User Comments
Awesome - looks like fun!
1234None - 01/Mar/09
Sadly no more. The route is now banned. This was a clandestine ascent in April 2002, the day before the road up to the dam opened. Brilliant route, maybe the best in the Chamonix region...!
jon - 01/Mar/09
Nice one - at least you did it before it was banned eh!? Who bolted it and stuck the holds on?
1234None - 01/Mar/09
What difficulty is it?
benbers - 01/Mar/09
No, this ascent was after the ban. The guy who equipped it was Marc Volorio, who took these photos. I've climbed it four times since it's first ascent in June 1996.
jon - 01/Mar/09
6a, 6a+, 6b, 6b, 6c.
jon - 01/Mar/09
Oh, and for an idea of how steep the top pitch is, look at the rope hanging below the belay - the wide angle lens has distorted it.
jon - 02/Mar/09
I was thinking, what's this photo all about...then I saw the tiny figures!
Sean Kelly - 03/Mar/09
thats the lames thing I've ever seen, why would you go to the Alps to climb a concrete dam, you need your head looking at. go climb a rock
cwpkay - 04/Mar/09
...because it's there...
jon - 04/Mar/09
Why wouldn't you climb it, it looks awesome.
Matt Vigg - 06/Mar/09
magnifique! would love to do the route, looks so cool !
mr mills - 06/Mar/09
Is it chipped then? Or does it use gaps/cracks in the concrete?
Will Hunt - 08/Mar/09
No, just crimp VERY hard on bits of aggregate... http://www.ukclimbing.com/images/dbpage.html?id=109991
jon - 08/Mar/09
I believe that's the dam Bond bungy's off, in Goldeneye
Toby M - 08/Mar/09
No, looks a bit like it though. It was Verzasca.
jon - 08/Mar/09
The equivalent in the peak is Derwent Dam, a lot easier, shorter but climbed on natural grit holds. What happened to the thread by the way?
Al Evans - 09/Mar/09
What thread, Al?
jon - 09/Mar/09
looks like great fun. Why is it banned? Any hope of convincing someone to let us have a go?
Silum - 10/Mar/09
Not in the near future I'm afraid. It was banned when the old director of Emosson SA left and the new one didn't like what he saw. It's all still there - except for the last two hangers...
jon - 10/Mar/09
cwpkay's comment is interesting. What makes climbing a rock so much better or prestigious? It is all just climbing after all. Surely you go to the Alps to do things on a grand scale. This is pretty grand as far as concrete goes. Would love to spend a rest day doing this.
Will Hunt - 11/Mar/09
"It's all still there - except for the last two hangers..." So do you ab off then, or could you just run it out to the top? I wanna do it if I'm there this summer!
kareylarey - 11/Mar/09
Firstly, take a big breath and go... and secondly, you'll get arrested.
jon - 11/Mar/09
bit of potential for some new routing, plus a girdle would be cool.
Chris F - 12/Mar/09
how about a night accent with skyhooks in the holds for the end
killer headphones - 16/Mar/09
Sadly now there is a webcam, updated every 2 mins. You'll have to cover it up. http://www.emosson.ch/PublicFR/Webcams.htm
jon - 04/Apr/09
haha jon you've thought of everything! looks amazing though!
The Green Giant - 28/Apr/09
I remember someone telling me about this years ago. Is it in the UKC logbooks?
ERU - 10/Dec/09
There are so many dams that could be turned into fun, concrete playgrounds.
Roberttaylor - 03/Jul/13
Shame it's gone, looks awesome!
Paul Phillips - UKC and UKH - 17/Oct/14