UKC

Hi, just wondered if anyone had info on the above; thinking of coming out in april and wanted to know if it has been a good winter and therefore may last through til late april?

In reply to Rick Asher:

Hi Rikardo.. There is ice low down on the Face but not much on the upper half.. Not the best winter for those north faces but still climbable.

In reply to Dave Searle:

To Second what Dave said, it all looked very grey up there yesterday.

In reply to Rick Asher:

thanks for the info guys, I'm assuming its much the same for the "Pre de Bar" area?

In reply to Will_Thomas_Harris:

Am I right in thinking the North Face of Les Courtes is similar? I read the other day that the Swiss Route is good lower down, but dry at the top, with the Austrian Route being in okay nick. How did it look to you both?

Flying out in three weeks time...

In reply to Swampi:

Did the Austrian route yesterday. Really fun conditions at the moment. A lot drier than usual, making for more interesting climbing (several short passages at 65-75 degrees, one long pitch at 60-75 degrees if you take a little direct variation and a few mixed sections). About 50m of glacial ice near the top which burnt a lot of time and energy but otherwise good conditions. Swiss Route on the other hand looked good in the bottom, dry in the top. Don't think it would be that fun in current conditions.

Rest of the Argie basin looking pretty dry. Droites north face do-able, but really wouldn't recommend it. Top half of routes look like they would be a slow suffer-fest. Petit Viking at the back of the basin looks okay but other routes on the Pre-de-Bar still look dry. Some of them could probably go though. Aiguille Verte looking dry. Couturier goes alright but things like Vivagel, Late to Say I'm Sorry etc don't look too appealing. Conditions should hopefully improve throughout April.

In reply to Rick Asher:

thanks guys

In reply to tjoliver:

Yeah thanks guys. Some good beta there.

In reply to Rick Asher: email me and I can send you some pics from the basin from thurs/fri last week. As others have said. Not looking good other than petit viking.