It's been a busy few weeks here in Cham and I haven't been into the hills much, hence the lack of blogging. Yesterday I finally managed to get out because I had some photos I wanted to take of the Aiguille de L'M and Peter didn't take much convincing that we could combine this with actually climbing the thing.
The North-northeast ridge is something of a neglected classic that I remember was high on my tick list when I first came climbing here and yet I've never got round to doing it.
The sweaty slog up to the foot of the route was quite a re-introduction to summer alpinism for this year but I don't mind walking for a bit of solitude. Once on the route it was superb, with slabs, cracks and corners aplenty, all surrounded by stunning scenery.
On the famous off-width pitch. This got 4+ in the old guidebooks and was regularly led back in the day without cams and wearing old school mountaineering boots. The old Chamonix guides must have been beasts!
The North-northeast ridge is something of a neglected classic that I remember was high on my tick list when I first came climbing here and yet I've never got round to doing it.
The sweaty slog up to the foot of the route was quite a re-introduction to summer alpinism for this year but I don't mind walking for a bit of solitude. Once on the route it was superb, with slabs, cracks and corners aplenty, all surrounded by stunning scenery.
Peter on one of the lower slab pitches.
Nearing the top, with the summits of the Republique and Charmoz behind.
Once on the summit we had a bite to eat, fed the birds and then headed back down to the Montenvers for a couple of beers. All in all, an excellent day and a Chamonix uber-classic in the bag.