Sterling Adventures

We phoned the plumber this morning. I think French plumbers go to the same school as British plumbers. They could no longer come today, how about tomorrow?!?

We pondered what to do, then realised we had the answer all along. We’ve now recruited the building’s management company Lamy, to sort it out for us. We’ll get a hefty bill, no doubt, but c’est la vie.

Anyway, that meant we had another day of climbing to plan. This one had to be short because of the lost time sorting out the plumbing. A quick look at the Aiguilles Rouges guide and we decided upon another route very close to the lift station. Aiguille de la Gliére Lower Buttress is a mere 10 minutes from the top of the Index chair lift and is a good, albeit a little harder, alternative to the popular SE Arête on the Aguille de l’Index.

The route was nearly all in full sun – hooray – so on went the factor 40.
It’s a nice and easy relaxing route, nearly all bolted with an exciting 5b+ final pitch. Pete decided on the alternative 5c 4th pitch for a bit of fun, and also because we didn’t take any nuts for the crack on the normal 5b line.

A new slabby pitch right of Mani pulite?

The "airy and impressive" final pitch.

We relaxed with a picnic at the top and gazed at the amazing views. And then it was a quick 20 minute decent, with a short 30m abseil back down to the lift station.

Aiguille Verte and Les drus provide another amazing background!