but man we got a lot done this summer!  With a variable weather forecast I voted to climb on the Brevant side because the routes are shorter and fully equipped with pro.  We picked a route that we had looked at in the guide book all summer, but hadn't gotten to yet.  It was relatively short, 6 pitches, but it looked sustained.  Three pitches are rated at 6a in the book, one at 6a+, one 5b, and one 5c.  As we were getting our packs set I wanted to bring the two double ropes so we could bail easily just in case it rained.  Bucky only wanted to bring the single rope.  Bucky won this debate and we got on the gondola with one single 60m rope.  As we rode up the gondola Bucky read the approach description and we realized that the route started at the top.  It was designed to be rappelled to the bottom and then climbed back up, but we had no idea if we could do the rappel with

a 60m rope!  We debated whether or not just to loop the gondola ride and go back to the flat to get the two doubles, but we thought we could find a way to hike down around the cliffs.  If anything we thought we could leave some carabiners and rappel off of one bolt down the route we were going to ascend and then we could gather all our equipment on the way back up!  There is a grassy ledge/escape route in the middle of the climb so instead of hiking to the top we decided to hike to the middle and rap down from there; thereby minimizing any gear that we might have to leave behind.  The grassy ledge escape route was no easy task, we quickly discovered.  There were some fixed ropes, thankfully, but getting across the ledge necessitated some pretty technical moves.  We arrived at the belay station for the route we were

planning on climbing and started the rappel.  Luckily there were rappel stations set up perfectly for a 60m rope and we didn't have to leave any gear behind!  As we rappelled I noticed that the route was not nearly as steep as I was expecting, but it looked very slabby.  I decided to take the lead on the first pitch (6a) so that Bucky would have to take the lead on the second (6a+).  After leading 6b and following on 6c my confidence was shaken in the Dolomites leading what I am guessing was a 5c/6a route so I have been taking it easy.  I nearly fell at one point doing a tricky traverse move, but managed to pull it out.  Bucky led the 6a+ just fine.  The next pitch was 5c and I expected to cruise up it no problem, but I was mistaken.  About two bolts in to the pitch I was flummoxed!  I had no idea how to get through the undercling/slabby/wide crack mess that I was presented with and actually grabbed onto my draw

to get through!  On a 5c!  That embarrassment behind me the rest of the pitch went swimmingly.  I decided to combo pitches 3 and 4 since it was less than 60m and pitch 4 presented no problems.  Bucky led pitch 5, which was graded as 6a in the guide book, but both of us agreed that it was easier than that.  It was a steeper pitch, and there weren't great hand holds, but there were foot holds everywhere!  Really solid ones!  I took the lead on the last 6a pitch to the summit and found it much easier than I was expecting again.  There were a few tricky moves, but they didn't take too long to figure out.  When Bucky met me at the summit I just said, "maybe it is 6a, but the pitch perfectly coincided with all of my strengths as a climber, so that's why it felt so easy!"  When we got to the summit the weather seemed to be holding steady, despite the forecast of rain, but it was about 2:00 which is really not enough time to go for another route, so we called it quits early and headed back to Cham.

9/8-9/14 - Frendo Spur

We said goodbye to Luke and Laura yesterday and with a favorable weather forecast we decided to try to cross off one of our biggest goals of the summer, the Frendo Spur (IV, D+, AI4, 5c).  The route can be completed in one or two days depending on the parties and the conditions of the snow on the route.  Considering it was going to be our first time, and we lost two hours on the day because of the changes to the tram schedule, we decided to carry bivy gear with us and do the route over two days.  We started day one with a nice hike from the Plan de l'Aiguille tram station up to the glacier.  Bucky and I slightly disagreed about how to best approach the climb.  I thought we should go straight up the gut of the extinct glacier trough to where the snow began and then straight up from there to the rock.  Bucky,

however thought the best route was to go around up high on the trail and traverse across the glacier to the beginning of the rock.  We went with Bucky's preferred route in this case, and in this case we both agreed it probably would have been a little faster to make a more direct approach.  The route we took necessitated crossing a heavily crevassed section of the glacier with sketchy snow bridges.  At one point, while Bucky was crossing one snow bridge we heard and felt the glacier whump and crack below our feet.  Bucky looks at me, startled, and says, "was that the bridge I am on?"  I said, "I think so, you should probably hurry!"  Luckily we made it though without having to use any of our crevasse rescue gear, but it was a little time consuming.  The bergschrund at the base of the rock was filled in very nicely, which was a big change from the way it has looked from the tram all summer.  Once we got to the rock we continued moving together up a 4th class diagonal ramp up the cliff face.  We continued to zig-zag through class 4 and easy 5 terrain while moving together until we came to a corner where the route description said the "real" climbing started.  We exchanged our boots for rock shoes, extended the ropes to full length, and started pitching it out.  We soon came to see that none of those precautions was really necessary, but better safe than sorry.  After climbing two pitches we decided

