UKC The Finest Routes in the Alps: Mont Blanc
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The Finest Routes in the Alps
Mont Blanc via Peuterey Integral - 4500m, TD+, V+
All photos, drawings and text by Ben Tibbetts
in association with
Access: Val Veny, Italy

First Ascent: R Hechtel and G Kittelmann, 24-26 July 1953

Gear : 2 x 60m ropes, axe, crampons. 4 camming devices, 10 nuts, 12 extenders, stove and bivouac gear.

Period : Most often in condition June - September

This route is the longest ridge climb in the Alps. It involves an 800m approach hike to a route which then accumulates 4500m of height gain and finishes at the summit of Mont Blanc. It is a highlight of any alpinists career and most people will take two to three days to complete the route. It thus requires very stable weather and ideal conditions. The ridge is formed of beautiful steep sided granite aretes that rise between the Glacier de Brenva and Glacier de Frêney from the Val Veni in the upper Aosta valley.




Peuterey ridge from Tour Ronde.
The route can be split into four main sections: a 1100m rocky ridge climb – the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey, climbed by its South-South-East Ridge. This is a classic route in itself. From this summit 14 abseils lead you into the second section, the traverse of the Dames Anglaises. At the far end of these lies the Craveri bivouac. The third section is the South-East Ridge of the Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey and descent to the Col de Peuterey. The final section is the Grand Pilier d’Angle ridge to Mont Blanc de Courmayeur and thus to Mont Blanc.

Conditions Ideal conditions are found when the Aiguille Noire is dry rock climbing and yet the mixed sections of the Aiguille Blanche to the summit of Mont Blanc are still coated in neve. These occur most often during the summer season once the Peuterey Noire has dried out. Nevertheless some well transformed névé snow above 4000m is advantageous as in the height of summer hard old ice is often exposed on the Peuterey Blanche making the traverse more delicate. You will be thankful for long daylight hours if you can find a weather window earlier in the summer! At least 3 days of stable weather are necessary as once you commit to the abseils of the Peuterey Noire it is complex to escape. Perfect conditions are hard to line up and add to the allure of the route.


Ally Swinton on the Pointe Bifide of the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey
Climbing (17-18th July 2013)

Looking back, with the clarity of hindsight, we definitely chose the wrong route down. To descend from the top of Europe in the dark, with winds that had us stumbling and crawling off the mountain was a chaotic scramble for safety. To choose the quickest way down was to miscalculate the balance between convenience and safety – the crushing weight of fatigue versus the danger of big steep slopes freshly loading with snow.

We had begun in the Aosta valley, 39 hours earlier and traversed some of the most beautiful, exposed and inaccessible terrain in the Alps. It was however the home run, descending the ‘3 Monts’ from Mont Blanc back to the Aiguille du Midi that proved to be the most gruelling passage.

The first section has some fantastic rock climbing. The Aiguille Noire de Peuterey SSE ridge 1100m high with 6 distinct peaks to cross and sections of TD climbing. We started up in the dark. In the snow at the base there were a few footprints, and at the edge of the glacier we found a pair of crampons. We could only presume they were left by accident as it isn’t the obvious re-descent line of any route. It was the first time Ally Swinton and I had climbed a long route together and honestly neither of us knew a great deal about it, other than it was a ‘must-do’ climb. The best topo we found was from Michel Piola’s guidebook of 1993. We knew it was long, complex, and that most people took three days with bivouacs along the way. It also seemed rather difficult to escape along the way should we run into difficulties.


Climber on the Pointe Ottoz of the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey.
The rock climbing was excellent from the outset, with sustained interest along the whole ridge, and the few steeper passages were made much more tricky by our reasonably solid backpacks. I carried just a compact camera. I almost always regret taking a small camera, but here it was probably just as well! We carried light crampons, a single axe each, some food, and a jetboil stove. No sleeping bag, no mat and only enough water to get us up and over the first peak and down to hopefully find some ice to melt. We started at about 4.30 am and as darkness gave way to dawn we had already made good progress up the Pointe Gamba and the sun caught us as we were on the Pointe Bifide.

