North Face of the Mönch and West Face of the Blaitière
North Face of the Mönch and West Face of the B laitiè re J o h n H a r lin
W INTER ASCENT OF THE MÖNCH S NORTH FACE
T he day after our unsuccessful attempt at the direttissim a on the Eigerw and, M artin E pp introduced him self, for he was at Scheidegg as a ski instructor and guide. H e is one o f the fo re m ost alpine climbers o f Switzerland, having successfully climbed the Eiger in very fast tim e and having m ade many difficult ascents. H e had only the follow ing day free and took me outside to point out the towering north face o f the Mönch. H e felt the climb could be m ade in one day or at the m ost with one bivouac, despite the fact that the first ascent had taken four days. W e decided to give it a try, and that evening m ade our approach to the hut high on the shoulder below the M önch’s north face. W ith the hut to ourselves, w e cooked our steaks on the wood stove which heated the cold January night. A t nine o ’clock we shot green flares from the balcony to let our friends know that all was well. A t fou r the next m orning we left our perch in the winter dark and climbed the ridge above the hut to a point where M artin knew we must descend to the glacial bowl directly beneath the sm ooth sw eeping face, a descent down very steep ice with ice-screw belays. T h is technical ice work by the light o f our lam ps was a weird ballet. It was one o f those experiences in which your mind transcends to a perspective where you look down at yourself as a stranger. Psychological exaltation grew as M artin and I m oved fast but with security and a sense o f well-machined teamwork. W e crossed the bowl after this thousand-foot descent and started up the 4500-fo ot final wall. W e climbed encountering this or that adventure without com m unicating by words but by a silent communion o f the experienced mountaineer. W e came to the overhanging rock section just at full daylight. W e had underestim ated the clim bing here and it sapped our reserves. D espite this we still ascended rapidly and the steep slabs o f
ice and rock retreated below us. A bout noon, w e stopped to eat our dried meat, having climbed m ore than two-thirds o f the w all. I called my w ife on the nearby Lauberhorn by radio. She and the others were in credulous at our speed. Still borne along by the psychological lift, we optim istically predicted the sum m it by three o ’clock. O n we climbed, finally reaching the sum m it ice ridge in the high, crystalline atmosphere. On the summit, I again m ade communication with my w ife and we shot colored flares in the air in a fourth-of-July salute o f victory. T h e flares were clearly visible in the clear blue sky from Scheidegg and nearby mountains. W e descended the ridge towards Concordia and literally ran in the deep pow der snow along the glacier that leads to the Ju n gfrau Joch. T h e ascent had taken ten hours and was without incident. W hat now lin gers in memory is the exaltation o f clim bing, o f com radeship and o f beauty.
THE WEST FACE OF THE BLAITIÈRE T h e west face o f the Blaitière is one o f the large Cham onix granite faces, so characteristic o f western exposure in the M ont Blanc m assif. Th e western faces o f the Blaitière and the D rus rival each other as the finest pure rock w alls which look down at Cham onix. Several pitches on the hardest route on the Blaitière are considered by the gu ide books and climbers to be the highest standard o f free clim bing in the area. These are the fam out Brow n Crack and the two open-book chimneys above. B ein g a bit com petitive by nature, I had had two courses o f action in m ind fo r some time. O ne was to climb the Brow n Crack in winter and the other was to put a new really direct route up the face. In January o f 1964 I went to the Brow n route with Rick H orn, a C olorado climber w orking with me in Leysin. A s w e approached the face we discerned dots on the snowfield below the Brown Crack, descend ing to the glacier en rappel. It turned out to be a G eneva party which included a woman. Rick and I were a little taken aback by the sight o f a fem ale trying what we considered a rather taxin g problem . H ow ever their slow pace had forced them to quit and so our spirits rose again. T h e first few pitches were very alpine but went fast. Soon I came to grips with that p assage which had become such a symbol o f difficult free clim bing, an overhanging jam-crack which at the crux juts out like a sm all roof. U nfortunately the Geneva people had placed som e huge w ooden w edges at the crux. W ith my hands cold from the ice in the crack, I did not have the will power to refrain from using them. Indeed the w edges either by rationalization or in fact seem ed to be placed where