that the terrain was easy enough that we could go back to simul-climbing, which is not quite as safe, but it is much faster.  After about six hours from the tram station we came to the crux pitch of the rock section (5c, 5.10a).  Both Bucky and I breezed through it, even with our heavy packs, and agreed that it did not seem like 5c.  We continued to pitch sections out after the crux as the climbing became much steeper and exposed until we arrived at the bivy site after about 9 hours of climbing.  Even though the day had started out with glorious weather, when we got to the bivy site the wind was whipping and the clouds had descended so that we couldn't really see anything.  Since we had about two hours of daylight left I was thinking that maybe we should just push through to the Aiguille du Midi and sleep up at the tram station instead of bivying out in the rain/snow.  Bucky said he would rather sleep out on the sweet little bivy platform than in the tram station so we started setting up camp.  I had just bought the cheapest bivy sack I could find the day before, and I wasn't too convinced about it's waterproofness, so I was sincerely hoping the rain/snow would hold off.  Unfortunately we were not so lucky.  Just a little before sunset we could look down into the valley and watch a massive thunderstorm going on.  I have to say, it was one of the coolest things I have ever seen.  Hanging out

on a mountain, above the clouds, watching a thunderstorm below you is sweet.  As the sun went down the clouds came up, and although the lightening and thunder stayed down in the valley (thankfully), the rain did not.  It wasn't a torrential downpour or anything, but it was enough to make sleeping very difficult.  Not to mention that the thunder was so loud at times the entire mountain would literally shake.  I don't know if it was because of the thunder, the warm temperature, or a combination of the two, but we could hear avalanches tumbling down the mountain all around us.  At one point the ledge we were sleeping on was shaking so much from the thunder I was a little scared that our ledge was going to start sliding!  After a night full of tossing and turning and intermittent rain, I was very grateful to see the sun rise.  When I got out of my sleeping bag and pulled it out of the bivy sack I noticed it was very wet.  Luckily none of that water soaked through to the inside of the bag and I stayed warm, but I am not sure how much the bivy sack helped!  After a quick breakfast we began the snow and ice portion of the spur.  The beginning is a really exposed, really beautiful S-curving knife ridge.  Enough people have climbed the route through the summer that the ridge is very stepped out, making it easy enough for Bucky and I to move together.  After moving up

the ridge for about an hour we came to the base of a gendarme and where the real climbing (80° ice) starts.  The route was very stepped out, even on the ice, making the climbing fast and fun.  We were also ascending next to the rock so we were able to use a combination of ice screws and rock pro.  As we were topping out the final (near) vertical pitch on the ice the clouds decided to make another appearance, but luckily we didn't get rained on.  The last pitch was an easy traverse across the snow to where the cornice at the top was virtually nonexistent and we were there!  We shortened our ropes back up and hiked the ridge up to the Aiguille du Midi.  We arrived at the tram station in about four hours, making our total climbing time about 13 hours.  In hindsight I was very grateful that we didn't push for the summit.  The climb up the ice took a lot longer than I was expecting.  We would have been climbing for about two hours in the dark!  We arrived back at the Plan de l'Aiguille station about 27 hours after we had left it the day before feeling very satisfied.  The Frendo Spur was the last of our three major goals coming in to the summer (the other two being the Mont Blanc summit and the circumnavigation of Mont Blanc via MTB) and we got it in just under the wire!  I would have to say the Frendo spur was one of my favorite routes of the summer.  The rock was all very fast and easy climbing and the ice was elegant and beautiful.  When I come back at some point in the future I can't really think of a lot of routes I would want to repeat, but the Frendo Spur is certainly one.

9/3/14 - Dolomites - Tofana di Rozes

Bucky went through another long night, but said he felt a little better this morning.  He didn't feel strong enough to climb, but he did feel strong enough to go to a hike, or so he said.  The original plan for the day was to do an 18 pitch climb up to the summit of Tofana di Rozes.  I thought this might be a little too much for Laura and I to tackle by ourselves so we all went for a hike.  Two minutes in to the hike Bucky told Laura and I to go on ahead and he would follow at his own pace since he was still feeling pretty weak.  We found out later that he turned around after about fifteen minutes and went back to sleep in the back seat of the car!  Laura and I had a very nice hike however.  The clouds were very low in the morning, but as the day progressed the clouds receded and we got to see some pretty fantastic views.

 After we got back to the Rifugio Dibona we headed down to the town of Cortina d'Ampezzo to grab some dinner and maybe find a place to stay the night.  Cortina reminded me a lot of Vail or Aspen, it was obviously a playground for the wealthy.  We managed to find a cool and reasonably priced place for dinner, but decided to head North to stay the night.  We drove up to the town of Misurina and found a nice place situated at the end of a beautiful lake.  Bucky was feeling stronger, but still not great.  That is now two straight days of sleeping in the back of a car for him!

The Tofana di Rozes.  One day we will have to come back and try again!
Hopefully without any illness!

