The route is very long and for all but the very quick, I'd recommend doing it in two days. We left the Plan d'Aigulle around 2 PM on the first day and that didn't give us enough time to make the nice bivouac spots before dark, though we climbed slowly. We belayed all pitches, most were very easy with rock shoes and we averaged about 1 piece of protection per 60 m pitch, but one pitch required some A0 climbing. We went to the right of the rock rognon and it got steeper as we went up. Very tiring. The ice was fine for tool placements, but the few screws that we put in were not very solid (this was early August, 2005). The snow pickets we took were useless. We found about 80 degree ice at the very end, but it was relatively easy compared to the long, tiring sections of unprotected 50 or 60 degree ice.
There was rockfall on the approach to the spur and to the right of the rognon; otherwise there was only the stuff we knocked onto each other.
We found the ice got pretty dodgy as you moved off the ice ridge towards the left of the rognon in the early afternoon (early July 2010). Protection was nominal - didn't want to lean back on it much less fall on it, and crampons and picks were ripping through a lot.
Once you got round the left side of the rognon things started to get much steeper (80-85 deg)but there was much better protection (several bolts on the side of the rock from a rescue mission some years back apparently) and harder ice that actually took good screws because of the shade of the rognon.
I would try to time the ice bit so that you are through it before noon.
IceMonkey - Jul 25, 2005 9:01 am - Hasn't voted
Route CommentIf you are bold, you can go left around the rock Ronion. Mostly Scottish Grade 4, but has one pitch of vertical Ice.... Nice!
lavaka - Aug 5, 2005 1:09 pm - Hasn't voted
Route CommentThe route is very long and for all but the very quick, I'd recommend doing it in two days. We left the Plan d'Aigulle around 2 PM on the first day and that didn't give us enough time to make the nice bivouac spots before dark, though we climbed slowly. We belayed all pitches, most were very easy with rock shoes and we averaged about 1 piece of protection per 60 m pitch, but one pitch required some A0 climbing. We went to the right of the rock rognon and it got steeper as we went up. Very tiring. The ice was fine for tool placements, but the few screws that we put in were not very solid (this was early August, 2005). The snow pickets we took were useless. We found about 80 degree ice at the very end, but it was relatively easy compared to the long, tiring sections of unprotected 50 or 60 degree ice.
There was rockfall on the approach to the spur and to the right of the rognon; otherwise there was only the stuff we knocked onto each other.
oldgrey - Nov 7, 2010 1:30 pm - Hasn't voted
Going left...We found the ice got pretty dodgy as you moved off the ice ridge towards the left of the rognon in the early afternoon (early July 2010). Protection was nominal - didn't want to lean back on it much less fall on it, and crampons and picks were ripping through a lot.
Once you got round the left side of the rognon things started to get much steeper (80-85 deg)but there was much better protection (several bolts on the side of the rock from a rescue mission some years back apparently) and harder ice that actually took good screws because of the shade of the rognon.
I would try to time the ice bit so that you are through it before noon.