| North Face (Swiss Route) Route |
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| North Face (Swiss Route)   | 
| Page Type: Route Location: France, Europe Lat/Lon: 45.92790°N / 7.00090°E Route Type: Tecnical Rock and Ice Climb Time Required: A long day Difficulty: TD-, seriousness IV, 800m, 54º (average angle) with pitches of Scotitsh 3 and 4 (65º - 70º)
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| Page By: Diego Sahagún Created/Edited: Jun 4, 2002 / Aug 4, 2002 Object ID: 156492 Hits: 2951 Loading... Page Score: 87.33% - 4 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Approach
See Approach to the huts in the MAIN PAGE.
Route Description
The North face is between the central spur (left) and the NNW spur (right). The slope is not regular, neither it is sprinkled with rocky outcrops and ribs that lead to gullies' bottlenecks. It's wide enough to hold 2 routes with different posibilities of connections between them and some variants. Direct Swiss route goes along the right side of the face, where the snow slopes are continous. It's the nicest and more difficult route on N face. First summited by C. Cornaz and R. Mathey on July, 31st 1938.
From refuge d'Argentière cross Glacier d'Argentière towards the low part of the gully. Traverse the bergschrund (3.050 m) and ascend towards the gully bottleneck on the upper section of the first third. This is the steeper part, possibly cross by the icy rocks on the left side of the gully. Then, it widen and the slope is less steep. The upper last third can be climbed directly towards the summit or turnnig to the right side where a snow arête is upon the NNW spur.
Essential Gear
Gear: ice axe, hammer axe, ice crampons, karabiners, ice screws, pegs, abseiling devices, ropes, and all other gear for a high-technical rock and ice (mainly) climb.
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Graie Alps
