Video of Les Drus Lesueur with variation
Quick short video about climbing the Lesueur with variation exit last week. I stated twice very very explicitly on my report that we did a variation exit so a comment that I was claiming something false is a bit unfair. I fully understand the importance of honesty and I think anything that I write I am very mindful of that. Anything which is even slightly controversial I shy away from (our 'fast' ascent of the Cassin this year for example). I climb for myself and the pleasure that I get from taking shots in these amazing locations, and sharing them with other like minded people.
It was a real joy to climb with Ueli on such a route and to watch him free the cruxes of it. I'm sorry if somehow this offended anyone but I didnt gloss over our route choice or try and hide anything in my report. The full Lesueur summer route has yet to be climbed in winter free, but then parts of it have fallen down and the original line is definitely not what people have climbed in winter in the past. Being a summer line it naturally favours the rock and avoids any ice or mixed gully systems. It is logical in my eyes to chose the line of least resistance in winter as we did it in winter- it is not logical to avoid a mixed chimney and favour a steep rock wall to the side of it. However as I explicitly said in my report we did traverse out early from the route thus missing some upper mixed pitches.
In any case maybe just watch the video for what it is and remember I'm not paid to do this stuff. It's a short video with some nice winter climbing on it. Regardless of any claims, enjoy it for that at least.
Lesueur route free- Les Drus (w variation exit)
The continuous bad weather over Dec and early January was starting to get me down. When it finally cleared up, it was even more frustrating as people were naturally more interested in skiing powder than going climbing. However I managed to gather together some people and had an awesome week. It started off on Pellisier Gully on the Lachenal to check out general conditions. The next day we headed off for 'Salade Mixte' on the Aiguille Verte but found it to be in terrible condition so started up a steep new line to the side of it which we didnt finish up the buttress unfortunately- still a good day out on the hill. One to finish off.
Adam new routing on the Verte
I've been planning to get on something big with Ueli Steck for a while now and it has just been a case of waiting for the weather to settle down. As soon as it was a green light he drove over from Switzerland and we set our eyes on the Lesueur route on the Drus. I've done two routes on the North side but I really wanted to do something in the dead of winter and on the actual North Face. The face just looks incredibly inhospitable and for some reason i was really keen to see what the middle of January with its cold and short days would be like on a route like this.
Not sure how long it would take we set off with a pack each with our bivy kit and planned on two days on the face.
The Dru north face
Mid January and it's still really cold in the sun
The climb started off well and fast. We didnt leave too early as we needed to see and days are short. The start of the Pierre Allain has a few meters of delicate climbing then an easy mixed gully to the snow fields above. A few pitches of steadily harder mixed climbing, but nevertheless amazing quality brings you a good height up the route. Up past the huge white rock scar before 9am we felt good and Ueli took over his block lead which starts with a quick traversing ramp line across the face.
Rising ramp traverse
From here you head on up to the first crux of the route. Ueli was keen to try and free it if possible and it was pretty amazing to watch from below. I couldnt comment on the grade but it was hard enough just following trying to move as fast as possible.
Leading into the first crux
On the first crux
On the first crux
Fun mixed pitches
On to the second crux
I'd just learned how to jumar properly from a friend a few days before hand which was lucky but with both packs constantly getting jammed in a series of chimneys it was pretty exhausting by the time I got to the top. One pitch of jumaring was definitely enough and back in the packs they went. In any case amazing effort by Ueli free climbing this pitch.
From here on we took a new 'variation' if you can call it that. We did a series of rising traverses out of the face and onto the ice. The reasons were two fold really- firstly the bivy site looked horrific (not enough snow) so we wanted to push on, and secondly Ueli didnt have the topo with him so just followed his nose. In any case an amazing series of traverses with some sections of heart-in-mouth exposure brought us to two short and very delicate (read no feet) traverses out on to the ice.
Taken from the Grands Montets, thanks Cedric!. © Cedric Bernardi
Lost in a sea of granite...awesome. © Cedric Bernardi
The second of two tenuous traverses into the ice
Now for the interminable ice to the summit!
From here on you just follow the calf busting ice runnels to the top. We arrived shortly after sunset and as we'd brought bivy kit with us we thought we may as well use it and rap back down the next morning in the light. The Breche has an awesome spot with an even better view.
Too cold to sleep so better get the camera out! Stitch shot under a rising sun and half moon
The night was really really cold, as you'd probably expect, but we managed to rock out on top to ZZ Top-Blue Shoes before heading to bed. Just before sunset we packed up and headed up the Petit Dru for some much needed sunlight before rapping back down the north side.
