After a leisurely start we took the lift up to the Aiguille du Midi and made the fearful descent down the ridge to the Col du Midi. Our plan was to acclimatise today in readiness for tomorrow’s big adventure, so we walked across towards the Torino hut via Point Lanchenal. The sun was scorching and we were quite exhausted by the time we got to the hut.
After only a few hours sleep, thanks to snoring Spaniards, we left the hut before the sun had risen and started the walk to the base of the North Face of La Tour Ronde.
The wind was blowing strongly and there was almost as much spin-drift as you’d find on a good day in the finest Scottish gullies. Un-perturbed we geared up and crossed the bergschrund. The climbing wasn’t technically demanding, perhaps Scottish V in places, but the lack of protection proved to be a strain on the nerves. After four consecutive sixty metre pitches with no protection we were psychologically tested.
The route was fantastic, in most places steep neve with an awkward ice section around some large blocks and a gripping (unprotected) 60m traverse across a powder snow face 😯 with the whole route gaping below. We topped out just as it started raining. Yes, raining at nearly 3792m! Time was moving on so we made a hasty descent down the Ordinary route and headed back to the hut, having missed any chance of catching the last lift back.
We made it back just in time for dinner, including tarte aux pommes! :yum: :yum:
Well done on Tour Ronde :star:
It is one of the steepest numbers of its kind in the Alps 😮 steeper than the comparable faces of say, Wlldspitze, Obergabelhorn, Hochfeiler etc ❗
But, hey Tish, its not Scottish V, unless there were some nasty bits 👿
But at least (you didn’t report) finding a hand in the snow 😉
See my comment on:- http://www.sterling-adventures.co.uk/blog/2008/05/05/de-mer-de-glace-a-le-fayet/#comment-3437
Hey, cool light :geek: What type is it ❓ What batteries does it take ❓ What is the burn time ❓ What is the decay over burn time like ❓ Is it waterproof ❓
And was there a cake in this post ❓
Nice route!!
And the apple pie looks great :yum: :yum:
Terry, hmm, think maybe there was 30 feet of Scottish V getting out of the narrowing – the powder had covered what ice there was and at one steeper (almost vertical) point the ice collapsed into the powder and both of my feet were off! 😐
If the whole thing was nice alpine ice and not covered in unconsolidated powder – yeah, it’s easy… Shall we say IV?
Colin, it’s a Petzl Myo 3 – David will be pleased! It takes 4xAA batteries and using just the LEDs it can go for 150 hours! 😎 It has a halogen beam too, but that kills the batteries in about 10 hours! 😮
Ian, the Apple pie was the best bit of the meal – you can probably tell that… 😉
I always wondered how you spelt bergschrund