"After the first glass, you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you see things as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really are, which is the most horrible thing in the world."
--Oscar Wilde on Absinthe
© 2006-2021 SummitPost.org. All Rights Reserved.
Tom Fralich - Jun 25, 2005 2:42 pm
Route Climbed: Lepiney Route Date Climbed: June 24, 2005Climbed with Philippe Gerschel, starting from the Torino Hut at 5AM. We reached the approach couloir at around 6:30AM and were into shoes and climbing at 7AM. Routefinding in the lower section was a bit tricky due to lots of slings and fixed gear all over the place. We climbed a bit too high initially, but rappelled back down to the large balcony below the crux chimney/dihedral. The crux was strenuous and the climbing on the final 80m wall to the summit spectacular. Maybe I liked the last 80m best because I was climbing without a pack. After reaching the central summit, we traversed to the main south summit and rappelled back to the glacier via the Couloir des Aiguillettes. I later learned that better rappel descents are now possible via the more modern routes on the south and east faces. An excellent climb with many interesting pitches and fairly sustained/strenuous.