UKC

Ueli 'The Swis Machine' Steck teamed up with Brit Jon Griffith a few days ago to make a one day free ascent of the Leseuer Route on the North Face of the Petit Dru, Chamonix.

"I think this is the first free ascent and first one day ascent in winter but credit for that goes to the Steck..."

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=66139

In reply to UKC News:

Way to go Jon! Awesome stuff.

In reply to UKC News: -22 in the valley, jeez that must have been c.c.c.c.old up on the dru!

amazing stuff, that photo taken from the GM looks mental, cant imagine the exposure.

In reply to UKC News:

Properly inspiring.

In reply to UKC News:
Excellent work, as always!! Well done!!

In reply to UKC News:

Stunning as usual Jon. Hope you enjoyed the shower, a beer and food after.

Mick

In reply to UKC News:Great effort.

Nice one!
Other ninjas might want to look at a direct finish, following original line for a few more pitches above the terrace, then directly to summit instead of the original traverse left across the North Couloir. Russians climbed somewhere right of this in summer for their mountaineering competition.

Has anyone done a winter style free ascent of the Voie des Guides to the right again?

Or of the Col des Drus?

In reply to Mr Lopez:

Wow top effort again guys!

In reply to smithaldo: Yeah it was pretty cold. I had my Alaska bag with me and it was till too cold at 5am to sleep any more. Hence the bivy shots i took at the end.

Thanks to Mark Ryle who gave me the idea in the first place. Also the direct finish does not actually look too bad when viewed in detail from above- maybe one more hard pitch and then it eases back dramatically to the summit of the Petit Dru.

Jon

In reply to Jon Griffith:
Hey Jon, looks amazing. What sort of sleeping bag is your Alaska one, trying to deceide which one to take next month for Cham?

Cheers
Heike
PSAny recommendations where to stay too (10 day trip) cheers H

In reply to UKC News:
Brilliant effort from Ueli and Jonathan!

However to claim the first free ascent of a route it is important that the route is climbed in it's entirety which appears to not be the case in this instance. UKC have a responsibility to make sure it's headlines are accurate!

In reply to Jon Bracey:

I think you meant to write:

However to claim the first free ascent of a route it is important that the route is climbed in its entirety which appears to not be the case in this instance. UKC have a responsibility to make sure its headlines are accurate!



ALC

In reply to a lakeland climber:
That is what he wrote!!

In reply to liz j: there's an apostrophe different.

In reply to puppythedog:

There's two apostrophes difference!!

ALC

In reply to a lakeland climber: Yes but there's an extra exclamation mark in your response to me.

In reply to UKC News: Looking forward to the video!

In reply to a lakeland climber:

Does it really matter that much?????????

In reply to liz j: At first glance your use of question marks seems excessive also, but on closer inspection though there is an odd number allowing the rest to cancel themselves out to leave only the one. Excellent grammar indeedus!

In reply to liz j:

Yes it does because it alters the meaning of the sentence to gibberish: "make sure it is headlines are accurate" is what was written. Slightly ironic don't you think?



ALC

In reply to UKC News:

Who cares?

Well done Ueli and Jon!

In reply to a lakeland climber:
Apologies for my poor grammar, it obviously offends you. I'm sure most people understood my point that the Lesueur Route on the north face of the Dru still awaits a complete free ascent.

In reply to Jon Bracey:
Yes, I understood Jon, but some people just like to be pedantic!!!
Regardless, the lads had a good time so that's what really matters!!

In reply to liz j:

Hi Liz, In my opinion this issue is very important. Just because people like Ueli Steck and Jonathan Griffiths, it doesn't mean that they should get away with making a false claim about making the first free ascent of the Lesueur route. The Lesueur route does not finish up the Dru couloir, which is what Kirkpatrick, Ryle, Steck and Griffiths have done.

In reply to Jon Bracey:
Oh, I agree!! I was more concerned that the pedantics on here were correcting your grammar

Ironic that neither of the two most recent parties on this route had a topo handy on the leftward traverse across the terrace! Following the nose certainly leads into the gully and to the brèche.

One party hadn't planned this route at all and had being following the nose from the lower Allain terrace. "What's that? Looks amazing, let's do that!"

It's the most incredible line of weakness for fourteen long pitches from terrace to terrace, cutting through steep compact granite. There's only one way to go here!

The stone is perfect, the protection is perfect, the angle is steep, the location is mind-blowing. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I'm quite sure that it will soon be a modern mixed classic.

It was second week of December with one brand new high-tech cold-conditions head-torch packed in soon after Montenvers slowing things down. Traversing the terrace in the dark with 1 LED and no topo was only ever going to lead the easiest way, the "North Couloir Finish."
Too bad as it misses out what I should have called the True Finish. That's the way you would go if you set out in winter to climb an independent line to the right of the North Couloir, with no knowledge of existing routes. All the climbing is on the Petit Dru so the natural summit would be the Petit Dru.