We are in Chamonix and thinking of doing the Aiguille d'Entrèves traverse in a day or so when the weather clears.
The Rockfax guidebook refers to a couple of 30m abseils being needed on the descent - can anyone advise whether this is accurate, or whether we can get away with taking a single 50m rope? We don't have a 60m rope with us and don't want to carry a second rope unless we absolutely have to!
A short down climb from the summit to reach a single bolt abseil anchor, 25m to the next single bolt. Again a short down climb reaches the next single bolt and 25m from this to the shoulder. There is also a relatively new two bolt abseil anchor, down and left, for a final 25m abseil off the end of the ridge, to regain the glacier, which avoids having to make an icy traverse from the ridge end.
I would agree. From the summit, down climb carefully is better than abseiling as it is very awkward and slabby. Can lower second if want to but down climb is best. 1 25m ab onto glacier from ridge. Might be able to put crampons so land on glacier fully prepared. Great value and more tiring than you think!
In reply to Maria Dixon: I second tcashmore's comments above. The abseils after the summit are short/awkward, so often down-climbed for the most part. The abseil to focus on is the drop down to the glacier on the French side of the ridge, just before the ridge ends. The anchor is quite hard to find but 25m was fine for us (albeit it was quite close). We put crampons on before abseiling and this was a good choice! Also, beware of dislodging loose rock when abseiling, as some parties may be traversing below you on the glacier.
Thanks Ed. I can see you did it fairly recently - were conditions generally good on the route?
We're planning to head up early tomorrow, from the Courmayeur side. (Driving through the Mont Blanc Tunnel was significantly cheaper than taking the lift between the Midi and Helbronner would be!)
In reply to Maria Dixon: I’m probably a bit too late if you went yesterday, but for what it’s worth, conditions were good for us. Hard neve on the glacier and dry on the ridge. Hope you had fun!
Maria and I did the traverse on Friday - nice route, and absolutely fine with a single 50m rope (moved together on the descent, then just under 25m abseil off to the left to reach the snow). Jumping the bergschrund provided some entertainment! (approx 1m across, 3m down)
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