UKC

I'm pretty keen for some big alpine/greater ranges objectives to dream about over the next few years, but I'm not very interested in exposure to seracs and rockfall danger, and want to keep exposed protectionless snow climbing to a minimum. The more hard pitched climbing the better!

Anyone know any routes which fit the bill?

The Grand Cappucin has hard rock routes aplenty, tops out at 3800m with a straightforward approach and abseil back to the glacier. 

http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,18533.0.html

It depends on what you mean by 'big alpine / greater ranges'. As suggested above, the Grand Cap has some great hard routes but, having straightforward access and descent and being only 400m high, does it fit your idea of 'big alpine'?

There are loads of big (by UK standards) rock routes in the Alps which aren't fully Alpine in nature - the Dolomites and Ratikon spring to mind. The West Ridge of the Salbitschijen is not that hard but good fun and sort of semi-Alpine. Think there are some hard bolted routes on the Eiger NF which seem pretty adventurous but without the full on Alpine commitment of the classic NF routes there (not speaking from personal experience but that's the impression I get). Must be loads of long but not overly Alpine routes in Norway as well.

However if you're looking for a 'proper' Alpine route with hard rock climbing, you'll generally be into the whole crevasse - serac - loose rock - snow ridge thing. South Face of the Fou, Divine Providence on the GPA, Freney Pillar, Manitua on the Jorasses.

The bugaboos? Lotus flower tower? Lots of stuff like that in Canada 

I guess I'm just looking for big routes (the bigger the better) which by chance happen to minimise the usual alpine objective dangers which come with big routes. In general this will probably always end up being long rock climbs on good rock, but it would be super interesting to hear about any mixed routes which people think are particularly safe choices.

Yep the west ridge of the salbit is firmly on the list, and there's no shortage of big rock routes around chamonix (republique bananiere, fidel fiasco, anouk, anything in the envers!).

Lotus flower tower looks fantastic! And I love the fact that it's 100km into the wilderness. Straight on the wishlist.

Would recommend Bievenue George V in the Envers. 12 pitches of which 9 I’d say are E1 or E2, finished on a summit (ok not a proper one) and very little loose rock/any dangers at all.

Alpine is alpine... expect all the things you’d rather not deal with! Big mixed routes will by definition involve glaciers on the approach / descent, run out pitches of (easier) climbing and so on. These days you’re looking at autumn and spring to do them, which adds its own complications.

As Ben says, the Bugaboos could fit the bill nicely. The big routes in the  High Sierra look interesting. Yosemite free routes of course. Big faces in Greenland if you have the time and £££. But if you want proper alpine, you’ve got to deal with all that it entails - have to see it as part of the attraction!

Bits of Patagonia might fit too for long non-glaciated but pretty wild rock routes, Torres del Paine for example. 

Do you climb ice? I think the north faces of Les Droites, Les Courtes, Super Couloir on Mt Blanc du Tacul are considered to have little objective danger, and they are plenty big if you haven't done something like that before.

They still involve some crevasses on the approach / descent through and on the Argentiere North Faces there are long sections of easier ground with little or no gear.

It's all relative though. There are big "proper alpine" (as opposed to "rock climbing in the mountains") routes which are relatively safe (eg NE Spur Direct on The Droites) and ones which are relatively dangerous (eg The Pear on The Brenva). I presume the OP is looking for the relatively safe but still "proper" ones.

True. There are still crevasses to negotiate on the descent though, so if that’s an issue for the OP it wouldn’t really work. 

I absolutely love the envers and will definitely be back again next summer, but with the fully equipped belays and tiny approaches it feels fairly low down on the "alpine adventure" scale..

Crevasses are fine in the context of this post- imo they can be dealt with pretty effectively. The ginat looks great although the descent gully has claimed a few lives and seems pretty dangerous if it's dry.. 

You can traverse to the summit and there’s a fairly safe but not very obvious ab line down to just below the col des Courtes. I suspect if the descent gully from the notch is too dry, the route would be as well anyway so you wouldn’t do it. Did the Lagarde Direct last spring - fairly safe objectively but it was pretty thin on the ice pitches low down - doing the first pitch by head torch with hardly any gear and pummelled by Scottish spindrift was memorable!

Well, the Traverse of the Aiguilles might be an idea. Basically only the sky can fall on your head

Adventure = risk by any normal definition. If you want to trick yourself into believing you're having an adventure, then fair enough, and perfectly doable too.

If you can get down the Nantillons glacier. Bit of a shooting gallery last couple of summers. 

In which case reverse it!!

Dent du Giant

Aig Moine

Or continue over the Grepon and ab down one of the bolted routes on the Envers or down the Cordier. 

I feel like there's a bit more to it than just adventure=risk. I find that risks which are highly dependent on your own skill (big run outs) much more satisfying to take on than the more random ones (seracs). And plenty of Scottish winter routes are mega adventurous without being especially dangerous- it can also be about the amount of suffering required to get up something.

Non chamonix-based suggestions are extra welcome since I've been going there for years.

Yes, far too simplistic. Standing all day in the middle of that couloir all day on Mont Blanc where everyone dies would be high risk, but hardly an adventure. Or trying to onsight solo Gaia.

Yes, or via the Republique like Buhl did. So no probs. No crevasses. No sky to fall on you safe as houses?!

The Charakusa valley in the Karakoram has Chamonix-esqe granite and big routes that are possible without aid. Nayser Brakk for starters but you'll find various similar articles to the one below if you Google the valley name.

http://www.alpinist.com/doc/ALP09/climbing-note-hollenbaugh

I agree with your examples, and certainly the two words are not synonyms - I suppose I ought to have written 'adventure implies (is a subset of) risk', but the lazy 'equals' won me over.

Anyway, the feeling of adventure on a 'safe' alpine route will either come by dint of a lack of experience (i.e. once you know, through repeated experience, that you are safe [whether or not it looks like you are] the sense of adventure will wane), or because it actually isn't safe (still exposed to the elements, for example).

The OP wants to feel adventure on a safe route, so either he'll be deceiving himself (possible through lack of experience) or he's only minimising some of the objective dangers. Fine by me, in either case!

I think on a big alpine route or any route for that matter there’s a feeling of adventure just because it’s a big, committing route.