We moved together up almost the whole ridge, placing a couple of pieces of protection between us and taking belays when we ran out of gear or extenders. The idea was not to ‘speed climb’ by any means, but we figured that carrying less gear would make the climbing more enjoyable and if we didn’t want to carry overnight gear then we better just keep moving at a steady pace. We started out climbing in boots, but changed to rock shoes before long as we found we moved quicker like this. Don’t underestimate the complexity of route-finding up the ridge. We certainly lost hours rather than minutes up the ridge taking wrong turnings and reversing before matching the vague topo descriptions to the acres of granite above us. We slowed down and took belays for each of the steeper pitches, especially the delightful corner pitches on Pointe Ottoz where we passed a friendly Italian pair that had already been on the route for a day and a night.
Towards the summit of the Peuterey Noire however we were slowed again by an abundance of snow in the shady corners and cracks. The easy rock climbing became insecure mixed mixed climbing and scrabbling up wet rock. We reached the summit in the early afternoon and began the 14 abseils directly from the virgin.

This was the first section we had heard interesting things about. The series of abseils goes down a 400m vertical wall of slightly loose granite. We took turns leading down and at each abseil station we thoroughly jump tested whilst still attached to the previous anchors. Some of the convenient looking anchors had utterly rotten pitons or rock or both. We then had to bounce around at the end of the rope in search of something better. There are anchors scattered all over the place. On pulling one abseil, a rope got stuck. I have rarely had a rope stuck before and this was one of the most unfortunate places for it to happen. Ally volunteered to re-climb the rope to free it whilst I belayed him on a half rope. We were parched, having run out of water some hours earlier, but not wanting to stop and melt water in precious daylight hours. Thankfully I spotted a seepage of trickling water near the 8th abseil and we filled our bottles. The descent topo was difficult to follow, but eventually we arrived at the ‘Les Dames Anglaises’. This section is etched in my mind. Never have I climbed on such terrible rock without any option but to continue. In this section most topo descriptions become really vague.


The first abseil from the Noire
The terrain is complex, yet the features are ill-defined. Ridges, chimneys, ribs and ledges merge and muddle as the mountain disintegrates. Though we knew which general direction we needed to go we didn’t find a good solution and became vaguely lost as the light faded out. The night passed slowly trying many options, wasting our time and energy trying to match the terrain we couldn’t see to a route description we couldn’t understand. As Ally described it “you have arrived in hell’s kitchen, your only hope is that you’re not on the menu”. We climbed unroped but close together for much of the traverse. There was nothing much to anchor to, but lots or rock to knock off onto each other.

We were incredibly grateful when we eventually arrived at the Craveri Bivoauc shelter and were sure that we were back on route. This squalid little pig-sty sits in a magnificent, though severely exposed location at the north end of the Dames Anglaises peaks. It was 2.30am, and we were much later and more tired than I had hoped. We brewed up some drinks and noodles and took a power-nap for a few hours before setting off again at daybreak at 5.30.


Craveri bivoauc at sunrise.
At this point we thought we could still comfortably be up and over Mont Blanc, and down to the Aiguille du Midi to catch the last lift down to the valley. More importantly Ally had got a text message suggesting the weather forecast had deteriorated and so it was imperative we got down before the forecasted storm rolled in. The terrain up the Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey didn’t easily match up with the route description but the climbing was mostly moderate angle moving together over snow and rock bands. Nevertheless we were tired and with a lot of fresh snow resting on rock slabs we moved slowly. Between the two summits of the Peuterey Blanche is the beautiful yet exposed ‘half moon’ snow crest. The snow was still cold and firm, so we moved unroped. Towards the far end however the snow ridge gave way to thin ice on rock slabs. We stopped to rope up and I led across.

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Ally’s axe only had an aluminium pick so was pretty worthless for climbing. With solid crampons and axes it might be quite trivial, but with light tools it felt delicate and exposed. A quick nip up the Pointe Centrale and a scramble led to the NW pointe. From here three abseils bought us wearily to the Col de Peuterey where we melted some snow to drink. It was now mid afternoon again and the snow was soft. This is one of the few places on the whole route where you could escape down. Though we considered it this would be almost as tiresome and complex as climbing up and out. We followed an old trail in the snow up the Grand Pilier D’Angle, the final peak on the ridge before Mont Blanc. However the snow was so baked the footsteps were too soft to use and we broke trail more easily to the side. The remaining passage of 800m of snow slopes and ridges pretty well finished us off. We were de-hydrated, fatigued and low on food. We both slowed down to a crawl up the final section though it felt good to be getting close to the summit plateau.


