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NEW ARTICLE: Desmaison Gousseault: Grandes Jorasses

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 UKC Articles 03 Feb 2015
Good morning sunshine!, 4 kbWhen you think of classic alpine routes, you think of Chamonix. It's host to more 'classics' than anywhere else in the world, and I guess the fact that it's the birthplace of alpinism has a lot to do with that

But among all the hundreds of classics there are to do out here, there will always remain the super classics; the ones that combine five star climbing with an epic tale so enshrined in our sport, that make them the 'must haves' of Alpinism. The Desmaison Gousseault is one of them.

Jon Griffith describes his adventures on the route with Ally Swinton



Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=7041
 Shapeshifter 03 Feb 2015
In reply to UKC Articles:

Great article, makes we want to leave work now, chuck the gear in the car and head off to Cham - please sir can I have some more!!
 Mick Ward 03 Feb 2015
In reply to UKC Articles:

'The day of the book signing I walked past the shop and there he was, an old man sitting by himself outside the shop, and no one giving him a second glance; if I'd known then what I do now I would have brought him a coffee and gotten him to sign everything I owned, but like everyone else I just walked on by. A missed opportunity to shake the hand of a legend.'

So poignant. Would love to have met him.

Mick
 Sean Kelly 03 Feb 2015
In reply to UKC Articles:
Excellent read Jon. I well remember the Serge Gousseault tragedy as it
lasted nearly 2 weeks and the media were full of it. They were really unlucky with the weather. We tend to forget that todays gear is streets ahead of what was in use 40+ years back. A good effort . Well done lads!
Post edited at 21:17
 jcw 03 Feb 2015

In reply to Mick
Sic transit.... I found that remark of Jon's about walking past RD sitting outside the Librarie Landru so poignant, in particular because of his sad end. I remember all the controversies about Serge Gousseault, as too the Dru rescue. Justified? I don't know. I have a memory of him as a kindly figure when I once climbed with him and some other on the Dame Jeanne violet circuit. And too his explaining to me how to do a particular problem at the Col des Montets. But he was drawn into deeper waters by not only his own ambitions but someone else's. My own equivalent of Jon's little story is at Huarez in 1983. Our little expedition was about to leave and I wanted a photo of our group. So I asked Rene who was nearby if he'd take a photo of us. He immediately responded thinking we wanted a phot of him with us. I said no, just to take a photo. The sad thing is that the members of our team who were about half my age had not only not recognized him, but I don't think had a clue who he was. Is there's morale to this story? Anyhow congratulations to Jon on his gripping account of repeating the route.
Post edited at 23:39
 Matt_b 04 Feb 2015
In reply to UKC Articles:

Total Alpinism is my favourite climbing book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article and looking at the photos.

I couldn't quite work out, were "The scene of our last bivy spot the previous attempt, things looking a lot fatter!" and "I still have nightmares about this lead" photos of the same section?
 Michael Gordon 04 Feb 2015
In reply to Matt_b:

Hmmm, not sure conditions are quite THAT variable!
 Matt_b 04 Feb 2015
In reply to Matt_b:

Now worked it out from looking at blog which has lots more photos.
 Mick Ward 04 Feb 2015
In reply to jcw:

Hi John, agree, congratulations to Jon. An excellent article about an iconic route.

I guess we'll never know the truth about the rescue. Was it dilatory? Hard to imagine...

Obviously the prowess of the rescue services has been eloquently documented(!) And my own small tale would bear this out. A few years afterwards ('75) I helped to rescue a guy on The Peigne - Jean Couter, then the president of the Chamonix section of the CAF. You probably knew/know him.

It wasn't a case of, "Ils sont a nous!" Far from it. We'd got him out of a dangerously exposed gully, with stones whirring past, to relatively safe ground. And some mates turned up. Suddenly the pressure lessened. But when that chopper rose from the valley and headed straight for us, I was utterly grateful. It came in so close; the winch guy was like greased lightening. Off Jean went to the hospital. His wife was a nurse there. She saw him wheeled in but his face was so swollen she didn't recognise him. Though he made a swift recovery - a full one I hope.

My tiny experience of the rescue services has left me with a huge admiration for their skill and courage. But for Desmaison? He'd been through so much. He'd come so close - in every way. The whole business must have been heartbreaking.

It may be that he was a complex character. A couple of years before the Peigne episode, I spent an afternoon soloing at a little crag in Yorkshire, with a legendary figure. Although I was well aware of his reputation for harshness (he'd say he was trying to protect traditional climbing values), with me, he was entirely benign. Years later, through a chance meeting, I learned of a harshness and ruthless which I could never have imagined.

'The evil which men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones.' Wise words. You have your memory of Rene Desmaison at Dame Jeanne. I have my memory of this person on that long-ago afternoon when we moved across the stone together in blissful harmony.

Are we simply moths drawn to the flame? Or can the flame purify, cleanse us of overweening ambition, so that we finally find peace...

I'd like to think that Rene Desmaison finally found peace. God knows he deserved it.

mick


 jcw 04 Feb 2015
In reply to Mick Ward:
Mick. I have no doubts that we found RD pleasant because we were more or less his acolytes. Great men like not necessarily sycophantcy, but they enjoy being recognized. But there were deep,currents below all his controversies, as Jon indicates. And he was being pushed by ambitious interests behind him. What is sad is what does it all add up to? RD was a great climber and a remarkable person, but died a frightened man, not because of the mountains but because of something he could not control. And to die forgotten is doubly sad if your values are not balanced. It is the moral value of why one climbs that is brought out by RD's story. When I think of that poor woman who wanted to have done the first French female ascent of the Eiger and spent six days on the mountain with RD and ended up a diabetic or worse for life. Can you or anyone remember who it was? It is soon forgotten. Alpinist's ambitions for moments of glory need to be t,empered by understanding what is meant by the Latin tag; Sic transit gloriae mundi. But it is also why I am glad to see Jon pay tribute to a great mountaineer.
Post edited at 23:00
 Michael Gordon 05 Feb 2015
In reply to jcw:

> When I think of that poor woman who wanted to have done the first French female ascent of the Eiger and spent six days on the mountain with RD and ended up a diabetic or worse for life. Can you or anyone remember who it was?

Diabetic? how?

 Mick Ward 05 Feb 2015
In reply to jcw:

John, I've got a horrible feeling I know to whom you're referring. Decades ago, I asked some French guys what had become of her and they simply said that she'd got in over her head. But I had the feeling, even at the time, that there was more, that they didn't want to say. Which naturally I respected. And surely better for no-one to mention her name on here.

Sic transit... indeed. Have been aware of its wisdom for a long, long time and decided Redhead's 'authentic desire' was a better lodestone than chasing worldly success. At least you die as true to yourself as you can.

Am sorry about RD though. And admire Jon's delicacy about the subject. Thank you for your posts. I understand a little more now. Best perhaps if we all leave a troubled subject. (Entirely my fault for raising it in the first place!)

Best wishes,

Mick

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