UKC

hope to have a go at the above route this summer .
is it better to leave your crampons and boots ect at the bottom and rap back down it. or is it better to climb with all your gear and finish at the midi station?
also is there much gear at the belays and on the route/.
i heard the route finding is a bit tricky nearer the top to .any tips?
james

In reply to JAMES K: I climbed in rock boots and left boots crampons etc. at the bottom but then we were booked in the Cosmiques hut that night. If I was descending to Cham I would probably carry my gear. There is plenty of situ gear on the route especially at the places where you need it. I seem to recall not placing many nuts at all but the climbing suited my style. The route is technical rather than strenuous. Route finding should not be a problem. Follow the crowd. When we did it the top two pitches were iced up so we had to abseil from there. as we did not have crampons and boots with us. Enjoy it, it's a brilliant route in a setting that would be hard to improve on. I would rate it at about E1 5a but arguments abound about it's grade ranging from HVS to E3. There is likely to be a string of climbers from bottom to top so be prepared. It is also usual these days to approach the famous "S crack" from the right, up a crack and traverse under the overhang, which is the start of the Contamine route (I think). This makes the grade more consistent as I understand the normal start is considerable harder and may be out of character with the rest of the route. I have seen French climbers abseil in and climb out with very little gear but this would require considerable confidence and knowledge of the buttress.

Al

In reply to JAMES K: It's a long time since I did it. I carried all our kit up the route i.e. I lead it with a sack full of boots crampons and a couple of axes because we had gone for a bimble before coming back to do the route. I had to sack haul on the tricky short pitch up to the main roof low down but apart from that climbed with it the rest of the way.

The belays were good and people were abbing the face although the ab does cross a few lines so you might have to wait for parties.

We just followed our noses near the top and ended up a bit left going up a chimney/corner. Really nice route and because of that busy unless you leave it as late as us! We got the last cabin down.

In reply to JAMES K:
when i did the contamine we put plastic bags over our e.b.s and put crampons over the top.we had one ice hammer between us but didn't need it.we just sack hauled the stuff on the harder pitches and the second carried it on the easier ones.

In reply to JAMES K:

Did it many years ago and left gear at bottom, but we were dossing in the Simmond (now locked in Summer)

Having walked past it last August, I'd advise you to be 1st on the route (1st light) - or be prepared for a queue & carry headtorches

In reply to JAMES K:I've done the Midi both ways. It surely is more fun climbing without the boots and axe weighing you down, though I guess that's alpinism, isn't it!!!! The time I left my stuff at the base I almost got a too quick ride down to Cham. thanks to a guided party that almost pushed me off the ridge as I was soloing back up to the summit--be warned.

In reply to JAMES K: If you're planning to get the cable car down then I'd suggest either climbing with your gear or leaving it at the top and abbing in in the morning. I climbed it with my gear as I don't mind climbing with a pack and hate abseiling.

Most of (all?) the belays are bolted and there's a shit load of pegs. Route finding at the top is part of the fun! There's many ways you can go that are all around the same grade.

Kane

In reply to JAMES K: Best way by far is to exit from the top into the Midi station. For this you either abseil straight down from the top leaving boots and crampons there, or you can go down the arette wearing approach shoes with crampons and one walking pole. If you do ab down you'll be annoying everyone who is climbing it, so a pretty selfish option (i hate it when people raps over other parties when they got other options). If you do the latter make sure you carry a small bar towel and a pair of dry socks.
When i did it last year the route had been 'cleaned' of pegs. That means they broke the heads but left the pin in. Pretty crap, as you can neither use the pegs, nor can you use the placement for holds or place your own gear. Belays are bolted though.
Not sure how tricky the route finding is at the top, since i believe i went of route myself... Anyway, everywhere is climbable, so no big deal there.
Little tip. If you wake up after a hot day with storms to find that the whole Midi is shrouded in clouds check the webcams. It's normal for these morning clouds to be covering the whole valley but for the Midi to be above them. If that happens race it to the lift, as you are likely to have the whole face for yourself. I climbed the face twice and both times it was sunny and we were alone up there.

In reply to JAMES K:
Thanks for the info folks.sounds like its going busy (unless im lucky).
james

In reply to JAMES K: Just one more thing.
If you plan to exit into the station remember that they close the balcony between half an hour and an hour before the last lift, so you should aim to be in the station by 16:30. We had to call the police once when we were stranded outside in t-shirts and climbing shoes...
Also, take sleeping gear, food and water (no drinking water in the station) in case you miss the lift and have to sleep in the station. You can stash all the stuff in the station before you start the route.

In reply to JAMES K: i think the best way to do the south face is to walk around with trainers and crampons and climb with them in your pack. the exit to the midi is a 20m abseil and the approach is about 10mins.

i always imagined abseiling down the face to a)take longer than walking around and b)invariably involve rappeling onto someone's head.

In reply to Mr Lopez: so would it be better to bivi in the midi the night before to get an early start and beat the queues .or is it a bit cold to start climbing early on it. i take it the exit in to the midi is quite straight forward. would you bother with an ice axe?.i had a wee slip going down the arrete in ski boots in the winter trying to beat the crowds so im a bit more wary of it now.

In reply to JAMES K: I find it hard to understand how someone can find this e3! HVS/E1 is pretty much about right.

Abseiling in down the face would be a huge faff and the ab down to the first belay is diagonal and has good potential for stuck ropes.

If you think you might spend a while on it, don't leave your gear outside at the top of the midi. They lock the doors and we had to do some interesting buildering from the top of the cosmiques lookout over the lookout at the top of the south face to get our gear back.

I've seen the arete in all sorts of conditions, some I'd be happy walking down in trainers and crampons, others I most definately wouldn't. It's not too much faff to walk down in boots, and climb with them in your bag.

In reply to JAMES K: I wouldn't myself start too early, as the crux pitch is the first one, and then you got the s-crack right after, so unless you like suffering you might as well wait for the sun to warm the face. People start climbing around 9am.
You could head down and take pole position, and have breakfast slowly while you gear up, and start climbing when you think is ok. This is really your choice.
If you go down very early you will need an axe, as the trail will be frozen, i personally don't take either, but i wouldn't advise you to do that. As of taking an axe or a walking pole is only for you to decide. I don't know how confident you are on snow and don't want to advise you to do something that may result in you injuring yourself. Taking an axe over a pole is only a 300g saving, so your call.
To get back to the Midi you have to climb the summit boulder via a bolt ladder on the right, then follow a short slab to the top. Use one of several insitu spikes to do a diagonal 20m abseil and then you cross a 5m snow arette to reach the rail of the walkway. Jump in and smile to the dozens of japanese tourists that'll be taking photos of you while americans try to shake your hand.

In reply to Matt_b: I can see why someone climbing it in poor conditions, in big boots and with a pack on might find it a bit harder than HVS though. I read an article some years ago where it was climbed like this and the author thought it was considerably harder. I was pleasantly surprised how straightforward it was when I got round to climbing it some years later. My opinion was E1 5a but I would not argue with either HVS or 5b.

Al

In reply to Mr Lopez:

or you can use a ski mountaineering ax that weighs about as much as a snickers bar...


you can also approach the summit from the left and avoid the bolt ladder i believe (but i go right)


:-D happens everytime....

In reply to Matt_b:

Doing the proper start you get a pitch of UK 5B/5C (UIAA VII) with a spicy move over a flake that is waiting for you to break your ankles. This pitch alone is E2/3.

In reply to tradlad: i'd go for E1 5b but i actually thought the hardest pitch was a slimy chimney halfway up. i think the S-crack is pretty steady at safe Fr6a+/6b