9/2/14 - Dolomites - Cinque Torri

Bucky, Laura, and I drove for about 7 hours yesterday from Chamonix to the Dolomite area of North Eastern Italy.  Today the plan was to go climbing up in the Cinque Torri area.  Unfortunately, last night Bucky came down with a stomach bug.  Bucky was feeling terrible so we spent the morning looking for a doctor.  The doctor's (or doctor) in the area only work for about two hours a day in each little town we drove through.  After the third attempt we finally found a doctor present at the office.  Bucky got some medicine and we headed on our way.  Bucky was feeling too weak and tired to join us on our hike, so Laura and I left him sleeping in the car while we took the chairlift up to the Cinque Torri.  The rock formation is made up of five large towers and there are climbing routes all over the

Rappelling back down after a successful summit

place on all of them.  Laura and I had never climbed together before so I wanted to look for a short sport route that looked relatively easy.  After wandering around a little while I found what looked like a two pitch sport route of about 5.8 difficulty.  The first pitch went really well, except that the rock was freezing cold and my fingers were promptly numbed!  This made the route much more difficult to climb.  The second pitch was probably about 5.9 but both Laura and I had some issues.  We both made it to the top successfully, however, and after walking around a little longer we decided to go check on Bucky in the car.  Unfortunately, with our late start and wandering around, we missed the last lift down for the

day.  Luckily this hike down was no where near the distance of a hike down from the Plan de l'Aiguille so it was actually pleasant.  When we got back to the car Bucky was sleeping in the back seat and was not yet feeling any better.  We still trekked on with the original plan, however, and headed for the Rifugio Dibona and the Tofana di Rozes.

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.

8/26/14 - St. Gervais Dry tooling

We woke up to an absolute downpour this morning, a downpour that lasted nearly all day, and swelled the rivers to near flooding levels.  Either we were going to head to the pool, or head to St. Gervais to do some more dry tooling on the overhanging rock.  We also welcomed a new partner!  +Laura Kottlowski will be joining us for the next few weeks.  Since it was Laura's first day in town we decided to do more of an adventure than just a pool day.  It was raining so hard we decided to take the train down to St. Gervais rather than bike there.  The crag was very crowded when we arrived.  There were only a few routes available so we spotted one that looked OK and Bucky took the lead.  He really struggled to get up the short route, but he eventually made it.  Laura went next and made it almost to the second bolt before coming back down.  I made it to the top as well, but really struggled near the second bolt as well.  Our favorite route from our last visit had opened up by this time so we headed over there.  Bucky had to rest four times on the way up!  Laura made it about half way, but couldn't quite get over the second big roof.  I went last and made it all the way up with only one rest.  Bucky, I think, was a little jealous that I rested less so he went one more time.  Just to show me up he also did it in tennis shoes!  The second time up he was much stronger and only had to take one short break.  After that we did a bouldering style traverse route with the tools.  All in all, a really good way to spend a rainy day!

8/21/14 - Cosmiques Arete

After so much bike riding the last four days, I was looking forward to taking a day off and relaxing in Chamonix.  Bucky had something completely different in mind.  With relatively good weather in the forecast for the next few days Bucky wanted to attempt the Midi/Plan Traverse.  Since the traverse is a very long route we decided to spend the night up on the Vallee Blanche so we could get an earlier start.  We got up to the Aiguille du Midi around noon with ideas of climbing the Eperon face again, but were greeted with gale force winds.  At one point a gust came with so much force it not only stopped me in my tracks, but it literally ripped the sunglasses right off my face and sent them tumbling across the snow!  The Vallee Blanche is a very high traveled and relatively crevasse free area, but I still didn't feel very comfortable running, ropeless, across the glacier chasing my sunglasses!  Glasses retrieved we set up camp and I was ready, again, to relax and read and let my legs recover.  Bucky decided to solo the Cosmiques Arete while I hung out in the tent and read a book.  So about three weeks ago, after climbing the triangle du Tacul, we had about three hours to make it to the tram before it closed for the night.  Rather than hike up the ridge line to the tram station, which takes about 45 minutes, Bucky wanted to do the Cosmiques Arete.  We had done the full traverse two years ago with our guide Adam, and I remembered it taking about four hours.  Bucky thought we would easily be able to do it in three hours and make the last tram.  I was really looking forward to half-priced burger night at the Monkey Bar and I was stubborn enough that eventually we just hiked up the ridge and made a bet.  If we could do the traverse in under three hours, I would owe Bucky a burger and beer.  If we couldn't, Bucky would pay for a night in the Cosmiques Refuge.  Well, Bucky got back from soloing the traverse in about two hours.  He made it to the tram station in about an hour and a half.  We would move slower together, but it was pretty certain that I had lost that bet.

 Anyway, with the wind howling we hunkered down in the tent for the night and hoped that it would stop snowing and blowing before long so we could do the Midi-Plan traverse.  We woke up to a beautiful sunrise, clear skies, and our tent buried in about 18" of snow!  It seemed like only about four inches of new snow fell, but the wind had blown it all into our little tent hole.  With all the wind and fresh snow it seemed like the Midi-Plan traverse was out.  The terrain is exposed to collapsing cornices and high avalanche danger which is not helped at all by high winds and fresh snow.  We decided to go give it a look, however, and met another party along the way.  At the first knife ridge we made a few exploratory attempts and the snow was sloughing heavily beneath our feet and felt really unstable.  Deciding to err on the side of caution we turned back to camp and decided it would be better to just do the Cosmiques arete and then go climb some rock down in the valley or on the Aiguille Rouges side.  After breaking down camp we headed up the arete.  Even with full packs, and a little waiting around for a team in front of us, we still made it to the tram station in 1:45.  We were back down at the bottom of the valley thirty minutes before the three hour deadline had expired!  Now I owe Bucky a burger and beer, which is fine by me.  We finished the day off by heading to a new area of the Gaillands crag in the valley.  We only did three routes, but all three were very pumpy and had some really tricky awkward sections.  Despite not being able to do the Midi-Plan traverse, we actually did a lot and got the best climbing workout we have had in weeks!  I wore the GoPro on the traverse and you can check out the video here:  Cosmiques Arete - GoPro - Youtube

