UKC

Does anyone know if this route has been climbed since the last major rockfall (was it 2003)? Winter or summer.

In reply to Dominic Green:

I think some crazy guys went up it a couple of days after the first rockfall? Russians maybe or slovenians?

that was in the nineties when the bonatti pillar fell down - Babanov I think, and a new route. Some French guys put up a new route on the rock scar too. Hard facts please.

In reply to Dominic Green:

Don't have any info on American Direct but last winter two local Chamonix guides (Martial Dumas and Jean-Yves Fredriksen) climbed Bonatti's original line creating a new route called 'voie des Papas'. It took them eight days. During the climb they discovered some of Bonatti's original pitons.

Here's a photo of the route:
http://bp1.blogger.com/_mdZ9WzCKOeA/RgPQeGfMfaI/AAAAAAAAAUc/gb-RmXZ_-Fk/s16...

In reply to Nigel Patching: 8 days? What were they playing at?

In reply to Jon Dittman:

i have a poster of them on the route in a big portaledge. I think it's basically very hard aid, birdbeaks, hooks etc. What freeclimbing there was was only Fr 6a.

In reply to Jon Dittman:

Oh... you know the French... probably spent hours every day preparing a gourmet dinner.

I've seen a topo of the route and it's quite convoluted. I guess they might have spent some of the time route finding.

In reply to Dominic Green: myself and a friend did the American Direct to the jammed block in August 2004. Several other parties were also on the route. We had no stonefall whilst approaching or climbing apart from bits dislodged by people from the big ledge 1/3 of the way up, and saw no fresh rockfall scars on the climb itself. There was a lot of noise coming from the couloir beneath the Flammes de Pierre, but this has always been regarded as dangerous and is nowhere near the line of the approach or the climb.

I've heard a lot of people saying that the West Face is very unstable and that the route is now not climbable, but that has all been second or third hand knowledge and I'd heard similar rumors before we did it. Unless there has been further rockfall since we were up there (there may well have been, I haven't looked into this) then there's no reason not to go for a look.

Hope that's of some help,
Nic

In reply to nic mullin:

Here's the rough line of the American Direct plus the upper part of the original route showing how close it gets to the area of rock fall - http://www.aqvi55.dsl.pipex.com/pictures/DrusPapas.jpg

Since the shot isn't mine I'll pull it in a couple of days, probably after Easter.

boB

In reply to nic mullin:

Hi Nic,

there's been a secondary "event" in 2005. In general, you're right about everything above the lower slabs or the north face, but everything below is to be considered at the moment risky.

Many thanks - sounds like one to avoid unless it is nicely frozen solid.

In reply to Dominic Green:

At the time of the last big rock fall (mountain fall to be a little more accurate) there were a few articles by Chamonix guides on the web, (maybe camptocamp?) Those concerned said that there was absolutely no way they were going back to that part of the mountain, either individually or with a client for a long while.

I used to have the link but the PC with it on is on the blink... googling might find the article.

In reply to Dominic Green: I'm confused (as always) - when we are talking about the 'American Direct' is it the big aid route or are we also talking about the American Direct Start to the original West Face route ... the 'jammed block' is on the American direct start to the original west face route. Is it also affected by the rock fall? I imagine that the big aid route is gone or very close to being gone. This is upsetting - all the good rock-climbs I did seem to be falling down - I just found out about the Coquinot and Carpentier routes on the Charmoz falling down. They were super nice routes. All gone. Sigh!

Just to clarify.

The last big rockfall was in June 2005. Has there been any activity on the American Direct since then?

In reply to Dominic Green:
>

As I wrote above, after 2005 the lower slabs of the Hemming-Robbins are considered very dangerous, and the equipment in place not as reliable as it was. Also, another "event" is expected sometime in the future (I'm being told there are now sensors on the wall monitoring any movement)

In reply to Gordon Smith:

The America Direct (or Am-Dir) is the route opened by Gary Hemmings and Royal Robbins in 1962, and reaches the original French route (Magnone and al) at the Jammed Block. As I wrote, it's the lower part that seems to have been affected by (several) rockfall)


Yes, the Harlin-Robbins '65 basically disappeared, or at least, is nowhere near the route it was back then. Very sad to think that poor Marco Pedrini died in 1985 after having free soloed it (he died in the descent, because of an abseil accident)


There are plenty of superb rock climb still very much there, Gordon!

The east face of the Jorasses
http://img.ukclimbing.com/i/73203.jpg

The Tour de Jorasses
http://img.ukclimbing.com/i/73197.jpg

The Freney Pillar and the Grand Pilier D'Angle
http://img.ukclimbing.com/i/73265.jpg

The South Face of the Petit Jorasses
http://img.ukclimbing.com/i/73372.jpg

The South Ridge of the Aiguille Noire
http://www.summitpost.org/images/large/221820.JPG

The east face of Mt. Greuvetta (and again the East face of the GJ)
http://www.summitpost.org/images/original/126231.jpg

and many, many others....

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

I did a nice little rock climb on the Aiguille Purtscheller (W face) many years ago. When I got a new guide book was surprised to see that it was no longer listed. After a bit of asking around it turns out it has fallen down too!

And yet it seemed to be all good solid granite. Apparently a lot of the granite peaks, even the Petit Dru, are in fact cracked right through and only held together by ice... which is now melting slowly.

In reply to Bruce Hooker:
>

The West face of the Aig. Purtscheller had some problem in the early 80's, but there's still the South Ridge, a super route if there's one in the NE corner of Mt. Blanc, imagine the Cosmique Ridge but more interesting and with no one around.

Here's the topo:

http://www.lespius.com/Escalade/Purtscheller/topogrand.jpg

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Yes we did the South ridge in 1969, it was one of my first alpine climbs... the view across the snowy glacier to the SE is splendid. It was here that I met my first Italian climbers - a huge group of them coming over the snow plateau from the East chattering away. One of my mates was a gruff Northerner and shouted out for them to make less noise but they didn't understand him and just smiled, waved and carried on nattering.

Just after a white out came down and total silence, like being in a great cloud of cotton wool... then we heard a buzzing noise and thought it was bees until we realized it was electrical discharge on the ice-axes points which were pointed upwards on our rucksacks... we ran off pretty quickly to then Albert 1er before the storm... eerie atmosphere.

The W face is on the left as you go up the S ridge, we did it in 1971. Only 200m but a nice steep TD rock climb... perhaps a new route has been done to replace the one that fell down?

In reply to Bruce Hooker:

Not that I know, but I could not exclude it. The point is that the Purtscheller sees not much traffic, as many of its "sisters" (small granite peaks) in the Swiss corner of MB (there's not many people from outside that gets interested in the Petit Clocher du Portalet, despite this being one of the best granite climbs of the area!!!)

In reply to Luca Signorelli: The pictures you linked to were all very nice but the problem is that I've never climbed them. I'll have to learn how to rock climb all over again so that I can go and climb them. I'll never have time to go and do the classics like the Old Brenva and Route Major, the Obergabelhorn, the Taschorn and Dom. And there again they're not just an easy amble up from the Plan station with a nice rock to leave the big boots on at the bottom. The memories. Puff! Gone! Sigh!