Traverse at the start of the Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey.



On the snow slopes leading to the summit of the Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey.
It had become obvious hours earlier that we would not make the last lift down that day so phoned some friends back in Chamonix who stashed sleeping gear, gas, food and water for us at the Aiguille du Midi. Little did we know it would be another two days before the lift would run again! As we came near to the summit plateau the wind began to pick up. It is both distressing and exhilarating to be this exposed to the elements but we were too tired and thirsty to have more than a dull awareness of our situation. It was late in the day and it was clear a violent storm was building. On the Mont Blanc de Courmayeur plateau before the true summit of Mont Blanc the wind was already raging and dusk fell as we stood on the summit. We didn’t take a photo. There was little to celebrate as there was clearly a lot more to come. We shook hands and had a quick hug. We already had all our limited selection of clothes on, and it was time to descend quickly. I don’t think we even gave much thought to descending to the Vallot which at 4362m, and without any sleeping bags would have a been brutally cold place to hang out.


Traverse on the crescent ridge of the Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey.
Beyond that the Gouter hut and the walk to the valley floor held very little appeal. In retrospect it would have been a much safer option. In the dark, with some passages of complicated route-finding, and several steep avalanche prone slopes, the route back to the Aiguille du Midi was a poor choice. By this time we were staggering around like drunks. Both because the wind was rattling us about, but also as we hadn’t eaten for far too long. We tried unsuccessfully to find some shelter to rest a minute and get food out. A crevasse would have been a welcome luxury but we couldn’t find one and eventually had to stop in the full force of the building wind. We dropped to our knees and huddled over our bags and had the last of our semi frozen water and dry crispy bar each. At the Col du Mont Maudit we abseiled and down climbed off two in-situ bent ski poles. We then roped up to descend the big crevassed slopes of the north face. The wind was now raging from the north-west, rapidly cross-loading the slope with new snow. For much of this descent I led down as I been down only recently, but was hardly able to open my eyes as the snow whipped and stung my face and eyeballs, forcing itself into my mouth and choking my breath. It had long been clear that we shouldn’t have been there, and knew well we were rolling dice on these avalanche prone slopes. We pushed ourselves down step by step against the swirling forces. Towards the bottom of the slope we found a macabre reminder of the tragic accident that claimed 9 lives, including a British Guide, only a week before. In the day time no-one would have noticed, but in the dark we stumbled towards a glimmer of light. It was a head torch still shining weakly under the snow, half uncovered by the wind.

Many hours later when we arrived at the Midi lift station we found out that it had been unable to run at the end of the day and that many late returning climbers were trapped up over night. We were ever so thankful to retrieve the gear and food our friends had stashed. We ate a little and fell asleep on the concrete floor.


Stuck in the Aiguille du Midi after descending from Mont Blanc
Again the next day the lift didn’t run due to the high winds, and many people traversed the Vallée Blanche to take the sheltered Helbronner lift down to Italy instead. Three hours walking was not on our menu so we sat out another day and night before descending. It took a while for the adventure to sink in and the body to recover. In hindsight I began to realise how narrow a line we were treading, aiming to be ‘fast and light’. How easily alpinists can go, in Andy Cave’s words, from ‘Light and lucky, Fast and furious’ to being ‘Lost and lonely, F**ked and freezing’…
Approach

From parking at Peuterey in Val Veni follow the path rightwards and onto scree slopes to a rocky section. This is passed with chains and then leads to easier slopes and the sunny Borelli Refuge on the right, 2-3hrs.

Aiguille Noire de Peuterey

This first section, the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey, is a 1100m high TD ridge that can be climbed almost entirely moving together. The route finding in the lower section can be complicated if climbed in the dark and is worth a recce the afternoon before. The rock climbing is excellent, with sustained interest along the whole ridge. Water should be picked up wherever found.

