UKC

Hi all,
I don't usually bother posting condition updates, but I found it so hard to find any information about conditions on the eiger before our trip through I thought I'd share some info. We climbed the 1938 route from first train, with a bivouac at death bivvy.

The Conditions are far from ideal on the lower half of the route ( very deep snow). I think it took us 3.5 hours to get to the difficult crack, but after that all the icefields are in fantastic condition. It seems like the winds have created great plastered neve on some aspects and desposited deep snow on others. The ramp is very time consuming under powder with very little ice and all the crux pitches required large amounts of clearing ( but should be ok now).

The ice bulge above the ice chimney is currently an unclimbable snow mushroom and we had to circumnavigate it via a very thin groove. Above this conditions are good, except for a bit of black ice gaining the summit ice field. The top of the west flank is also very black so we had to descend the first 200 meters ish using abolakovs. But its definitely climable at the moment and will surely only get better as the winter progresses!

Heres a short write up of our ascent http://grahaminchamonix.blogspot.fr/

In reply to Ginger McGrath:

Great write-up and well done!

In reply to Ginger McGrath:
I enjoyed your blog. Nice one.

In reply to Ginger McGrath:

Congrats mate great write up

In reply to Ginger McGrath:

Good work, and thanks for sharing the blog - an inspiring write-up!

In reply to Ginger McGrath:

Great write up, cheers.

In reply to Ginger McGrath:

Some of the rock looks pretty dry to me, are you sure you can claim a winter ascent for that?

In reply to gdp:


HAHA what a useless comment... good work ginge and ally blasting up that thing with no conditions beta.

In reply to Dave Searle:

"That thing" 1938 is a serious route, what have you ever done on it...

In reply to Ginger McGrath:

Well done! Nice write-up.

In reply to Ginger McGrath:

Good job. Thanks for sharing.

In reply to Ginger McGrath:

Good Stuff. Well done.

In reply to Ginger McGrath:

Brilliant!

(you don't always make it from the brittle ledges..........)

In reply to Ginger McGrath:

Nice one, sounds like you got the face to yourselves - unlikely in perfect conditions! Wonder what it will be like in a months time....

In reply to Ginger McGrath:

Top effort!

In reply to Ginger McGrath:



Excellent! Thanks!

In reply to Ginger McGrath:

Congratulations-Big achievement!

In reply to Ginger McGrath:

Makes my palms sweat.....I wish I had the balls to do it!

In reply to Ginger McGrath:

good reading, great achievement.

In reply to Ginger McGrath:Enjoyed reading that account of your climb,respect to anyone whos climbed it,me and my mate went onto the lower section of the 38 route just for the experience,the place is so atmospheric.

In reply to Ginger McGrath:

update... good track now, ice bulge was nails. the variation on left looked unlikely, bare rock and no gear. I went through and under the enormous snow mushroom. It was a bit bold and awkward. Maybe somebody will throw some lovely fixed rope down it. lots of black ice above which made climbing tiresome. but now there are some good hooks. 7-9th march

In reply to Ginger McGrath:
We went to look at conditions on 08 March and backed off due to a few Avalanches releasing on the face while we deliberated the condition of the climb. We returned to climb it on 13 March and summited 0800 on 15 March. It was AWESOME seeing the photos on your blog and comparing them to the conditions we had! Well done, I feel your pain and happiness

Here is our account: http://thrillseekersanonymous.com/2014/03/18/eiger-sanctions/

Cheers!

In reply to thrillseekerz:

Good report, sounds like you got it just right and made the right decision to climb through the night to avoid the storm.

In reply to thrillseekerz:

Great effort and great blog. Hearty congrats to the both of you!

In reply to thrillseekerz:

What a report! Many thanks and congratulations!

In reply to Cellinski:

Well Done! Tremendous Effort ! Great Report!

In reply to Ginger McGrath:

Great to hear both accounts guys. Very well done. I don't know what people's thought are but I think trip reports would make a nice addition to UKC. I enjoy them on Supertopo.com.

In reply to Ginger McGrath:

Thank you both for your great blogs. With them and a good forecast we decided to drive out and climbed it on Monday Tuesday. Conditions are (where) generally good agreeing that the normally simple ice bulge pitch being the crux. The ice hose is thin and I'm a little worried a warm wind could strip it but otherwise could be good for a while. Also the descent was in great nick. Thanks again guys are very happy to have this ticked. There will be another blog soon (yawwwn!).