UKC

This is rather good

youtube.com/watch?v=OxfFT_VoX4E&

In reply to MG:

I enjoyed it. I think it was the Whymper Couloir.

In reply to MG: very good. Thanks for posting

In reply to MG:

Bravo, excellent video... a lunchtime treat!

Many thanks for posting

In reply to MG:

What a great film!

(Purple and plastics, takes me right back!)

In reply to MG:

Nice film, can't help feeling sorry for the client though!

It's a pity so much of it was slightly tilted though, it was a bit irritating for some reason.

In reply to Bruce Hooker: I would also have been interested in the going down bit!

In reply to MG:

I didn't do much walking down facing out.

In reply to MG:

that guide is pretty good , but agree with the client remark , looks terrifying

In reply to MG:

I thought it was great, though I tend to agree with Bruce about the tilting. Why do people do it? On the other hand the ridge from the top of the couloir to the summit looked a lot less knife edge than I remember - frightened the living daylights out of me!

In reply to jon:

Looks sharp enough to me

In reply to MG: Really enjoyed that. Not sure if it's put me off the route or not. Thanks for posting it.

In reply to MG:

Great! Thanks!

In reply to jon:

Could this be down to the very wide angle lens on the GoPro type cameras?

In reply to OwenM:


I get the feeling it was made before the advent of those.

If you're referring to my comment about the summit ridge then it's true that a wide angle lens would make it appear sharper than reality - indeed there was a helmet cam clip of the Nadelgrat recently where this was certainly the case. However, in this case I was remarking that it looked a lot LESS sharp in the film than my memory of it. I suspect that it just tends to form differently from year to year. I do remember it being uncomfortably steep on the Whymper side so after a distance I crossed over to the Argentière side expecting it to be much more friendly, but to my dismay, it wasn't!

In reply to MG: Yes I guess it was originally made on cine but they had the same problem i.e. wide angle lens which distorts around the edges of the picture. I've noticed this on a lot of skiing videos, add a hand or helmet cam to the lens distortion and it's almost impossible to tell what the slope angle really is. Nice film all the same.

Great clip - speaking as a non-mountaineer, I can't quite understand the use of the short rope. Should one of the pair fall how does the other respond to save the both of them.
Dave

In reply to lb1dej:

I'd say that was a very fair comment during most of the film.

Short roping can be very effective at arresting a slip by the lower person (in ascent or descent) but only if the rope is as tight as possible. However, on many routes with long stretches of easy terrain - such as this couloir - many people relax a little and move together, the rope not really serving any purpose - don't forget, the film is tilted and the terrain a lot easier than the cameraman would have you believe. The reason for remaining roped up is that the rope is instantly available should it be needed to climb a more difficult section in a pitch. In that case it's just necessary to uncoil a few of the shoulder coils - as happens at about 3 minutes in. Coiling the rope and packing it away only to need it again a few minutes later is just too time consuming. I'm guessing that the guide in the film knows his client well enough that he is happy to move together like this and maybe tightening it up for the odd slightly harder bit - and of course that the client is happy that they do this. Moving together is more or less essential on this type of terrain - pitching it would simply take far too long.

In reply to lb1dej: If the client falls then the guide is meant to so super strong that he can just yank the rope and pull the client back onto his feet. If the guide falls he'll take the punter with him, that's why guides never ever fall off!
Myself I prefer to use a longer rope and place some form of runner as we climb. Also means you can get your breath back every now and again as you let your second catch up and hand you all the gear he's collected.

In reply to OwenM:

This also has the advantage that you can pass some of the work carrying the gear to the lower climber! Clever ploy.

In reply to MG: Thanks for that !

When I climbed La Verte , we went up the Couturier and down the Whymper.

This route up La Verte is beautifully filmed in Catherine Destivelle's "Au Dela des Cimes"


youtube.com/watch?v=_ycUEUXu2WY&

In reply to MG: is the descent route the same or do you go down a different way? looks awesome route.i lost count of the number of times i said "wow"!

In reply to Pyreneenemec:
The full thing is here - http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xui6b7_au-dela-des-cimes_sport#.USkspaW9rN...

Impressive stuff on what I think is "Elixir d'Astoroth" on the Grand Cap....

In reply to pneame:


I received the DVD as a present !

In reply to Jon and Owen: Thanks very much for the information.

While on the technical aspects of climbing - can anyone recommend any videos of how to set up and pack portaledges - not that I'm thinking of doing it of course anything above grade 1 scrambling is beyond my limits!
Dave

In reply to heidi123:


I've not done it but I think the options are i)down the same way in good snow conditions and early in the day, ii) otherwise down a long ridge if it is not too snowy, iii) otherwise spend the night somewhere not very comfortable and reassess. Option iii) seems rather common.