12 Aug 08
Well its been an interesting last week. I’ve been pretty immobile due to a ripped achilles tendon but managed to limp my way up the Tacul two days ago. Snow conditions are good in the morning but its getting very hot very quickly. All the classics are being done without any problem. The Verte though is proving a little tricky as the descent down the Whymper is not ok for the moment. This week is pretty poor weather and alot of rain has fallen in the last 48 hours. We will have to wait and see how much snow has fallen higher up- unfortunately there is alot of wind predicted over the next few days so expect some windslab up high. Take care
General chamonix summer update
Ok apologies for being so useless on my blog recently. I promise that from now on it will be updated alot more regularly!
This summer has been pretty wet and cool, though not as much as last summer. This means that alot of the snow ridges are in great nick and alot is being done for the moment. It also means that the north face pure rock routes are still snow covered and not ideal (ie Walker spur etc).
Routes that are being regularly done:
Mont Blanc by all the routes
Tacul: Chere couloir and others such as left edge on the Triangle
Maudit: Kuffner in great nick for the moment
Grand Cap: There is still some snow on the larger ledges but otherwise all routes are seeing regular ascents
Lachenal: Clear of snow and all rock routes are in (ie Contamine etc)
Dent Du Geant: Still some snow covered ledges in parts but clearing. Still very manageable as a rock route but just be prepared to encounter some snow. The descent as usual turns into a snow-slide nightmare in the afternoon so get off it fast
North face of the Midi: Frendo and Tournier spur are both fine
The Chamonix Aiguilles are clearing up nicely too after quite a long time of wet cracks
Verte: The Ridge from the GM is still quite snowy and as its a pretty hard climb for the grade its maybe better to leave it a little while longer. The Whymper and Moine ridge is seeing alot of ascents- the shrund to the moine is nasty and complicated, the Whymper shrund is still fine.
Droites and Courtes: Seeing alot of ascents from the Couvercle side especially up the Col des Courtes. The traverse of the courtes also looks good
Envers des Agiuilles: all routes are fine and shrunds passable. They seem to get less easy to cross the further towrds the Requin you get
The Albert Premier hut area is also reported in fine condition though get up the ridges and back down early.
Right that’s all I can think of off the top of my head for now
Happy climbing
jon
Carrington-Rouse (10/5/08)
Not in condition unfortunately. Just loose snow ontop of crumbling rock. We found very very little ice anywhere. More details with photos on the :Trip reports page here”:http://www.alpineexposures.com/pages/trip-reports
Eugster Direct 12/5/08
A great route that is a little thin for the moment but still very passable. The third pitch will require a little aiding tactics but apart form that there is a great boot-pack up it all now so you can make up for lost time on the snow slopes. For more info and photos check out the Trip reports page here