UKC

No doubt many have considered this, but how easy is it to avoid the normal route from the Tacul by descending the chere? I presume there are no seracs above the Chere? Easy-ish down climbing to a series of fixed bolts? is it as simple as staying to the ridge with the normal route face to your left (looking out), then down climbing to the top of the Chere?

In reply to glaramara:

Most people just descend after the 5 pitches are done with so I don't think there would be a well beaten path from the summit down to the bolts. I'd also suggest asking in the PGHM office in the town centre for advice.

In reply to glaramara:

my vision of it, there are some small seracs nearer the top, it's also a little steeper then the slope where the trade route goes. Once down to the rock ridge/snow crest, it's still not easy descending ground. Plus, anyone else on the route might not be too thrilled, as any snow you set lose descending towards the couloir is going to potentially come down on them. You'll also be breaking trail, albiet downhill. There is a reason the standard route, goes the way it does. Are you going to carry extra rope all the way up tacul, just to make an abseil descent?

In reply to summo:

No, I'd be coming up the Diablo or the Kuffner so wouldn't be taking unjustified extra rope. The normal route worries me since missing a big serac fall by a day a few years ago. Maybe the seracs are quiet this year? However, if there's a way to ab and avoid the seracs entirely then I'll take it.

In reply to glaramara:

used to be normal to climb chere couloir and then just ab down it, did it on 50m ropes quite a few years ago and remember the bolts were spaced about 55m apart - meant for fun wee sections between bolts

also meant you were potentially abbing down on people climbing up who were late starters, seemed to be the "French" way as used to be done by local guides

the route from top of chere couloir to the route up/down Tacul seemed ok, albeit it was quite a few years ago

In reply to glaramara:
With you now, if you are quick on your feet, acclimatised and not alpine novices, then from the summit of tacul to the bottom of the slope where you start the flat flog could be done in 30-45mins.. no faff just go, minimum exposure in the danger zones.

I think by the time you got to the bottom of your plan B, you'd wish you had just thrashed down the tourist route.

In reply to summo:

Aye I've done these death zone sprints before. All these hard won technical skills and as soon as u got to the Alps, u just move like f**k everywhere! Don't suppose any UKC'ers have descended the Tacul this season? Serac's quiet so far?

In reply to glaramara:


I agree the normal route is dangerous, one of the more dangerous voie normalles in the Alps. But I think the faffing about to get to the Chere would be worse, in any case, the triangle du Tacul is quite some way below the summit and not that easy to locate from above. Then you have to find the top of the Chere, which, IIRC, does not start at the top of the triangle, but some way down.

So I think you are trapped into the normal route. One way to get it more stable is to arrive on the summit at quarter past midnight as I once did, it is cold, bleak and distinctly desolate. But it does have the virtue that you are not descending the main slope in the full afternoon sun.

In reply to glaramara:

Descended this way last year. It is quite straight forward but we still made a couple of raps on the descent prior to the in-situ raps on the Chere, so not a total path. Locating the first couple of raps at the top of the Chere is the critical part. I remember the first one being quite a few bits of tat round a spike that you have to climb down a little before you can weight the rope, then all bolts after that, although the second one (in descent) is just one bolt. Don't blame you at all for avoiding the voie normale, it's quite a dangerous 'walk'.

In reply to summo:

+1. getting down from the Tacul or similar summits (Grand Combin would be one example) is a death sprint. Just make sure the snow is still solid, so you can go faster. Nothing to be done about the seracs that can go anytime.

CB