I’ve always thought of Alpine climbing as a two weeks minimum trip, what with travel, acclimitisation and fickle weather, so I was a bit uncertain when Jake suggested a quick-hit in early June. He would be coming to the end of a six-week van trip through France and was keen to put to use some of the skills he’d picked up on his Conville course a couple of years previously. I’d be squeezing the visit between BMC duties – an all-day Council meeting in Manchester on Saturday and an Open Forum on Zoom the following Wednesday evening – three days on the hill…

The clincher for me was a quick flick through my continental climbing bible Parois de Légende. There are half a dozen routes in the Mont Blanc massif on my to do list, as well as a bunch more within reach as lower level options should the weather not play ball.

I was further encouraged by a bit of local knowledge from Will, who reckoned there was a decent chance of some of the high-level crags accessed from the Aiguille du Midi lift being in condition at that time in the season – what’s more, Will would be on holiday the week of our visit, and was keen to join us, so we’d have a pretty strong rope of three (or at least two strong ends and me in the middle!) All we needed now was some Grand Beau Temps.

Picked up from Geneva by Jake’s Cabs, the drive up the Arve Valley was testament to the huge quantity of rain that had been put down over the previous few days – the waterfalls were spectacular! Happily we’d hit upon a window of unbroken sunshine for our visit. Game on!

The Argentiere campsite has barely changed in the 30 years since Helen and I had our first stay there…

Though the facilities are considerably more swanky!

Really peaceful camping…

… in a stunning location.

Will had booked slots on the 8:25 lift and we had the duration of the two stages up to 3,777m to finalise our objective.

The Pilier Rouge on the Aiguille de Blaitière was quickly dismissed – with the amount of rain that had been dumped, and its westerly aspect, we’d be unlikely to be blessed with dry rock.

A look across from the telecabin to the conga line descending the sharp ridge down from the lift station suggested that we’d be unlikely to be at the front of the queue if we decided to go on the Midi…

… and anyway, Will had done both of the featured PdeL routes before, so we settled on Harold et Maud, TD+ 6b, on Pointes Lachenal, on Mont Blanc du Tacul.

Following the mad rush out of the lift, Will politely enquired when I’d last been on a glacier, and given it was the best part of ten years he kindly watched me on a rope down the initial steepness. Reassuring to have a mountain guide strapped to the other end of the rope. As we wandered past the foot of the south face of the Midi, sure enough, both the Rébuffat-Baquet and the Contamine were already mobbed.

Pointes Lachenal is another couple of kilometres down hill, but we made reasonable progress on fairly firm snow.

The forecast was for max 4C but it was already toasty in the sun. Quite what the snow would be like for the schlep back up to the lift station was another question…

It was 11am by the time we were geared up and underway, and Harold et Maud and the easier Contamine (same Contamine as the Midi route, different 4* route) were both occupied when we arrived…

… but Will blagged us a passing manoeuvre by dint of his speedy climbing and playing the “we won’t get in your way” Joker: “These two have led 8b and climbed El Cap eight times between them”. Seemed to do the trick and we zoomed past with smiles all round. Here’s another team climbing parallel with us on the Contamine – one to come back for.

I know it’s a cliche, but the granite is absolutely immaculate – endless cracks (jamming gloves recommended) and corners interspersed with face moves. Excellent friction on the textured crystalline surface, apart from the occasional glassy patch. Bomber gear for the most part.

The twin cracks of the 6b crux pitch look highly unlikely at the grade but yield to a few stiff layback pulls.

Another couple of pitches and a bit of a meander had us approaching the point where our route re-joined the Contamine for its last two pitches to the summit.

A bit of a log jam ahead and the ticking clock to the last lift (5.30pm) had us exercising good mountain judgement and calling it a day at 2pm with a couple of hundred metres and 7 pitches under our belts in around three hours.

That turned out to be a good decision. Half a dozen raps still takes time, despite no stuck ropes…

… and then a few km of now-soggy snow, with around 300m of ascent thrown in. Luckily we were strapped to the snow-stomping machine aka Will…

… because Jake and I were starting to feel the effects of our zero acclimatisation strategy.

Safely on board the final lift, with not much more than 15mins to spare, we could contemplate our evening’s refreshment plans. A visit to Chamonix’ latest microbrewery was a no-brainer.

Not a bad view…

Next morning, it’s back to the melee for the lift…

… and once again there are “early bird” teams in the queue ahead of us on the South Face of the Midi. Happily, they’re mostly there for the Rébuffat-Baquet and we’ve got our eyes set on the Contamine, ED1 6c+ or 7a, depending which book you pick.

Although this shares the few metres of  the Rébuffat, you can bypass fairly straightforwardly (especially if you’ve packed a rope-gun) and we were soon blasting upwards, unencumbered – green lights all the way!