8/14/14 - Contamine Vaucher - Aiguille du Peigne

After it rained all day yesterday we decided to give the Contamine Vaucher route and the Aiguille du Peigne another go today in order to hopefully summit, but mostly retrieve our rope and some cordelette and carabiners that we had left on the last trip.  Unfortunately we found that the snow line from the storm yesterday was low.  Lower even than the start of the route we were attempting today.  For me this meant leading with bare hands, but climbing with the gloves on top rope in order to keep some feeling in my fingers.  Luckily I wasn't such a cotton-headed-ninny-muggins and remembered to actually bring gloves today!  Some statistics for Bucky and I vs. the summit of the Aiguille du Peigne.
Total number of attempts: 3
Total number of routes attempted: 2
Total number of days it has rained/snowed while attempting to summit: 3
Total number of successful summits: ZERO!
We didn't summit, it snowed on us, it was really, really cold (numb fingers on snow/ice covered rock is never fun!), but we did retrieve all of the gear that we left on the route two days ago!  We have some unfinished business with the Aiguille du Peigne, but I am not planning on heading back there until we have a nice, sunny, clear forecast!

8/12/14 - Contamine Vaucher - Aiguille du Peigne

When life was good, before we got lost,
and before it started to rain

We just can't  just can't get enough of the Aiguille do Peigne.  It shut us down the first time we tried to summit on the normal route do to miserable route finding on our part.  We went back today to try the Contamine Vaucher route (6a, 400m) and totally redeem ourselves.  Unfortunately that did not happen.  We were going great, having a blast, the sun was out, and the route finding was easy.  Then we got to the tenth pitch.  I was leading and it looked from the topos that the route went up to the left.  As soon as I got up about half way, however, I could tell we had gone off course.  I found an emergency rappel set-up that someone else had used and lowered back down to Bucky.  Then I went up to the right on the second try and got to a wicked hard overhang with no where to place pro, so I down climbed to yet another emergency style rappel set-up and Bucky lowered me back again.  At this point we had been at the same belay for an hour!  There was one more route up the middle that Bucky thought looked promising, so we switched places and he took the lead.  He climbed up to the left, following the route I first took, but then went one crack system to the right from where I tried.  He went further than I did on my first attempt, but still got to a very tricky section that made him feel like it was the wrong way.  I lowered him down to a ledge up high and he gave it another try one more crack system to the right.  This new crack system only led him exactly to the place he had just been.  We thought that maybe this was not the correct route, but Bucky thought we could climb it and maybe things would clear up once we got over the next hump.  This time I took the lead and boy, was that pitch a doozy.  We could see a purple sling hanging off the rock up above us so we decided to make for it.  After some foot smearing on very slabby rock with virtually no hand holds I came to an overhang with a nice crack.  I managed to get a piece of pro in the crack which made me feel much more confident about the move, and, tricky as it was, I managed to get over without any hiccups.  From there the pitch only got harder.  After some more slabs I got to another very challenging overhang.  The purple sling was right at the top of this overhang.  Once again, it was very slabby for the feet with a crack for the hands.  This crack was not very nice.  It was wet and slimy and very difficult to get any purchase with the hands.  There was a jammed hex that I managed to clip while basically doing the splits between two opposing faces.  Next I moved slowly up to a jammed cam.  From there it was trying to smear the feet with my left hand jammed in the slimy crack while I reached with my right up to a nice big jug!  As difficult as the move was, it was well protected with the fixed cam so it wasn't too dangerous.  When I got to the purple sling I hadn't yet used even half of the rope so I decided to try and climb up the next little section.  This one was sheer slab with a very wide crack in a dihedral.  We brought along a #3 cam which I started using as aid!  I would basically set the cam, move my feet up the slab, hope I was secure, then slide the cam up again.  I did this for about eight feet when the crack I was using disappeared and I said, "Screw this, I'm done!"  I am not one who is easily frightened by the idea of taking a fall, but I was scared.  I basically reversed the process back down until I was hanging off the purple sling where I set up a belay and had Bucky come up.  While completing the overhang right below the purple sling Bucky said, "Dang dude, this is scary!  That is an impressive lead!"  So at least it wasn't just me.  He wanted to climb up and take a look around the corner at the section I had bailed on, and after a few seconds we agreed that it was time to bail on our dreams of summiting.  We started rappelling down and everything went smoothly for the first few legs.  As we were pulling the rope through before our fourth rappel I noticed the tail of the rope had managed to somehow get a knot in it.  Try as we might, with all 350 lbs of force between the two of us, we could not pull that knot through the rappel ring.  The rappel route was different than the climbing route so in order to get it free we would have to climb up two pitches on the blue rope, to where the climb and rappel routes met, and then rappel one pitch down to where the red rope was stuck.  I was all for climbing back up and actually climbed the first pitch.  After that, though, Bucky said he would rather come back tomorrow, try again, and get the red rope then.  I was concerned that all the rappels might not be 30m, like the first few we had done, but I succumbed and lowered back down.

