UKH

Hi.

I'm curious about how people go about bivying during a climb. I've climb lots throughout the alps up to TD in grade and I want to try and bivy on a mountain side. However, I dont want to do just for the fun of it, but because it's necessary. But again, I don't want to do it on a wall like the north face of the Eiger.  

Should I just find a mountain side that's so hard that I'm forced to bivy, or should I find a mountain side that's so long that I'm forced to bivy??

Looking forward to hearing about you guys' bivy experience! 

I did not want to bivi on the Eiger north face , but the waterfall pitch in full flow and a possible route finding mistake (mine) around the ice hose made one necessary.

I had done lots of camping and dossing outside since my pre teens. Being a dirtbag Brit had hardly ever used huts but bivied before alpine routes.

On early alpine routes always experimented with different bivi systems to get the lightest option.

Read blackshaws. I wish I had about thirty years before I read his alpine section.

Probably most people's first Alpine bivvy and perhaps the most bivvied on route in the Alps would be the Frendo spur.

If you're quick you can do it in a day so a bivvy isn't strictly necessary but it gives you the advantage of getting on the final snow/ice section when its cold rather than in mid afternoon.

It also has quite good, flat, spacious ledges to ease you into the bivvy experience without too much discomfort.

If you arrive at the foot of the snow crest in the evening you won't have to spend the whole night there as the snow crest can be done in the dark.

Just don't do what I did and set off too late on day1 to reach the bivvy ledges and find you can't climb the rock in the dark so you have to spend 10 hours shivering your nads off at -10C without a sleeping bag!

For something like that, do you do the rock sections in rock shoes? Or B2s? 

Its easy mixed or rock  lower down but the top rognon is quite tough and often skirted.

In good conditions, comfy rock boots  and the lightest b2/3 would be the usual recommendation.

If you want the best possible bivi systems , do not expect to be able to buy them in a shop. The market is so small ( and most gear mass produced in the far east ) , it simply is very hard to source.

I had four alpine seasons before getting a system that was flexible and actually kept me warm , only in good weather.

A few years more were required for a system that was storm proof, ish.

Every alpine trip I modified what I carried, my son has carried on this experimentation. That's most years since 1973!

He is off to Patagonia this weekend with another adapted sleeping bag.

This year I finally got round to sewing up a design concept thought up during a very cold wet night in 1988. It works really well. Watch this space.

We did the first few pitches in boots (in those days, big plastic boots) because we knew time was getting on and didn't want to stop to change them but then did swapped to rock shoes which made it much faster and quicker, even with having to carry the heavy plastics.

Two possibilities:

1. Start off on a long route (Frendo Spur would be ideal) late, carrying tons of bivi stuff which will slow you down while you're a) dodging the morning rockfall on the approach and b) climbing; you'll have to bivouac. Or:

2. Do a planned bivouac on safe ground, just to get used to it.

I'd go for 2., it gives you confidence for the unplanned ones.

Unless you're (very) fast, you will end up bivvying on a long route. It's just a natural thing to do. Preferably planned as well! If you've done TDs without bivvies, you've either been light and fast or you just haven't done long enough routes.

Some route's I've bivvied on around Cham - Walker Spur, Bonatti Oggioni on the Brouillard, South Ridge of the Peuterey and Chamonix Aiguilles Traverse. All fairly long routes but of course they've all been done in a day by people who are faster, fitter and better!

Whether to take bivvy gear or go light and fast (or at least light...) will depend on the route and your ability, as well as the time of year and the terrain.

For example, when we did the South Pillar of the Barre des Ecrins, it took us a 25 round trip from the car park. We hadn't taken bivvy gear and just carried on through the night. That made sense as we had reached the top of the difficulties just as it got dark and then reached the easy snow slopes on the descent by around midnight - the next five hours was just a fairly easy but long walk out and we wouldn't have bothered stopping even if we had bivvy gear. Actually we had hoped to do it in about 18 hours as that's what a couple of friends had managed. We knew it could take longer but not so much longer as to require bivvy gear.

Whereas if you're going to have to stop while you're still dealing with technical terrain or a complex descent, it makes sense to take bivvy gear, recognising that you will be somewhat slower overall.