it was necessary to jam a hand. In any case, the crack was not climbed in its classical absolutely free manner. W e bivouacked one pitch higher. The next m orning the two open chimneys presented a fine problem . Ice clogged the only crack in the center as well as the few holds. But laboriously it went, and we enjoyed the last little overhang at the top o f this long, 150-foot lead. W hen we were two short pitches higher, it was time fo r the one-o’clock radio weather report. Snow in a few hours was predicted ! A nd so, having climbed the pitches that interested us most, we descended en rappel. *
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In the early summer, the Blaitière W est D irect seemed a good training project. I talked another American, Lee H erral, into goin g with me. Th e climb was surprisingly easy until we reached an obvious crux section, which involved a lon g double overhang and some difficult free work. A n hour later as I was clippin g my rope into a piton at a belay point, I slipped only stoppin g 60 feet lower. M uch rationalization forced a retreat, for I was unhurt. On Ju n e 22, with Pierre M azeaud, that outstanding French climber, I again tackled the climb, and this tim e we forced our way to above all the m ajor difficulties before bivouacking. Pierre encountered Am erican hard ware for the first time and was particularly im pressed with the Leeper variety. W e did not continue the route for it fed into the existing Brown route in the upper part o f the face, but instead traversed the north side o f the m ountain in a very steep couloir without the benefit o f ice eq uip ment. Th e climb was successful and traced a new direct line to the left o f the Brow n route. Sum m ary o f Statistics A r e a : M önch, Bernese O berland, Switzerland and Blaitière, M ont Blanc
M assif, France. A s c e n t s : N orth Face o f the Mönch, January, 1964 (M artin Epp, John
H arlin ) — second winter ascent. W est Face D irect o f the Blaitière, Jun e 22 and 23 (Jo h n H arlin, Pierre M azeaud) — first ascent o f the direct route.
W INTER ASCENT OF THE MÖNCH S NORTH FACE
T he day after our unsuccessful attempt at the direttissim a on the Eigerw and, M artin E pp introduced him self, for he was at Scheidegg as a ski instructor and guide. H e is one o f the fo re m ost alpine climbers o f Switzerland, having successfully climbed the Eiger in very fast tim e and having m ade many difficult ascents. H e had only the follow ing day free and took me outside to point out the towering north face o f the Mönch. H e felt the climb could be m ade in one day or at the m ost with one bivouac, despite the fact that the first ascent had taken four days. W e decided to give it a try, and that evening m ade our approach to the hut high on the shoulder below the M önch’s north face. W ith the hut to ourselves, w e cooked our steaks on the wood stove which heated the cold January night. A t nine o ’clock we shot green flares from the balcony to let our friends know that all was well. A t fou r the next m orning we left our perch in the winter dark and climbed the ridge above the hut to a point where M artin knew we must descend to the glacial bowl directly beneath the sm ooth sw eeping face, a descent down very steep ice with ice-screw belays. T h is technical ice work by the light o f our lam ps was a weird ballet. It was one o f those experiences in which your mind transcends to a perspective where you look down at yourself as a stranger. Psychological exaltation grew as M artin and I m oved fast but with security and a sense o f well-machined teamwork. W e crossed the bowl after this thousand-foot descent and started up the 4500-fo ot final wall. W e climbed encountering this or that adventure without com m unicating by words but by a silent communion o f the experienced mountaineer. W e came to the overhanging rock section just at full daylight. W e had underestim ated the clim bing here and it sapped our reserves. D espite this we still ascended rapidly and the steep slabs o f
ice and rock retreated below us. A bout noon, w e stopped to eat our dried meat, having climbed m ore than two-thirds o f the w all. I called my w ife on the nearby Lauberhorn by radio. She and the others were in credulous at our speed. Still borne along by the psychological lift, we optim istically predicted the sum m it by three o ’clock. O n we climbed, finally reaching the sum m it ice ridge in the high, crystalline atmosphere. On the summit, I again m ade communication with my w ife and we shot colored flares in the air in a fourth-of-July salute o f victory. T h e flares were clearly visible in the clear blue sky from Scheidegg and nearby mountains. W e descended the ridge towards Concordia and literally ran in the deep pow der snow along the glacier that leads to the Ju n gfrau Joch. T h e ascent had taken ten hours and was without incident. W hat now lin gers in memory is the exaltation o f clim bing, o f com radeship and o f beauty.