… whilst the grid lock on the Rébuffat determined our plans for an early start the following morning.

The first couple of pitches passed at speed until I was handed the rack for P3, a 45m 6b+. A diagonal crack led steeply upwards from the belay, not too tough to start with…

… but soon interrupted by a glowering overlap – as was my progress. A bit of dampness, a dose of glassy granite, and a pair of baggy, flared cracks combined to bring me to a halt and then spit me down the crag. Composure recovered, and with a tiny bit of moral support from a black Totem, I was through the roof and back on track. Quite a pitch! The next is another full rope length – much more amenable until some early-season snow patches have to be crossed.

This gets you to the main event – the 7a crux up an immaculate thin finger crack – initially up a corner…

… and then continuing up the wall.

The crux move past a peg was despatched with aplomb by Jake (and despatched with the peg by me – very tenuous!)

This takes you up to a junction with the Rébuffat, and as we were planning to do that the following day, we headed back down the way we’d come. Plenty of time to see Will off in time for the last frique, while we turned in the opposite direction for the short stroll over to the Cosmiques Hut – our bed for the night.

This is a pretty swanky pad, as Alpine huts go…

Chock full of teams intending to either climb Mont Blanc or traverse the Cosmiques Aréte in the morning. Happily we discovered we’d have the Midi entirely to ourselves until the first lift.

Stunning sunrise…

… and a view of our objective from the hut.

A quick breakfast and we’re off by 6.30am

Jake showing off his glacier crossing skills…

Me pretending to be an Alpinist

The Midi to ourselves…

Time to crack on with the Rébuffat-Baquet (TD+, 6a) before the crowds turn up!

Having climbed the previous two routes unencumbered and then rapped back down to our sacks and boots, our plan was to carry sacks full of B3 big boots, axes, ski poles and crampons up the route and then rap into the viewing platform of the lift station. Heavy!

After a bit of an approach scramble, the first pitch is a brilliant traverse under the major roof to get established on the face proper. After the usual casual crackery there’s a few thin moves across a steep slab to reach the underside of the roof. These are protected by a solitary bolt, with about 15 ft to get up to the roof and the next protection. This inspired a slapstick moment as I edged tenuously towards the crack, only for the ski pole I was carrying in my sack to jam against the roof, with the crack still tantalisingly out of reach.

Here’s a couple of pics of Jake following this pitch.

A short traverse further left…

… leads to the crux “S Cracks”: “a contender for the most famous piece of rock in Chamonix“. Jake made short work of this, running the next pitch and a bit together. Having said that, it’s pretty stiff for 6a! We reckoned if we’d done it before the Contamine we’d have probably chosen something else (no way is it a whole number grade easier – good gear though).

Here’s Jake following the next pitch, and you can just about make out the first team off the lift a couple of pitches below.

We’d done six pitches in about three hours and were looking like being back in the station cafe by noon. Pitch 7 starts with a long traverse leftwards, and specifically advises against going up too soon. However, a ledge banked out with snow suggested otherwise, and a vague guidebook description and the resulting tooing and froing saw us chew up a bit of time.

By now the team behind us were hot on our heals, and the leader arrived gasping at the stance, begging to be let through. He was booked on a ferry from Marseille at 6pm (a 5 hrs drive from Chamonix). Given that it was now 11am and they were four pitches from the top and a lift ride from Cham, this seemed quite an optimistic schedule to say the least! He was phoning his girlfriend whilst bringing up his second, and getting a right earful, so I took pity on them.

His partner set off on his doomed mission, spurred on with encouraging shouts of “Allez, allez. Max gaz” then they promptly got lost, ending all hope of redemption.

The cause of their sidetrack was a banked out snowy gully where pitch 8 should have been. Quite exciting in rock boots for a few moves. I ran this together with pitch 9 to a commodious stance beneath the final arete.

You can make out Jake on the rocky crest to the side of the gully.

… and taking in the view

The final pitch is either a bolt-protected 6b+ or a 5c/A0. We did one version each (no prizes for guessing).

The bonus for carrying all our gear up was two-fold. No need to reverse the plod up from the base to the lift through melting snow, and being the centre of attention for the goggling tourists as you abseil down into their midst!

Home and hosed (or at least back at the tent and showered) by mid afternoon, appetite sated with ice cream and thirst quenched by Orangina. Not a bad trip – three PdeL ticks in the space of three days – who needs acclimatisation? Brilliant to catch up with Will and Amy – and very spoiled to have enjoyed such capable company (talk of a possible pay-back trip up El Cap sometime).

Now all I need is my zoom log in details ahead of this evening’s chat with the BMC Open Forum – can’t be accused of not keeping it real!