In reply to GridNorth:
> I did the American Direct around about 1971 so can't be of much help but I was led to believe that a route adjacent to it has been bolted. Do you know anything about that?
Hi Al. Sorry - I only twigged belatedly that Jon's post suggesting my involvement referred to your post rather than the original one!
I certainly haven't heard of this - whether either a recent bolted line or a retroed old one. One has to suggest that, since the late 1990s, this probably hasn't been regarded as the most long-term bit of Alpine real estate in which to invest a lot of time and hardware - for the same sort of reason that it hasn't for some years been thought worthwhile to install proper lower-offs at Tintern! Apart from Marc Batard's two routes, which were solo epics (one in winter) and not the sort of occasions on which to install a new multipitch sport route, the other routes hereabouts all seem to have been established prior to the mid-1980s when bolting was still a laborious task, done manually, which one tended to keep to a minimum (I'm guessing here - I've never done a new route on the Dru!). But maybe some research will unearth something. The routes of which I'm aware, working left-to-right from the edge of the north face are:
- C'est arrive demain (with an acute accent in there somewhere); 1979 Remy route, far left side of the face, ED2 in the UKC Database but no further info (perhaps email Mr Lopez [moderator] for more), presumably joins the North face route fairly low down.
- Passage Cardiaque; 1984 Piola/Steiner route (although Database says 1986), topo in Piola's Mt Blanc book, ABO (ED3 in Database), obl 6b+ (7b with possibly still the odd aid point), originally pegs + 20 bolts (golos) left in place (over 7 pitches), finishes on North Face (still low down) or abs off. This route starts down to the right of the Hemming/Robbins - possibly a bit hazy by now - crosses it at its first belay, and climbs slabs to its left; it finishes at the leftward continuation of the H/R's first terrace.
- Les Strapontins du Paradis; 1980 Remy/Martinez route, starts right of Passage Cardiaque and eventually joins the Hemming/Robbins at the Jammed Block - presumably staying right of the H/R up to this point. TD+; which in 1980, as I'm sure you recall, could simply mean "free and very hard", ED on rock often being reserved for aid routes. Climbed over two days, so not much time for superfluous bolting. It's possible that Roger and I used a few pitches of this route - but mostly on aid - to reach the Grey Ledges on the Harlin/Robbins (and if so, there certainly weren't any bolts on that bit in 1981).
- Voie des Genevois; all I know about this one is that it was somewhere on the west face and was climbed by Bernard Wietlisbach and Nic Schenkel over two days in 1982. Bernard was a very good crack climber and pretty adventurous - repeats of El Cap nail-ups before they became trade routes, and new routes in Baffin and elsewhere - and hardly the sort of person to sprinkle bolts liberally!
All in all not much help, but possibly something to gnaw at through the winter! Let me know if you turn anything up.