UKC

Does anyone have any info on the state of the Dru N face?
Is the Pierre Allain doable at the moment?

Thanks,
G

In reply to garrett85:
Right now it will be snowing if the forecast is right and there's snow forecast down to 2,000m over the next day or so. That will take a while to clear from a NF this time of year. May be later on September if you're lucky. Has a reputation for rock fall and there's been a lot of that all over the Alps this summer, so needs to cool down really. People have been doing the Walker the last few days in acceptable conditions, if that's any gauge. There's always the Drus traverse as an easier option.

In reply to garrett85:

Thanks.
Will be in Cham in about two weeks, so maybe it'll be in decent condition by then.
Is the dru traverse supposed to be safer in terms of rockfall?

In reply to garrett85:

Yep temperature p,umetted in the Alps today. Rain lower down all today and firevast to continue next couple of days. Its single figures in the vallet overnight, so ffing freezing.

In reply to garrett85:
I think so but check with the OHM.

In reply to garrett85:



Was up at the Charpoua hut mid September with the idea of attempting to climb the traverse the next morning. The guardian turned up in the evening after his busy day crystal collecting, he then started to prepare the evening meal & asked what our intentions for the next day were.
Upon hearing that it was going to be the Dru traverse, he raised one eyebrow but didn't comment.
We continued to enjoy the vista, scoping out the route for the next day but noticed the sun just starting to catch the top of the Flamme pierre ridge where it joins the Dru.
5 minutes later, a massive rock fall came swooping down the bowl that you have to traverse & ascend to join the ridge, my climbing partner & myself both looked at each other & promptly decided on another alternative game plan for the following day.
The guardian just smiled wryly when told of our decision & suggested climbing at the lower end of the flame pierre.

Aside from the above, maybe the North face will be ok in a couple of weeks, depends upon the strength of the sun & the heat generated in the coming week, hope so because its also on my radar-)

In reply to garrett85:

Assume you've checked the Chamoniarde conditions. Particularly RE dru traverse. It's been done but with rockfall, and check conditions of the glacier.

I don't know of anyone having done the N face dru this summer, though it was done early season. I know of a couple of parties that backed off the American D. The W face scar looks to have extended above the AD this year, there being grey about 100m above the 90m corner. Things may settle and it is a lot colder this weekend, but it's not going to "fix" overnight. Rockfall has been significant and it's incredibly dry.

RE walker, not sure how acceptable! https://instagram.com/p/BYY-y1qlLmC/

In reply to garrett85:

Saw a party being rescued off the N face when we were on the way back from the envers recently, and heard of at least one more before that. Check with OHM when you get there, but I think they'll be even less encouraging than when we asked them about the AD (we gave it a miss!)

In reply to JR:
There were some photos on the Leschaux hut FB of people doing the Walker a few days after Morgan turned back. Looked a bit wet and snowy but doable. May be more like so-so conditions. People still topped out in a day but they may have been wads...

Personally I'd be staying away from anything loose after this summer, plenty of relatively solid rock to climb out there! Need a snowy winter...

In reply to garrett85:



Blimey, the Dru is unstable at the best of times. Based on the amount of rockfall in the Alps this Summer I wouldn't be going anywhere near it till next Spring!

In reply to Misha:

I think those pics from Leschaux Fbook are the from before Morgan's post based on the IG post (and based on when I was told the Japanese team mentioned got back to Montenvers by a friend). Either way, good assessment required...

In reply to garrett85:

Thanks for all the replies. Pretty much as expected then. I've been trying to do the N face for 6 or 6 years now, and every time I'm in Cham it seems to be falling down
Can anyone recommend some long mid-grade routes that might be in condition in the next couple of weeks?
We're probably to fat and slow for the Walker at the moment, but anything up to TD should be fine.

I've always wanted to do the Innominata on MB, but I presume that's going to be fairly unstable too atm?