The very first rappel we did ended up being about 31 meters.  Bucky made it to the ends of the rope and could not reach the rap station.  He yelled up to me to tie a prusik knot on one side of the rope and clip it to my harness.  He lowered himself off the end of one rope while I held on to the other so he could reach the rap station.  In order for me to reach the station I extended my belay device with a double sling and then clipped another double sling onto my belay loop.  When I reached the ends of the rope I lowered one of the double slings to Bucky so he could clip me in to the rap station.  Then I slowly lowered myself off the end of the rope without the knot, while Bucky pulled on the double sling and brought me safely in to the station without too big of a fall!  After this sketchy scenario we decided to just try and find any rap station (the mountain side is literally littered with them) so we could make it to the bottom.  Some of these rappels were only ten meters long!  Soon enough, to add insult to injury, it started to downpour.  It didn't take long until we were both soaking wet.  Slowly zig zagging our way down the huge face from random rap station to random rap station while little cascades flowed past our feet!  By using this method we were able to rappel all the way down to the glacier without any more incidents.  By this point it was about 6:05, or five minutes until the last tram left the mid-station.  I was certain we were going to walk down, but Bucky said, "screw it, let's get down this glacier as fast as we can and just run.  Who knows?  We caught a tram once at 6:40, maybe it will happen again!"  So we pulled out our ice axes and glissaded very quickly down the glacier.  I was a nincompoop and forgot to bring gloves so my hands got pretty shredded by the snow.  As soon as we were on (relatively) flat and dry ground we ran!  We looked up and saw that a tram was coming down from the Aiguille du Midi, it was 6:30, the absolute latest we have ever seen the last tram was 6:30, and we were still about 15 minutes away from the mid station.  Bucky wanted to start walking, but my body was soaked and cold and the running was really warming me up so I just kept going.  I looked back and said, "You never know!  By the Grace of God there could be one more tram!"  At about 6:45, low and behold, another tram started coming down from the Midi!  This time we knew, as long as we kept running, we could make it to the mid-station before that tram did.  We rolled into the mid-station soaking wet and out of breath, but we made it!  Some people already there and waiting just looked at us, smiled, and said, "Oh! You guys are lucky too!"  Apparently there were some mechanical issues with the tram earlier on in the day, so they were running extra trams late to try and get everyone down off the mountain!  I don't know if we were the last one or not, but it sure felt good not to have to walk the 2 hours and 20 minutes all the way down to Chamonix!  I guess we are going back tomorrow, weather permitting, to retrieve the rope.

8/10/14 - Clocher Clochetons

The Route across the Clochetons

Ever since we got to France I have been intrigued by a climb that Bucky showed me in his 100 best climbs of Chamonix book.  It is called Clochers Clochetons (6a, 500m).  It's a relatively easy climb, but it has a unique feature that neither of us had ever done during a climb.  That feature is setting up and crossing a tyrolean traverse!  I had a lot of questions about just how the traverse would work, how we would lasso the iron peg, and how we would ultimately remove the traverse after we had both crossed.  We managed to figure out how we thought it should be done, but I was still curious about the lasso part.  Rather than doing just the traverse, however, we decided to do the Clocher climb up to the Clocheton traverse.  Neither was rated very difficult, but they were both estimated as three hour climbs, which, of course, could mean more like ten.  We got an early start and managed to be the first party on the route today!  This was a first time for us (except for when we have been the only party on the route) and ended up being a very good thing.  The party that started directly behind us was left behind very quickly.  We made it to the base of the Clocheton very quickly and easily with the exception of a 6a+ variant section that I led that managed to provide a challenge.

At the start of the traverse we ran into a party from Germany who had hiked all the way up.  Luckily we were able to get in front of them on the pitch and quickly outdistance them as well.  After the first pitch of the traverse came a 20m rappel, then a second pitch, then just what we had been waiting for.  The whole reason for doing the climb.  The tyrolean traverse!  The span was only about 10-12 ft long, and about 30 ft above the ground.  We put our plan in place and Bucky hucked a bunch of the rope clear across the gap.  After whipping it around a little bit he managed to get the rope over both pegs!  We tied figure 8's on a bite in each end and clipped them together as tight as we could manage.  Bucky put me on belay and I slowly eased myself over the edge.  The sag in the rope as I put my full weight on it was truly remarkable!  The traverse was totally unique.  As I pulled myself up onto the ledge on the other side I was super jazzed.  I have done tyroleans before, but this was just such a cool experience doing it high in the mountains on our own set-up.  After Bucky made it across it was a matter of a couple more pitches, a couple more rappels, some down climbing and we were on a trail headed back to the tram station.  We have really dramatically improved our time vs. the guide books estimated times these last few trips.  Today we were over an hour faster than the estimate in the guide book!  These last few experiences have provided me with much more confidence in trying to go for some of the bigger day trips in the guide books.  As a matter of fact, if the weather cooperates, we are going to attempt one of our biggest goals of the summer later this week.  The Frendo Spur!  More details to come later on that.  I once again brought along the GoPro, check out the video here:  Clocher Clochetons - Youtube