Quick climb up to the top for some sunshine
Back down to the Breche for the raps back down. Aiguille Verte on the left and Grand Dru on the right
All in all a pretty good start to 2012. Big thumbs up to Ueli for freeing the cruxes and it felt amazing to actually do such a big route in a day in the middle of January. I think this is the first free ascent and first one day ascent in winter but credit for that goes to the Steck- but we did miss out the top few pitches by doing this 'variation'. Now for the next project....
As a photo project this was awesome. Carrying up the 5D on such a route whilst trying to go as fast as possible was really 'cutting edge' for me. The extra weight and faff of getting shots on this type of terrain is a real burden. I tried something new this time as well and kitted Ueli out with a wireless mic set up which has made the video really awesome to watch!
Nuit Blanche with Tim Emmett and Kanderstegg
Whilst out in Scotland a last minute shoot landed on my lap. I say 'landed' but I ended up on the phone for about 2 hours every night with a Dutch TV company trying to help organise and give advice, given how snowy it has been in Chamonix. The brief was basically to shoot Tim Emmett ice climbing and base jumping somewhere in the central alps, preferably Chamonix. However with an almost non stop snow fall for a month this is easier said than done and in the end we ended up back on an old favourite. Nuit Blanche is nothing new but nevertheless it's a spectacular ice fall in a stunning location.
Tim Emmett on Nuit Blanche
Then it was onto Kanderstegg for the Ice climbing festival. I've never been to Kanderstegg in the winter before and unfortunately conditions were terrible for the ice. However I did manage to get out with Ueli Steck to Ueschinen which was ace as everyone else was down in town at the competition. It also meant we were able to discuss climbing plans for the winter so now am fully psyched for the settled weather that has just arrived.
Scotland!!!
With my planned trip to Scotland in November failing miserably due to high temps I jumped at the chance to head out for a week over New Year. Rob Greenwood and Lucy Ham had organised some 30 odd people to Roy Bridge to spend a week climbing and partying and whilst the weather was really horrible it was an awesome week away from Chamonix.
Rob and his special New Year's Homebrew
The first day pretty much set the tone for the rest of the week: gusting 130mph winds on the Cairngorms and snowing, so we naturally took the decision to head straight into the thick of it....as you do. Our intended route seemed a wee bit exposed to the elements so we opted for a easy warm up on the Lamp which is a short pleasant climb if you ignore the driving winds.
Warming up on the Lamp in 'hurricane' force winds
Arriving back at the car wetter than I've ever been in my life we were already planning the following day. The Ben seemed the next port of call but upon arriving at the CIC hut the weather got worse and worse and our plan for Sioux wall quickly changed to plan b, plan c, then a desperate last attempt just to climb something. With that in mind we stomped up to the base of Echo Wall, but quickly realised that the winds we'rent going to let up at all. Traversing over to Great Chimney as our final option we found that two others had just beaten us to it so we sat around on belay for an hour waiting until Callum could take my pep talk and 90s pop singing renditions no longer and got out of there.
Bailing from the base of Great Chimney, © Callum Muskett
The weather forecast seemed to get worse and worse but there was a slight break in the weather for the following morning; with the weather coming in from the West we scampered off East and into the Gorms again. Under recomendation we started up War and Peace. The first pitch was completely verglassed though which meant I ended up being horribly run out until the traverse over to the arete and was incredibly thankful to get some pro in, nevertheless it felt great just to get something done.
On the first pitch of War and Peace, © Callum Muskett
Crossing over to the arete on War and Peace, © Adam Booth
The weather came in hard and fast by the final pitch, © Callum Muskett
A rest day was decided for the following day as it was raining up to 2000m, though quite why we rested indoor climbing i'm not sure. In any case the day came and went, the New Year;s celebrations got more and more rowdy and the early morning wake up psyche nearly got crushed by the mass of 30 very drunk people. However Callum, Rob and myself headed up for one last try the following morning for Daddy Longlegs in the Gorms. Sheets of rain poured across the car park and by the time we arrived at the base of the crag it was obvious we weren't heading up. Temps were just above freezing and the crag was wet. Instead we opted for a go up The Vent just to get something done. In short it was a nightmare- continuous spindrift and updrafts meant I couldnt see a thing and climbing up passed the huge chockstone involved a series of really cruxy moves, with only a rusty peg for pro. I guess when its banked out you just walk up past it but in this case i found myself deep within the back of the cave. Anyway it was all good to get out as usual.
Happy New Year! About to get pummelled in The Vent, © Rob Greenwood
Thanks to the wonderful hosts Rob Greenwood and Helena Robinson and to Callum Muskett for not complaining once even though I could see that 90% of the time he was dreaming of a cup of tea and home.