Last winter Patrick Pessi, Sébastien Ratel and Remy Sfilio climbed what they believe to be a significant new route on the North East Flank of Les Droites, above the Argentiere Glacier in the Mont Blanc Massif.
While the style of their ascent is certainly different than any possible previous climbing on this route, is the line entirely new?
In 1969 Erik Lackner and Reinhold Messner climbed the Bergland Pillar, the name given to the well-defined pillar right of the Lagarde Couloir. However, their route did not follow the crest, but climbed the depression on the left flank.
This was free-climbed on rock in a dry season with difficulties of TD-/TD, UIAA V+.
Pessi made a winter ascent of the route in the mid 1990s and noted a line directly up the crest of the pillar to his right.
He kept it to himself, and only made an attempt in the spring of 2010, climbing about six pitches, mainly ice up to 90°, before forced to retreat.
Last winter the three French regained Pessi's high point, bivouacked, and then dry-tooled the pillar above, using some aid to reach the level of a conspicuous tower at around mid-height. Another bivouac followed, before they emerged on to the upper crest of the North East (Tournier) Spur.
It was now dark and they were forced into a third and unplanned bivouac. Next day they continued up corniced terrain before cutting across the North Face to reach the Main (East) Summit of Les Droites (4,000m).
The 1,000m route was named Ecaille Epique and graded ED M6, 90° and A1.
But let's go back 20 years to 1991, when Chris Dale, one of the most active British alpine rock climbers of the '80s, also realized that the 1969 Lackner-Messner Route didn't actually climb the 'Bergland Pillar'.
Over the 18th-19th September, he set about rectifying this with Jim Kerr.
The smooth, rounded buttress that forms the lower pillar was climbed in eight pitches to where the 1969 route comes in from the right.
The two then moved together over easy ground to reach the crest of the main pillar, which they climbed for a further 11 pitches to a bivouac below the upper and more crenellated ridge.
Next day they climbed through an area of outstandingly beautiful crystals and, higher, were astonished to discover solution bottles and a spade. Above, there was some delightful climbing on the gendarmes just before the junction with the North East Spur.
They found the climbing very varied and on excellent rock with no objective danger. The route was graded ED2 and no pegs (nor bolts) used. The hard pitches (F6b) occurred on the bottom buttress and in the vicinity of the large tower at mid-height.
Dale sadly died earlier this year, and whilst Kerr admits that the climb took place a long time ago, he thinks the new French line looks quite similar.
There will differences between the French and British lines, certainly in the lower half, though it seems there is far less room for variation above the conspicuous tower at mid-height. But the concept, climbing the spur direct, is two decades old.
Les Droites has a certain history of 'second first ascents', notably on the North Face of the lower West Summit.
In 1977 Colin 'Choe' Brooks and Nick Colton climbed the ice slope a little to the right of the Cornuau-Davaille to reach intricate mixed ground leading to the foot of a conspicuous diagonal ramp.
They followed the ramp right to join the upper section of the Couzy Spur (Couzy/Salzon, 1952: 1,000m: TD) about 200m below the West Summit (3,984m).
In more modern times this climb has become an established classic of the Mont Blanc Range, generally rated at ED2 with mixed climbing to IV/5.
However, in July 1980 and all-star French team of Jean-marc Boivin, Philippe Martinez, Christophe Profit and Dominique Radigue claimed and then widely publicized the same line, thinking they had made a first ascent.
The third ascent came just a couple of weeks later, by Graham Desroy and Arnie Strapcans just a few days before Strapcans disappeared while soloing on the Brenva Face of Mont Blanc.
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