8/8/14 - Forbes Arete

The Route, up the left side, down the right

Bucky on the summit of the Aiguille Chardonnet

The weather forecast for yesterday looked iffy. The weather forecast for today, however, looked fantastic.  In light of this Bucky and I decided to do a very short day of climbing yesterday at the Aiguilles Rouges crag and then catch a bus to Le Tour and head up to the base of the Aiguille Chardonnet and camp the night.  The plan for today was to get up early and attempt a very long mixed alpine route.  The ascent involved about two hours of glacier travel, then about two hours of steep snow and ice climbing, then about two hours of a ridge traverse with rock and snow.  I was excited to get the crampons back on again after such a long hiatus.  The morning up at the Aiguilles Rouges was awesome.  I started by leading a 6a+, then Bucky led a 6b, then I led a 6b (my first sport lead of that difficulty!) then Bucky put up a 6c, which I managed to follow on top rope.  That was the most difficult pitch of this trip for both of us!  We cut the day short and went back to the flat to pack up for the overnight stay near the Albert 1er hut.  After an hour long bus ride to Le Tour we began the two hour hike up to the Tour glacier.  There was some beautiful scenery along the way, but I couldn't help but notice some ominous looking clouds rolling in right about the time we got to the hut.  I told Bucky we needed to get a move on, so we quickly found our campsite and about half way through setting up the tent the rain started.  Not too hard, mind you, but a steady drizzle.  While we were still setting up and getting ready to cook dinner the drizzle turned into full on rain.  We ended up cooking dinner inside the tent with all the vents open!  All night the rain continued until I passed out at about 9:30.  Upon waking at 3:00 we looked out the tent flap to see clear skies and a beautiful red moon.  After groggily getting ready to climb we hit the trail at about 3:45.

We tried to follow the cairns, and eventually the foot tracks through the glacier, but we missed a turn at some point and ended up adding about 30 minutes on to our approach.  The guide book says this climb is supposed to take about 8-9 hours roundtrip, and due to our previous experience I could only assume this meant it was going to take us about 12 hours.  This 30 minute delay left me certain that we were going to miss the last lift down of the day.  The walk down isn't nearly as bad as that from the Plan de l'Aiguille, but it still made me sad.  Every other party on the Forbes Arete route was way ahead of us, but by the time the sun rose (breathtakingly!) we had made up quite a bit of ground.  So much so, in fact, that we had passed two parties before we even got to the ridge crest!  Bucky and I agree that snow and ice climbing in the 30° to 75° is our jam!  Both on Mont Blanc and now this route we have just crushed the time estimate.  The ridge line was mostly distinguished by some really fun climbing, that we accomplished really slowly.  We would climb through a section then wait for the parties in front of us.  Then on and on again until we made it up and over the summit, down the descent route and on to the glacier below before we could go our own pace again.  Even with the wrong approach and waiting for parties on the ridge we ended up finishing the route in 8 hrs and 40 minutes round trip from the hut.  As this was actually withing the estimated time range I was shocked.  Most importantly, however, we made it back to the lift in time to ride down!  The Forbes Arete was a very fun route, and the Tour glacier area is very beautiful.  There are many more routes in the area so we will be back.  Last note on our day today.  The bus ride back to Chamonix.  Oh, man.  The bus totally filled up at the end of the line in Le Tour and proceeded to be jammed even tighter by one or two people at every bus stop between there and Chamonix.  Bucky commented that the bus ride home was the hardest thing we did today.  It didn't help that we had to stand in our mountaineering boots after a long day in the "sultry" heat with a whole bunch of other climbers with BO just as bad as ours!  I digress.  Looks like rain the next few days, but we will probably find something fun to do.

8/5/14 - Aiguille du Peigne

The weather forecasts have recently gone from bad to mediocre.  I think this has led Bucky to be extra aggressive in the climbs he wants to pursue.  When Bucky and I climbed with our guide Adam a little while ago, we talked about the Matterhorn and whether or not we could still do it with the hut closed.  Adam thought about it a little and said, "Yes, if you can do the Aiguille du Peigne by the normal route in 8 hours, I think you could do the Matterhorn."  So, with a mediocre weather forecast Bucky was all pumped up to make an attempt.  I don't know what the deal is, but I think we are cursed.  Every time we have gotten up extra early to catch the 6:30 tram for a big day, it's not open.  Every.  Time.  Yesterday was no different.  We got up early, got to the tram station at 6:45, and found a long line of people and no trams running.  They opened the tram at 7:20 and we ended up at the mid-station to start the route at 8:00, instead of the hoped for 7:00.  As soon as this happened I told Bucky there was no way we weren't walking down.  Call me a pessimist, but I figured if Adam mentioned 8 hrs with a smirk, I automatically assumed it was going to take us 12 hrs the first time we tried.  The weather was mostly cloudy when we started, but we had no reason to think anything of it.  The normal route starts by going up the descent route of the Papillons ridge, which we were familiar with from before, so we quickly made the ascent to the top in about two hours.  One of our many guide books says that from this point to the top of the Aiguille du Peigne takes two to three hours.  As a result I started to think we had a hope of finishing the route in the allotted eight hours, and even more importantly, make the last tram down at the end of the day!  From the top of the Papillons Ridge to the Aiguille is a third class, man-made looking, ramp.  We ascended this in a hurry and then all our problems began.  Once at the bottom of the North face of the Aiguille we noticed that the topo of the route we had planned on (originally not the normal route) looked nothing like what was presented to us.  We got to the bottom of a crack that we thought looked closest to what was on the topo, and found it dripping wet and mossy.  If you have tried to do any steep crack climbing before, you know that these conditions make it nearly impossible.  So after climbing up a little ways, Bucky came back down and we headed up a sandy, chossy, train wreck of a chute to try and find the normal route.  According to the topo, the normal route looked like it was around a small corner at the top of a "breach" below the Col du Peigne (a col is like a pass, but more like the top of a couloir, at a low point on a ridge.  I don't know if we have an equivalent word in English).  We saw what we thought was the top of the Col du Peigne, and something that we thought could have been the "breach" as we turned the corner from the North face to the North-West face, so we thought we were on the right track.  The guide book described the normal route as rated around 4/4+ (or 5.6-7) and the author also says much of it is down climbed on the descent.  So we were looking for a relatively easy and simple route to the top.

