UKC

Are the wooden wedges still there? What does people use for gear these days?

Cheers

In reply to Mr Lopez:

[second hand info allert] apparently there are some wedges in situ and a size 6 cam comes in usful. I've also heard that it no longer exists in its upper sections due to rockfall.

In reply to Franco C:
Yeah, people talk about some rotten wedgies in-situ, but was wondering how far the rumour goes back and if they really are still there.
Hadn't heard about part of the route missing, will need to find info on that as i want top-out.
Thanks

In reply to Mr Lopez:
They were there and slingable in 1986!!!
I also used a friend 4 which I kept moving up the crack. Good climbing too above the fontaines ledges. I am aware of rockfall that has altered the route since then but am not sure where.
Sorry my info is not more up to date.........
I can thoroughly recommend the nearby route - majorette thatcher - about english 5c as far as I can remember. A mate of mine who is a french guide did the route in 2007 and told me 20 mins ago that it was not affected by any recent rockfall. He reckoned the grade to be french 6b/c.

In reply to manumartin:
Cool, thanks. I think i'll stick to the Friend 4 and ignore the 25yo+ wedgies...

Headed up to do Majorette Thatcher in a few occasions, but since i usually only head there when the conditions everywhere else are crap, there's always been a healthy queue on it and ended up doing something else. Rapped past it a few times though.

In reply to manumartin:

How strange that the OHM is telling people that it has largely collapsed then...

In reply to Franco C:
The OHM has been telling for 10 years that the American Direct had fallen down...

In reply to Mr Lopez:

I did it over 10 years ago, can't remember exactly when, and a lot of the top pitches had fallen down or been affected by rock fall then, but no useful recent information. Weirdly we missed the main event by a thinner crack to the left (the visibility was awful!).

In reply to tobykeep:
No worries. Just heard of someone who climbed it fully and topped-out last year.

Cheers

In 2002 there were a couple of pegs in flakes on either side of the crack, and a good wedge higher up. Certainly all the gear I had was in situ. I think a friend 4 is too small to be of any use. I remember finding this offwidth really hard, but maybe that's because I had a 'sack on. I also remember some serious rock fall debris higher up.

Let us know how you get on,

Ross.

In reply to Mr Lopez:

The wedges were old in 1969 when Brian Molyneux removed them all and brought them down to the Biolay, I guess they have been replaced several times since. They were removed because Joe didn't put them in on the first ascent, it was a francais affront to British climbing ethics at that time..

In reply to ross:
Thanks for the info. We don't have anything bigger than a 4, so it'll have to do. I expect it to be hard, specially since i'm shit at offwidths... Now let's just hope the weather helps.

In reply to Mr Lopez:
specially since i'm shit at offwidths... Now let's just hope the weather helps.

Could be an interesting learning curve then!

Hope the weathers kind to you.

In reply to Al Evans:

I heard that story before, of how they took them off and piled them outside their tent, and of a rather heated debate with the French guides who put them to shepherd clients up it.
Funny that people see stuff like the 'Thai Boxing' issue as 'modern', when the old boys have been doing it for decades.

In reply to walts4:


Indeed! Pretty stupid thing to do when you think of it, but hey, if people didn't do stupid things then where would the fun of it be...

I may still loose my psyche when i look at it and end up climbing something else instead, so no pressure.
At least is only one pitch, and not a whole 200m of old-school fighting in the Peigne.

In reply to Mr Lopez:

It will be fun & character building, sure you will enjoy it in a perverse sort of way...

In reply to Mr Lopez: A tually I agreed with Brian, we had done it a few days before and the wedges just got in the way.

In reply to walts4:


Yeah, just got back from Verdon where we headed to do what was meant to be a 350m route with 'a continuous 200m crack line'. What the description didn't say is that it was an offwidth ranging from fists up to squeeze chimney, with only a couple of pitches of 'normal' climbing.
Funny thing is that after the initial shock i found myself quite enjoying it, though it was admittedly a bit easier than the Fissure Brown is meant to be. The latest topos give it a weighty f6c!!! I'm shaking thinking of it...

In reply to Mr Lopez:

Sounds like you are half way there to me after your Verdon exploits, supposed you could always try the lepeney crack on the peigne as a sort of apprenticeship to see how you measure up!

In reply to walts4: The Eperon Sud has a couple of interesting offwidth pitches too, if you fancy another warmup.