From the foot of the Pointe Gamba at pt. 2675 a meandering line of weakness (max 4b) leads up and right to access the couloir separating it from the Pointe Bifide. This is climbed and then a rib for two pitches before traversing again right onto the face of the Pointe Bifide. The ridge is climbed in three pitches to reach terraces below a steep step. Climb a corner, chimney and then a slab (each 4c) to reach the crest. Go up then right then pass an overhanging block (5a) before descending a slab to reach the notch between the twin summits of the Bifide. Traverse R round the second summit and continue to reach a notch. Climb slabs and pinnacles to a steepening that is passed on the right.
Follow a diagonal traverse on the right flank of Pointe Welzenbach for a pitch before climbing a slab (4c) back left above a ledge. Follow further slabs and a chimney to the Pointe Welzenbach (3555m). Scramble down E for 20m to make a 25m abseil to a notch. Go along the right side initially before moving back to the ridge. Move onto the W side to gain ledges and climb 10m to an obvious notch. Traverse left for 3m below and overhang to climb a crack (5a) to a platform. Climb cracks on the left (4c) to an overhang passed by the left before moving back right and following the ridge to Pointe Brendel (3497m).

Follow a diagonal traverse on the right flank of Pointe Welzenbach for a pitch before climbing a slab (4c) back left above a ledge. Follow further slabs and a chimney to the Pointe Welzenbach (3555m). Scramble down E for 20m to make a 25m abseil to a notch. Go along the right side initially before moving back to the ridge. Move onto the W side to gain ledges and climb 10m to an obvious notch. Traverse left for 3m below and overhang to climb a crack (5a) to a platform. Climb cracks on the left (4c) to an overhang passed by the left before moving back right and following the ridge to Pointe Brendel (3497m).


Ally Swinton on the Pointe Bifide of the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey
Continue to the next notch via a 40m abseil. Traverse left around a pillar and then climb the chimney between this and the Pointe Ottoz. An airy stride gets you onto the steep ridge of Pointe Ottoz which is climbing straight up then left into a corner (5c). Climb this corner to overhangs then follow a slab right to the ridge (5c). Follow the ridge passing possible bivouac sites to the Pointe Ottoz (3586m).

Continue along the ridge to the gap before Pointe Bich and then traverses several small pinnacles (4c) to reach a steeper buttress. Climb this by cracks (5c) to the right of the ridge. Continue diagonally to the right by a system of corners. Follow these for 20m (4c) before a slab leads left back to the ridgeline. Follow the ridge to ledges, possible bivouacs, up a cracked slab and then rightwards past boulders to a loose gully. Climb the gully for 40m and then a chimney on the right leading to the ridge and then Pointe Bich (3753m).
Abseil 30m then descend steeply to the notch. Traverse ledges to the ridge which is followed to the summit of the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey (3772m) 5-8 hours. Possible bivouac sites. We reached the summit in the early afternoon and began the 14 abseils directly below the statue of the Virgin Mary. This is a good point to escape if things aren’t going so well as descent via the East Ridge is long but relatively easy.

To continue with the ‘Integrale’ a series of abseils takes you down a 400m wall with some free-hanging sections and a bit of loose rock. There are abseil stations strewn across the face, usually pegs or cord around spikes, most finished with a maillon link. The best line is hard to follow but trends slightly rightwards in descent. As the abseil stations are not regularly equipped each one needs to be thoroughly tested before use. 60m ropes are very useful to link the best line of anchors. The face also has abundant cracks so be careful to avoid rope jams. We found welcome seepages of water lower down the face to fill our bottles. After several hours we arrived at southern couloir of the ‘Les Dames Anglaises’.
Dames Anglaises