This was the only picture I took, not much to look at when
you are inside a cloud all day!

Around this same time the skies went from mostly cloudy to us inside of a cloud.  So we don't really know where we are, and then we can't see any further up the face than 50' or so to tell if we are on the right track or not.  Under these circumstances Bucky tried heading up another promising route, but quickly determined that it was also not correct.  I thought a route to the left of where I was standing looked promising, but after another quick try at that we determined, once again, that this was not the normal route.  The only place to go from there was to, what we thought, was the top of the Col du Peigne.  We scrambled over and the cloud cleared for long enough that we were able to fairly certainly ascertain that we were indeed standing on the "breach", the Col du Peigne was off in the distance, and the normal route was just to our left!  After wasting probably two hours trying to find the route we were finally (almost) positive that we were in the right spot.  All of my hopes of making the last tram down, however, were dashed to pieces.  Rather than climb the normal route, we thought the South East arete looked like more fun so we stayed on the corner instead of heading diagonally up the face.  Bucky led the first pitch, then switched to me for the second, and so on until the fourth pitch, at which we were at a crossroads of sorts.  The route looked like it could go right or left.  With no apt description in the guide book, and all faith in the topo dashed, I decided to go to the right.  After a fun pitch with a couple of tricky moves, I came to a fixed belay point at the base of a huge overhang, with no easy way around.  I lingered there for awhile, trying to see if there was another way around, but ultimately just set up the belay and brought Bucky up to me.  While all of this was going on the cloud we were in just got thicker and thicker, the wind started to pick up, and little ice crystals started spitting around.  Even with a long sleeve, shell, and pants on I was pretty cold.  Bucky had a fleece, shell, and shorts, so when he got to the belay station, and I floated the idea of turning around and heading down, he did not resist.  I was so discouraged with all the route finding mishaps that one more and, combined with the weather and the time (we had been out for about six hours at this point), I was certainly ready to leave the summit as unfinished business for another day.  We rappelled down into the relative unknown with the idea that the normal route was not far below us.  The cloud would lighten a little now and again so that we could see what looked like it could be the normal route about 40 meters below.  Whether or not we were ever on the normal route, I don't think we could fairly determine.  There were slings and pitons and jammed cams and nuts strewn about all over the place!  From the landing zone of our fist rappel we were able to down climb a little bit until we got to another fixed belay with a rappel ring.  After this belay we found ourselves about 20 meters below the breach where we had started.  I scrambled up the fourth class gully to the top and the clouds had broken enough that I could see all the way down into the valley of Chamonix.  It looked glorious.  The sun was reflecting of L'Arve river, the grass was green, I could almost feel the warmth.  Then a hole opened up so that I could see straight across the valley to the Brevant side, where it also looked sunny and warm.  I joked with Bucky when he got up there that the Aiguille du Peigne was just messing with us and trying to live up to it's name (Peigne is pronounced pain).  From the top of the breach we knew exaclty where we were again, and how to get down.  Eight hours had gone by from when we left the mid-station at 8:00 that morning and we still had almost the entire descent in front of us.  When we neared the top of the Papillons ridge section of the Aiguille we swore we could hear voices floating up to us through the clouds.  It being very late we were surprised there were other people wandering about.  At the bottom of the first rappel from the ridge we looked up and there was a British party heading up the ridge.  It being 6:20 at the time, the last tram leaving 10 minutes before, they were wisely planning on staying at the Aiguille d'Plan refuge.  Bucky and I, on the other hand, were once again walking the two hours, and 4,200 foot descent to Chamonix.  On the way down we ran into a chamois goat, or at least I think that is what it was after looking at some pictures online.  It was standing in the middle of the trail, staring us down, and blowing it's nose in a high pitched warning.  As we got closer I assumed it would run away; rather, it looked like it was going to charge!  I raised my arms above my head and yelled in the most bear like voice I could muster.  I am happy to say that the chamois backed down and did not decide to head butt me off the mountain!  At around 9:30 we stumbled into town, feeling haggard and very foot sore.  As soon as I sat down back at the apartment I did not want to get back up.  Leaving the packs still packed, the blog unwritten, and dinner uncooked, we went to very welcoming beds, resolved, now more than ever, to never miss a tram down again.

