We caught the first FlΓΒ©gΓΒ¨re lift at 7.45am – yes it was hard getting up in time to catch it, but we had to make every second count… The guidebook says it’s a one and a half hour approach and return from and back to the L’Index. So with the last lift down at 5.30pm, by the time we had got off the top chair lift we only had five and half hours to climb the 400m TD, Voie des Dalles. No time for mistakes! So when we reached the ridge line after nearly an hour of uphill walking and panting (no acclimatisation on a weekend trip) we were a little upset to have missed the leftward gangway the approach describes and found ourselves overlooking the glacier de Floriaz and not the Cwm Pouce! :angry: The gangway is level with the massive detached gendarme in the approach gully, so don’t “pass” it on the left as the guidebook says, get level with it then go left up easy rocks. So, with some 20 minutes wasted scrambling south to the correct col south of Aiguille N de la GliΓΒ¨re we descended in to the Cwm Pouce on the most loose, chossy, and dangerous slope in the world (probably). Retreat from the route and having to slip and slide back up this death trap of loose boulders was not something worth contemplating.
We found the route – and what an amazing route it is… π
We got to the lift station, after throwing caution to the wind and running most of the way down the loose scree slopes, at 5.50pm. 20 minutes too late! π But, we were lucky, we caught the lift down with the staff at the end of their working day – they must have seen us desperately trying to get to the station. π
A final thought… I have to begrudgingly accept that all the running we’ve be doing to prepare for the Rab MM next month is a definite advantage for Alpine climbing. Even without acclimatisation and with a few potentially disastrous route finding issues on the approach and descent we still scraped through and caught the lift down for a well earned beer. Without the running training we wouldn’t have. So maybe I’m converted? I still find the running a tad boring though compared to climbing… π
Well done, it must have been a fab day! But that scramble sounds (and looks) very scary! :freeze: :freeze: :freeze:
Scramble?! I’m not surprised you nearly pee’d yourselves – it would have been even worse for me!
Slabs! π :love:
Great pics too.
Might have to borrow that apartment some time…..