UKC

I heard somewhere that last year it was damaged and is no longer accessible. Is this true? Thanks

In reply to BarneyLoosemore:

According to Camp to Camp, it was still there last december.

You may be thinking of the Trident Hut , further down the ridge, which is long gone.

In reply to pneame:
I stayed there for two nights, this past weekend, and it was most definitely still there, and as spectacular as ever (although completely empty the days I was there).

What did change a year or two ago was the access to the main Kuffner ridge - a massive rockfall to the left of the final gendarme on the horizontal part of the ridge has made circumventing it difficult. If you don't mind missing out on a night at the Fourche, I would strongly recommend using the direct attack to access the ridge, sleeping out or at the Torino hut.

In reply to BarneyLoosemore:

It occurred to me that you might be asking because you're interested in some of the Brenva cirque routes. If you try any of them now, yergunnadie.

In reply to Jonny:

Well, was looking at doing the Kuffner on Friday/Saturday following the forecast dump of snow tomorrow (Wednesday) which will hopefully have consolidated by then. Of course shout if this is a stupid idea (..and offer alternatives if possible).

In reply to BarneyLoosemore:

Looking at your best onsights, I wouldn't.....

Not being rude but maybe getting a couple of AD's in before getting on a D is a good idea?
I found a big gap between the two grades personally. Also, something near a lift that gets AD, like the Cosmiques Arete, has nothing to do with a real AD on a real peak.
Of course you may be a crack alpinist by now, in which case feel free to tell me to shut it.

Re the kuffner it depends how much it snows, but it looks like a lot on some forecasts so, who knows...

In reply to LakesWinter:

Yes, you're most likely right - I had the Kuffner in mind because everything we've done so far has felt well within our grade and it seems to lack most technical diffuculties associated with a D, plus my partner is a far better climber than me.