8/4/14 - Poeme a Lou

Working up the 2nd pitch (6a+)

Bucky was feeling a little aggressive yesterday.  He says to me, "you know, neither of us have really fallen on any route we've done yet, I think we need to challenge ourselves more."  So last night he picks out a route up the South face of the Brevant called Poeme a Lou (TD sup., 200 m, 6a+).  The route is only five pitches, but the first three are 6a+, 6a+, 6b, then a section of 6c+ that can be aided with a fixed rope.  I know we have climbed some single pitches of 6b, but I was nervous heading into it with so much sustained difficult climbing.  It didn't help matters that the forecast for today called for thunderstorms in the afternoon and it by the look of the clouds in the morning I thought the storm rolled in early.  Bucky remained undaunted and off we went.  I was not comfortable leading the 6a+, so Bucky led the first four pitches while I topped out the last pitch of 5c.  The first pitch was very long and very sustained.  After the pump fest of dry tooling yesterday both Bucky and I needed to take breaks mid-pitch to give our forearms a rest.  The second pitch was both easier and shorter, which was a nice reprieve.  The third pitch was the one I was most nervous about.  I have only climbed two pitches of 6b, both on top rope, and neither was easy.  Either I am getting stronger, or it was a little easier 6b, but I made it up without having to press off any bolts or grab on to and quickdraws!  It was still very difficult, and both of us needed to take breaks as we climbed.  The 6c+ traverse was a real doozy.  Unfortunately we don't have any pictures, but there was essentially an old, tattered, fixed rope that spanned about 10 feet across a 500' drop.  Needless to say, both Bucky and I were a little nervous as we crossed about the rope holding our weight!  It was really a spectacular move; like nothing we have done before.  I just wish we had some pictures.  The last two pitches were 6a and 5c and I have to say it felt so nice to feel comfortable on the rock.  I felt like I was near falling almost the whole time we were on the first three pitches.  Getting on that slightly easier terrain was like crawling under a warm blanket for me!  Thank God the weather held out the whole time; all we felt were a few sprinkles of rain.  We are now out on the deck, waiting for the half priced cheeseburger sale to start at the Monkey Bar.  I love half priced cheeseburger Mondays!

Resting my forearms on the pitch of 6b

8/3/14 - Les Houches and St. Gervais

We are in yet another rain cycle here in Chamonix, but we heard about this cool little crag where people go to practice dry tooling.  The area is about 20 km away so our options were to take the train or ride our bikes.  I thought it would be a fun adventure to ride down to Les Houches and take the Gondola up to the top of the ridge and bike down into St. Gervais instead of riding down the road.  So we got a mixture of bike gear, ice gear, and rock gear all packed up and we headed on our way.  The trail down from Chamonix to Les Houches was one that Bucky had just ridded yesterday through the rain while I stayed home and nursed my wounds.  About 200 m in there was a huge landslide that had apparently just happened the night before!  We pedaled on through and made it to Les Houches and up the Prarion gondola.  Once at the top we met a couple of Brits that wanted to share a ride with us.  We told them we were headed to St. Gervais, but you can catch a train back up to the top from that side as well so they were still game.  After getting started on some very fun singletrack a sheep dog started barking and chasing me.  He seemed kind of vicious, and I've had a run in with sheep dogs before, so I turned up the gas and let off the brakes and ran right into Bucky!  I turned around to make sure the dog wasn't still after me and he was no where to be seen!  It was a GHOST DOG!  Anyway, we managed to get ourselves lost so we ended up riding a 4x4 road most of the way down instead of a singletrack, but it was still fun, and probably a lot less muddy.  Once in St. Gervais we headed toward the hot springs.  The crag we were looking for was right behind the hot springs in a beautiful, almost tropical looking gorge.
  At the top of the gorge was a beautiful cascade which, judging by the signs, was thermally hot!  We did not, however, test this assumption out manually.  At the crag we picked a route and started dry tooling.  This is not something that either Bucky or I have very much experience with, and I have to say, my forearms got pumped out faster than anything else I have ever done!  Bucky took a couple of falls on lead, which were more fun than scary, and I could hardly follow them on top rope.  I certainly have to work on how I use my feet on overhanging rock.  Bucky said that I would just let my feet dangle sometimes and try and do everything with my arms.  Obviously this is not a very effective strategy!  We left the crag at about 1700 in order to make it to the last tram going back up to the ridge between St. Gervais and Les Houches.  When we got to the station, a cashier told us that the last train of the day was cancelled due to the bad weather.  It was certainly bad this morning, but it had cleared up into a beautiful afternoon.  At first we were disappointed that we couldn't do some more downhill biking, but we decided to suck it up and ride the long climb instead of taking the train.  From St. Gervais we climbed to Servoz, a quaint town snuggled up in a high valley, and from there to Les Houches.  Once at Les Houches, most of the elevation gain was done and it was only a mild, consistent climb all the way back to Chamonix.  Covered in mud, we once again had a refreshing beer on the deck.  We have commented again and again that our deck is by far the best part of our flat.  I wore a GoPro for most of the day and managed to edit the footage down to about 5.5 minutes.  If you are so inclined you can check it out here:   Les Houches and St. Gervais - Youtube