UKC

Hi all,

I'm posting because I wanted to get opinions on the best time of year to climb the north face of the Tour Ronde. By best, I mean the best time to get reasonably good ice and consolidated snow without having to use touring skis to get to the route. That said, I wouldn't be opposed to going earlier in the year and contending with powder snow if it meant the route was in better condition.

I appreciate that these things can vary a lot from year to year but it would be good to hear of people's experiences. From looking at the UKC page for the route, people do climb it up until mid July but the snow is usually less consolidated later in the season.

On average, if using skis then April into May. If not, mid/late May into June. Possible some years into early July but will need a much earlier start.

However, each year is a bit different - 2022 had warm temperatures a lot earlier (bringing season forward), 2023 had a lot of late season (April/May) snow. 

Main requirements are neve on the face (so not black ice) and decent overnight freeze. It is prone to rockfall when warm.

Hope this helps. 

Yes this is very helpful. I did Gervasutti's Couloir last year in mid June last year and thought the north face had a little bit to much debris to make it worth while but people were still climbing it then. Although, a lot of the logs did say that it was tenuous. Mid/late may might be the best for me.

Thanks for replying to the post