Rebuffat

Geneva, much like the rest of the world it seems, has been very warm of late. To escape the heat Dorota, Pawel, Gianluca, Kacsper and I decided to head up to the Aiguille du Midi and hang out on the Mer de Glace. Sitting on some ice, we agreed, should help to cool off. Kacsper and I planned to climb Rebuffat, the south face of the Aiguille. Since we didn't have any pressing plans for Sunday we also agreed to camp out on the ice field for the night, allowing us lots of time for a relaxed climb. Since Dorota, Pawel, and Gianluca climbed Rebuffat in the past they set off for another peak, Gianluca with the plan to head home that evening.

Since Gianluca and Kacsper and I were feeling pretty relaxed we dallied a bit while the other took off quickly. We dropped out gear off by the camping spot on the ice and packed out things to climb. I decided to take along my ice axe and the big camping backpack, plus 1.5L of water and some snacks. The rest of the food and gear we left in bags and packs reserving ourselves a spot. From there we went off to find the start of the climb, just at the bottom right of the rock face in the picture. We quickly found that while some gear was in place it was good we had brought, nuts, cams and friends. Since I have no experience placing gear, Kascper had to lead the whole way. Good thing he is a fantastic climber :)

Once of the ice, even exposed to the breeze, it was hot up on the rocks. Since most of the 9 pitches had a rating between 3-5 (camptocamp) I expected this climb to be fairly easy. Turns out the climb was harder that I expected for a few combined problems: my big expedition backpack kept getting in my way, the ice axe and crampons were extra weight and also in the way, and I got winded quickly climbing in the high altitude. All of this together stressed me out and after taking a tumble on the 6a (think low 5.10a-b by the North American scale) it took me a moment to get my nerves back in order. Even with some scrapes and bruises this was a really great climb, and thank you to Kacsper for leading all the way. He was smarter than me, bringing only a bare minimum of gear in a more compact pack.

We could see that we were going to be fairly late with our climb by the fact that half way through the route we encountered a friendly couple who were rappelling down, past where we were climbing up still. We also had the Rockface more or less to ourselves, which made the climb very enjoyable. I had feared that there would be a lot of traffic since we could see many climber on the route while we were dropping off the camping gear.

 

Once art the top of the climb it is easy to abseil down to a tourist platform on the other side of the rock face.  By the time we had gotten there the station on the Aiguille du Midi had closed down and there were no tourists around. So we spread out and soaked up some evening sun while having a little lie down on the platform. A great climb indeed!

Eventually the sun started hiding behind some mountain peaks and we found it was time to make our way to the camping spot. Unfortunately the doors to the gondola station were locked, and we could not get to the exit leading to the ice field. Having a look around we spotted some other climbers who had come of the Cascade des Cosmiques and where in the gondola station on the other side. With some waving we got their attention and they let us in - I don't know your names, but you guys saved us from miserable night in the cold without food or shelter, thank you! After having a friendly chat with the three guys that let us in, we made our way to the ice field. Here we had an entertainingly hard time setting up Kacsper's tent, and snacked on some bread, cheese, and meat we brought along. Dorota and Pawel, the intrepid campers they are, had already had a warm supper and made us some tea on their stove. Gianluca was also hanging out with us since he had missed the last gondola off the mountain. He had a spot in Pawl and Dorota's tent but without a foamy and sleeping bag it must have been a miserable night for him.

Kacper and I slept in the next morning and lazily broke camp. We stopped at the Aiguille du Midi for our first breakfast and in Charmonix for second breakfast. We found a fantastic little bar/restaurant here. Google says it is called "The West" but there is a different place in the same spot now. I can't recall the name. They made an excellent pulled pork eggs Benedict. Since I had a craving for a Cesar I was trying to explain how to make one to the friendly bar staff. They countered by offering me the Bloody Mary they make there: a concotion very similar to a Cesar since they add some ghost pepper sauce. Very spicy, very tasty. After lounging for a while we took off with the goal of shopping for some gear. On of the waitresses advised us to check out the aptly named "Mountain Store" in Sallanche. Since we were on our way to Sallanche to visit Au Vieux Campeur anyway we decided to stop by there also. Turns out on a Sunday they are both closed x.x

Having failed in our shopping desires we slunk back to Geneva. It was still as hot there as we left it. Kacsper had some pland involving a man with a GPS unit so he dropped me off at home and went on his way. I enjoyed the end of the afternoon relaxing by the shore of lake Geneva. What a great weekend :)

Climbing Into the Wild

Kacper, Kasia, Gianluca, Julia, a friend of Gianluca's, and myself went climbing. We drove to a small parking lot near the Hotel du Buet between Argentiere and Vallocine. There is a campground near the parking lot as well, and the hotel looks inviting with a rustic charm. After biking about the Jura all day yesterday my legs were pretty tired, so I almost felt like skipping the climbing and sitting down for a beer fist thing in the morning. Kacper was much in the same predicament having cycled around lake Geneva the day before. So we lamented our foolishness, formed a weak legged climbing team, and packed our gear for the trail. After some discussion with Kacper and Gianluca I decided to leave most of the lunch I braught with me with the cars, except for a few snacks. I should have known better :-)

From the parking lot it is a short walk though rugged country roads through some small buildings. Just follow the markers towards Mount Buet. The road continues to a cafe situated on the side of a cliff with a terrace over a mountain stream at the Cascarde de Berard. The train starts by the cafe following a beautiful valley stream. It takes about 75 minutes of hiking to get to a small cairn marking a trail to Mount Oreb on the right hand side of the path. It is a steep scramble up to the base of the two climbs on Mount Oreb: L'Ete Indien and Into the Wild. While scrambling up the slope to the climb we were greeted by a group of mountain goats. There were already a couple of climbers at the bottom of the climbs, so we queued up. While waiting we snacked on some Nuss Stängli, some stick-like hazelnut cookies I had spied on my previous visit to Klosters and promptly located at the local Coop. They were delicious.

After a short wait we got to start on the climb. Since Kacper is the better climber I started the first pitch since it would lead me to naturally climb the easier pitches. None of the climbs were very hard, though it was still early in the year for the sections where we walked through soil were muddy. Some of the dock was still we also, making it slippery. While the climb itself was clear, there was still a fair bit of snow around the same altitude we were climbing, though it will probably be gone soon. Once we got to the 6th or so pitch we were rewarded with a beautiful view of a glacier across the valley. The beautiful scenery of the mountain valley below giving us some idea of how high we had climbed.

By the time we made to the top we had precious little daylight left to rappel down and hike out. Since Gainluca and his friend were right in front of us we decided to rappel as a group of four: One team setting up the current rappel with one set of ropes, the other one taking the old one down. Second person heading down the next section took the ropes from the previous rappel, so the setup for the next one could get started as quickly as possible. We could have made record time on the way down except that one of our rope sets got stuck, so we had to climb up and retrieve it. After rappelling down we hicked out at a fairly brisk pace, with just enough light left to see by as we got back to the parking lot. We met the Julia and Kasia at the Hotel bar, where they had already established themselves as veteran climbers enjoying beers and the local company. We enjoyed a beer and some snacks before heading back to Geneva. That you to everyone who came out for yet another fantastic day in the mountains!