UKC

Back in August UKC Gear Tester Jon Griffith climbed the legendary 4500m route of the Peuterey Integral with Luke Hunt.

"As I've never actually summited Mont Blanc before it was nice to finally get that ticked too."

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=50694

In reply to UKC News:

Haven't watched the vid yet but GREAT photos.


Chris

In reply to UKC News:

Fantastic Jon as always.

A huge thank you.

Don't forget to click on the photos to make them bigger.

Jon's latest UKC review here:Marmot Troll Wall Jacket

http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=2171

Mick

In reply to UKC News:

Top stuff gents, really enjoyed that. Thanks.

In reply to 220bpm:

excellent stuff, cheers.

would love to see ueli steck make a speed traverse of this... Ueli are you taking note?


lost

In reply to UKC News:

Wow. Its nice to see a personal accound to someone on the Aig Blanche. I know its only a stepping stone along this route but to me this is one of the most compelling looking peaks in the MB range. I'd love to cross that col at the top of such a huuuuge ice wall!

Great photos and info on it on summit post http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/151151/aiguille-blanche-de-peuterey...

In reply to UKC News: yeh baby!

Nice one chaps. A beautiful video of a beautiful route (and beautiful people of coarse).

Bon, Bon!


franks x

In reply to UKC News:

That looks brilliant!

In reply to UKC News:

Brilliant Jon! (and Luke)

Somewhere I've a picture of me taken in 1985 on the same spot on the Blanche, as the one with Luke, the sunrise and the Noire... makes me feel terribly old.

Need to get back there next summer...

In reply to UKC News:

Really enjoyed the film, impressive to get footage like this on a big Alpine climb with the attendant time pressures. Route looks like a heap of tottering choss...

In reply to UKC News:

Don't know if Jon Griffiths will read this, but fantastic chaps, still at the top of my wish list... just a few questions...

I assume you slept at Borelli and started in the morning?

Did you intend to bivvy on the Noire so as to do the raps in the morning - safer than the afternoon?

On the sections that you were obviously soloing was the rope that Luke was trailing through the boulders just for the camera?

From your rap down to the Col de Peuterey, there was a bank of cloud over the upper ridge - was this why you didn't film - apart from sitting on top of, I thing, the GPA?

Did you get down to the valley that day or stay in the Gouter?

In reply to jon:
Hey Jon,
We bivvied twenty minutes walk up from the Borelli, it's a lovely spot. We did indeed intend to sleep on the Noire and do the raps before the sun got on them, but it was such a dry period and there was so little snow and ice about that I'm not sure whether it was necessary. There is an excellent bivvy spot 10m under the summit of the Noire which I would recommend (though not if there is a risk of inclement weather...)

We roped together all the way up the Blanche (if this is what you are referring to?) - You would definitely want a rope for about 60% of the climbing on Blanche, the photo was just taken at one of those points when it was probably unnecessary. We felt it quicker to keep going with it on a short line.

The clouds were indeed looking a bit threatening on the snowy section of the Peuterey Ridge!

From the summit of MB we went down the three monts route. Made it to the midi that night, where we were met by some food and gas stowed by a friend! Although this meant a longer day (perhaps an extra 3hours), we made the desicion as we were feeling good, and I had slept in the Vallot hut after the central pillar of Freney a few weeks earlier and Found it to be a dive, with the walk down the Gouter route the next day being a killer!

Hope this helps,

In reply to luketheape:

Thanks Luke. I guess I was mistaken re the rope - it looked like you were coming up towards Jon and the rope was trailing behind you. Maybe it was just slack accumulating as he was filming. Yeah, never go into the Vallot, it's really a shithole isn't it.

In reply to UKC News: Tremendous achievement fellas, this route looks being an incredible mountain experience, as well as fantastically serious and committing.

How hard was climbing across the Aiguille Blanche, also how did you find descending off the Blanche to the Col de Peuterey?

Nice touch about the first time to the summit of Mont Blanc by the PI - I was once puzzled after completing Orion Face Direct when my partner very formally and conspicuously slapped the trig-point. Having started that Winter with experience on the occasional Scottish Grade I but mostly walking up Munroes, despite my spending most of that Winter force-feeding him on ever harder Winter routes it turned out he had never previously climbed Ben Nevis. Seemingly slapping trig-points is what Munroeists do when they get to a new summit.

Having also been injected with a compelling sense of urgency that Winter, due to my persistent nagging, as soon as we completed the route and went the short way to the trig-point, he immediately said "we've got to hurry and keep going haven't we Simon". Given that it was 8 p.m. on a March evening and the last of the light had gone, I pointed out that it was already pitch-black, hence it wasn't going to get any darker. In those circumstances we might as well stop, drink coffee and eat and relax after the demands of the route.

In reply to UKC News: Oh, one other question :

How straightforward is the bit of rock to the very summit of the Pointe Centrale on the Blanche?

In reply to jon:

The AB is steeper than it looks from below. I was quite suprised (old Italian climbing jargon for "scared silly") how steep was the terrain coming from the Schneider ledges (on the Freney side). The Brenva side above the junction coming from the Craveri is not difficult, but is quite exposed, and if snowed out rather tricky (very easy to lose your bearings in descent).

Of course there's no point on making actual pitches there, but you've to move putting running pro here and there (mostly sling, as I remember).

In reply to UKC News: Enjoyed the vid! Great effort to do the route quickly and get good footage.

Looked like you abbed on a single rope so what did you use for your 'pull'rope......skinny cord?

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Yes, I remember saying to you on some thread that we lost quite a bit of time descending from the Gugliermina on the loose rocky terrain, covered with a bit of fresh snow, in our rock boots to where we'd left our mountain boots at the schneider ledges below the Gervasutti. My partner Dave Walsh being quite happy to descend unroped. I refused and insisted on rappelling...

In reply to jon:

Jon, A big congratulation for this! Will you take me something modest one day?

In reply to all: Many thanks. Was a good few days out though the second day from the Noire to the Craveri was pretty harrowing due to loose gullies everywhere. The final day is truely amazing

lostintranslation: I actually mentioned this to him but I think the raps could be a little dangerous on your own. Plus you'd have to carry ropes up just for that

Simon4: The traverse across the Blanche is fine. Some mates did it last year and encountered bullet hard ice though which sounded pretty terrifying with light crampons and a touring axe each. There are fixed rap points to get off the Blanche but be careful as we got a rpe stuck off the first abseil as they are slightly diagonal. Much better you try and find a half way (25m) rap point. You dont climb the actual rock point of the Blanche- well you could but i've never heard of anyone going out of their way to do so on the Integral

earlsdonhammer: we used a 53m 5mm Mammut pro cord. Quite a bit tougher than normal cord

Francoise I am back in Chamonix tonight, are you around?
Jon

In reply to francoisecall:

Seems you replied to the wrong Jon! Too many of us! Though he did get the message it seems.

In reply to Jon Griffith: Cheers Jon.

In reply to Jon Griffith: Arrive in Cham Wednesday night.

In reply to UKC News: What a great video, really makes me want to be in the alps climbing something big and intimidating.
We did the South Ridge of the Noire in September and that alone felt pretty darn full on, the Integral must have been one incredible route! That bivvy hut looks really cool as well