In reply to garrett85:

If you read Morgan's comments, it provides a fair guide to balancing the risk of climbing big routes. Right now, virtually all the big faces here in Cham force an assessment of these sorts of risks. For me, its not worth it.

Coupled with that, as Morgan pointed out, the weather folks often get it wrong! And this summer (and a I look out and see fresh snow a 2500m) the weather has been unusually quirky I would say...

If that hasnt put you off you can find the latest mountain condtions forecast here..

https://www.chamoniarde.com/montagne/conditions-montagne#

The key comment from the current forecast is:
De nombreuses chutes de pierres parfois d'ampleur nous sont signalées depuis quelques jours dans de nombreux secteurs du massif. Grande vigilance, choix de la course et tenue des horaires en sont d'autant plus importants

John C

In reply to garrett85:
I see the Dru NF as equally or even more serious and committing than the Walker. Though I've only done the Walker, so may be that's just the impression I get. The other impression I get is that the Dru NF is hardly ever reasonably safe in summer these days, so may be better as an autumn or spring route. Of course that would be significantly harder.

As John says, all the big faces are going to be dodgy. The Grand Cap is relatively solid and has great routes - not in the same alpine league but well worth doing. Stuff on the Envers - check with the hut re access. Salbit West Ridge is always a good shout if you can travel. Cassin on the Badile but from the Italian side given the Swiss access has been wiped out. Good luck...

In reply to Misha:


I've always reckoned the grade of TD+ for the North Face a bit out. Having done many ED routes, I found the Dru North Face harder and more committing than a number of them - including the Walker.

It has a serious feel to it, and even back in the early 80's there was plenty of fragile and loose rock. And if you get caught out in a storm - especially an electrical one - it's a bloody terrifying place to be.

I would imagine it is potentially even more serious these days?

In reply to Goucho:

When did you do it, Gouch? Was it anywhere around the time of the major rockfall from above The Niche in 1983 which nearly killed Clemenson and Poncin and presumably had something to do with Joe Simpson's bivvy ledge on the Bonatti falling off the following night? Sounds pretty spooky to me!

In reply to Ian Parsons:


I think it was 82' if memory serves me - must check the old diaries. Got caught in a storm just before the junction with the West Face, and spent a bottom twitching bivi on the shoulder with lightening grounding all around the top.

There was certainly a worrying amount of loose rock above the niche (found the whole niche area quite spooky actually) and like most people, I always felt a major rockfall was on the cards at some point.

In reply to Goucho:

Hah! There must be enough in there for another short narrative, methinks?

In 1981 Roger Mear and I emerged in the dark onto some gritty ledges about three pitches below the hole through onto the south face having escaped round the corner off the top of the Harlin route; we bivvied there, totally oblivious of the hanging death above us that would scour the area a couple of years later - although, it being about day six, we were pretty much past caring! What impressed us the next day, only shortly after we had dragged ourselves and our various haulbags etc the short distance up onto the Quartz Ledge, was the arrival of the Remy brothers - fresh as the proverbial daisies - who had started that morning and put up half a new route in the process. It was our first encounter with the "EBs and chalkbag" approach to alpinism!

In reply to Ian Parsons:



Oh yes.

Our 'light bulb' moment came when two French racing whippets overtook us in a blur on the Grand Capucun in rock boots, chalk bag and lightweight day sacs.

We looked at our clunky Super Guides, huge sacs with enough gear for a Himalayan route, and thought 'I think we're missing a trick here?'

In reply to Ian Parsons:


That'll be the Directissima as against the American Direct?


Half a new route? Which route was that?

In reply to jon:

Yes. Strictly speaking it's the Harlin/Robbins, but mention of the latter name tends to encourage confusion with the "normal" American Direct of which he was also a first ascensionist.

I never learned any more about it; I suspect it remained an unfinished project, or just a variant. As far as I understood at the time it was entirely on the North Face, rather than a West Face route that finished up on the North Face. I've never looked for it in a definitive guidebook; does such a thing even still exist, or are they all to an extent selective nowadays?