THE WEST FACE OF THE BLAITIÈRE T h e west face o f the Blaitière is one o f the large Cham onix granite faces, so characteristic o f western exposure in the M ont Blanc m assif. Th e western faces o f the Blaitière and the D rus rival each other as the finest pure rock w alls which look down at Cham onix. Several pitches on the hardest route on the Blaitière are considered by the gu ide books and climbers to be the highest standard o f free clim bing in the area. These are the fam out Brow n Crack and the two open-book chimneys above. B ein g a bit com petitive by nature, I had had two courses o f action in m ind fo r some time. O ne was to climb the Brow n Crack in winter and the other was to put a new really direct route up the face. In January o f 1964 I went to the Brow n route with Rick H orn, a C olorado climber w orking with me in Leysin. A s w e approached the face we discerned dots on the snowfield below the Brown Crack, descend ing to the glacier en rappel. It turned out to be a G eneva party which included a woman. Rick and I were a little taken aback by the sight o f a fem ale trying what we considered a rather taxin g problem . H ow ever their slow pace had forced them to quit and so our spirits rose again. T h e first few pitches were very alpine but went fast. Soon I came to grips with that p assage which had become such a symbol o f difficult free clim bing, an overhanging jam-crack which at the crux juts out like a sm all roof. U nfortunately the Geneva people had placed som e huge w ooden w edges at the crux. W ith my hands cold from the ice in the crack, I did not have the will power to refrain from using them. Indeed the w edges either by rationalization or in fact seem ed to be placed where
it was necessary to jam a hand. In any case, the crack was not climbed in its classical absolutely free manner. W e bivouacked one pitch higher. The next m orning the two open chimneys presented a fine problem . Ice clogged the only crack in the center as well as the few holds. But laboriously it went, and we enjoyed the last little overhang at the top o f this long, 150-foot lead. W hen we were two short pitches higher, it was time fo r the one-o’clock radio weather report. Snow in a few hours was predicted ! A nd so, having climbed the pitches that interested us most, we descended en rappel. *
*
*
In the early summer, the Blaitière W est D irect seemed a good training project. I talked another American, Lee H erral, into goin g with me. Th e climb was surprisingly easy until we reached an obvious crux section, which involved a lon g double overhang and some difficult free work. A n hour later as I was clippin g my rope into a piton at a belay point, I slipped only stoppin g 60 feet lower. M uch rationalization forced a retreat, for I was unhurt. On Ju n e 22, with Pierre M azeaud, that outstanding French climber, I again tackled the climb, and this tim e we forced our way to above all the m ajor difficulties before bivouacking. Pierre encountered Am erican hard ware for the first time and was particularly im pressed with the Leeper variety. W e did not continue the route for it fed into the existing Brown route in the upper part o f the face, but instead traversed the north side o f the m ountain in a very steep couloir without the benefit o f ice eq uip ment. Th e climb was successful and traced a new direct line to the left o f the Brow n route. Sum m ary o f Statistics A r e a : M önch, Bernese O berland, Switzerland and Blaitière, M ont Blanc
M assif, France. A s c e n t s : N orth Face o f the Mönch, January, 1964 (M artin Epp, John
H arlin ) — second winter ascent. W est Face D irect o f the Blaitière, Jun e 22 and 23 (Jo h n H arlin, Pierre M azeaud) — first ascent o f the direct route.