The terrain is complex, yet the features are ill-defined. Ridges, chimneys, ribs and ledges merge and muddle with a fair amount of loose rock. From the bottom of abseils head straight up loose gullies for 150m until branching out left into the bowl. This leads up in 200m to several options below and to the left of Pointe Casati. Head for a notch in SW ridge via a 30m gully and chimney. Find a 30m right slanting traverse to reach notch which has a letterbox opening. Go though and head up the right side of crest on flakes and then over a gendarme (60m) to reach another notch. From this take three abseils (30m down right then 40m, 40m) to the central breche of the Dames Anglaises From here climb down the left side 3m to a block and abseil from this 50m down the right side of the gully. From here traverse on loose terrain 50m horizontally then go diagonally left up a crack/shallow gully (10m). Continue horizontally around the buttress to a spike. From this abseil into the gully and climb up 60m to the north col above which will be found the Craveri Bivouac. This is nothing more than a small half cylinder metal shell with possibly a few blankets but it sits in a magnificent exposed position. The traverse of the Dames Anglaises takes just 3-4 hours if you locate the correct line. We were overcome by darkness and had some difficulty locating the route and arrived at the shelter in the middle of the night! It pays dividends at this stage to rehydrate well.


Dames Anglaises and the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey (rappel line) seen from the Aiguille Blanche
Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey

The terrain up the Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey is enjoyable moderate mixed terrain. However if you encounter a lot of fresh snow it can be slow going.

From the Craveri traverse W 50m, up 5m to notch then down the other side. Continue traversing W for 50m first down then up. Slant up a couloir for 15m then directly up easy slabs (30m) to a col with a pinnacle on the left. Follow the small gully beyond, or rocks on its bank, up rightwards and then the right side of a prominent ridge (that is a SW subsidiary of the main SE ridge). Pass a gendarme and then continue moving up and around to reach a col in the main SE ridge. From here follow easy mixed terrain with a few steeper steps on the east side of the SE ridge moving up and right for 400m. You will cross vague ribs to meet the eastern skyline ridge and a notch at 3900m. Take surprising traverse right for 10m under a pillar, then up chimney/gully (4a, 30m) onto broken ground which is followed for 150m to SE summit (4107m). Between the summits of the Peuterey Blanche is the beautiful yet exposed ‘half moon’ snow crest. Attempt to arrive early in the day so the snow is still frozen. It can be very delicate when icy. At the far side of the snow ridge traverse up a vague ramp under the east side of the central peak (4112m), compact rock difficult to protect, to belay on its far side. Continue another 60m to NW summit (4104m). There are several lines of abseils of which the right hand appears the cleanest. After a few abseils we arrived at the Col de Peuterey. 4-8 hrs from the Craveri Bivouac.


Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey and Glacier de Frêney from the Grand Pilier d'Angle at sunset.
Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey and Glacier de Frêney from the Grand Pilier d'Angle under moonlight.
Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey from the Grand Pilier d'Angle at sunrise.
Mont Blanc

The quickest way to the summit is via the Eccles Couloir to the Grand Pilier d’Angle and then Peuterey ridge to Mont Blanc de Courmayeur. (In dry or warm conditions the SE ridge of the Grand Pilier d’Angle may be a safer route.) If there is a good line of firm neve then the Eccles couloir is a 50º snow couloir meandering up to reach the beautiful and exposed snow arete of Peuterey Ridge just N of the Grand Pilier d’Angle. Follow the arete which becomes less defined in its upper reaches, to the summit of Mont Blanc de Courmayeur. Traverse N to Mont Blanc (4-6hrs). Descend either the Arete des Bosses or Three Mont Blancs.


Italian guide and client at the Grand Pilier d'Angle on the upper Peuterey ridge.
Ben Tibbetts is an adventure photographer and IFMGA British Mountain Guide based in Chamonix, France. He is working on a book of the finest routes in the Alps, available in 2017

Ben will be guiding, climbing and photographing the remaining routes for his book on the 4000m peaks over the next year.

Routes on his list vary from PD snow climbs through classic alpine ridges to harder gullies and face routes. If you are interested in being guided on some of these adventures, (with the possibility of appearing in the book!) then get in touch with Ben to discuss availability (though he is away until late April working in Greenland!) - [email protected] or see his guiding website www.bentibbettsguiding.com for more information.

You can see his portfolio at Ben Tibbetts Photography, and follow him on his Facebook Page. Information on Alpine guiding, polar guiding and his blog are at bentibbettsguiding.com

Ben is supported by: Rab, Lowe Alpine, Scarpa (France), Ski Trab and Arva