Bastien Gelinotte & Jon Murua
Couloir Nord Direct
ED+ M8

Date: 21.6.2020

Transcript:

7th March
1st attempt

I've been dreaming about this couloir since the first day I came to Chamonix.
From petite aiguille verte I witness the beauty and wilderness of this face with the Mont Blanc in the background.
I thought nobody would dare to climb such a monster wall.

I was wrong. As a newbie in mountaineering I wasn't aware of the history and reputation of this face.

It's not a 4K peak; almost.
But like the Eiger, the adventure and challenge does not necessarily come with the high altitude.


I had been training the whole autumn and winter season preparing for this face. This route I should say.
There are many routes I would love to climb, but the North Couloir Direct is THE ROUTE!
A straight line, very steep, that joins the couloir through an overhanging exist. Up to difficulty level M8.

I felt ready and as soon as we had a good weather window we set off for this expedition.

In winter, the approach is rather easy from Grand Montets telecabine. We can descend a gully that leads to the Nant Blanc glacier and from there, it's short ski tour to the bivouac at the base of the wall.

That day however, we were surprised with a severe icy crust on the gully...

... We were ok. A bit in shock, but ok. That's at least what I thought.
The following week I learnt that I broke a rib with that fall.

The built the bivouac at the bottom of the face to start climbing straight away the next morning. BIG MISTAKE!

We had spindrift falling on us the whole night and despite we built a big hole and some walls to protect us, we barely slept and woke up cold and wet.

Those are not the conditions to engage in such a route and with a lot of disappointment we bailed without even having seen the route.

21st June
3 months later
After COVID-19 lock down

Bailing is hard, specifically when there is so much planning, training and time invest into a route.
But bailing is an option to consider. We already take a lot of risks when everything seems to be just fine.
When things are not going that well, the risks might be more than what we're willing to take.

I would like to think that experience tells us when to bail, but it's not the only thing. It's also related to our self awareness and self confidence as well.
Being honest with ourselves is key to know our limits and to accept the conditions as they are, without make up and without pretending they are better than what they really are.

In this period, the approach strategy is different. We can reach the bivouac from Montenvers without the having to carry the skis. This is generally straight forward. Generally, but not that day...

... We did the whole d-tour through Charpua which took us 6h30
Long day, but it was fine.

The bivouac is amazing! Extremely comfortable, well protected and big.
That night I slept better than at home!

2h30 was the wake up time.
It was early, but the sunrise is also early.

The day didn't start very well as there was no regel. This resulted in a struggle with the sinking snow to get to the base.

The initial section looked gorgeous!
It was easy climbing, but unfortunately there was not much to protect as the ice was not strong enough for the ice screws.
That was like climbing solo!

Soon we reached the gully. What a gully!
It's scary to see how steep it is! Gorgeous!

Bastien was so motivated that nothing would stop him. It took him a whole hour to climb that first pitch.
What seemed like ice was in fact snow and soft ice that would fall apart.
That was not easy:
The snow had to be cleaned hammering one axe while hanging on the other one.
Whether the axes would hold was uncertain and decent protections were scarce.

The second pitch followed the same pattern.
It was easier in difficulty but it felt like free soloing. Would the last sketchy screw I placed 10 metres below hold? I don't think so.
Just don't fall; concentrate and don't fall!

The third pitch followed the same pattern, but even worse. The ice was not strong enough and the rock was covered on a film of ice making it impossible to dry tool.
The climbing didn't feel that hard, but looking up, we couldn't see anything to protect. Not the ice, not the rock.

We both tried. We tried and realized that the conditions were not correct.

Hard climbing, bad conditions and no protection is a bad combination.
The risk of falling was high and the consequences of a fall were severe.
That was a risk we were not willing to take. It was not worth it.

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