I can never spell ‘Aiguille’ right the first time.

Amidst the onslaught of rock we’d climbed this summer, Sid and I took time to climb some alpine objectives in the Mont Blanc area. First, we sent Aiguille Marbrees, a beautiful, easy ridge climb and traverse, characterized by (mostly) bomber granite and incredible views. A few weeks later, we returned with company to send Dent du Geant - a notably more technical, ‘alpine’ route that pierces the 4,000m ceiling. 

Aiguille Marbrees 

We drove out of Milan and stay in a bougie hotel in Courmayeur - the last place we called, and the only one with available beds for the night. The next day we caught the second lift up on the Skyway Monte Bianco. With Covid restrictions, everyone has to reserve a time slot and where a mask on the lift. From the Torino hut, we tied up, and walked to the Aiguille Marbrees, the rocky prominence east of the hut. After a 40-ish minute approach on the glacier, we reached the granite. The first portion of the route is easy scrambling on maybe 3rd class terrain. There’s one of two hard moves near the first anchor, but nothing worth pitching out. Aside from spectacular foot-jams, climbing in mountaineering boots is awkward, even so, we simo-ed through the terrain, and I placed a few cams, but even that felt like overkill. 

The moves and the rock felt spectacular. The route - between the Dent du Geant and Mont Blanc - is surrounded by some of the best views on the continent. We were at the summit soon, where we stopped for photos and food.  

Near the final 1/3rd of the climb, we pitched out a few length of about 5.6 climbing. Sid led the first, and climbed out of sight. I couldn’t see what was happening, but a huge rockfall started coming down the west side of the ridge, tumbling onto the glacier. I thought Sid had kicked something loose, or was caught in the tumult. Eventually, he belayed me up and said he’d been stuck behind a guided party, and the guide was talking to the Torino Hut, and jumping on the boulders on the ridge, trying to clean the ridge. The guide had knocked loose the downclimb section, and we were forced to leave a sling and a locking carabiner for a 10m abseil. 

I lead the next ‘pitch’, a beautiful granite crack system rife with hand and foot jams. After belaying Sid up, I was re-coiling the rope so that we could convert back into simo-climb mode, when a length of rope caught the adze of my ice axe that I had stored between my back and backpack, and sent it flying off the southeast side of the ridge. It plinked off the rocks, and tumbled out of sight. The remainder of the climb was straightforward and non-technical, but route finding becomes increasingly difficult as the ridge progresses. We got passed by a party simply because we couldn’t find the right route. The climb unfortunately terminates with a sketchy downclimb through a chossy, dirty runnel. We were hoping to find a rap station, but the guide in front of us said the runnel was the exit route. The party behind us looked for a rap station also, but eventually followed us into the runnel. Back on snow, we switched back into crampons, walked back to the hut and had a beer. In Courmayeur, Sid bought his first pair of real mountaineering boots and I looked for a replacement for my beloved Black Diamond Venom. We made it back to Milan that evening. 

Dent du Geant

The return. A few days after Niki and I returned from Sardinia (more on that later), I asked Sid if I could join him and Polina up the Dent du Geant. We found a fourth when Polina reached out to Emma Svensson, a photographer, looking for subjects to shoot on the Dent du Geant. 

We stayed at the Torino Hut for the night, scoring some of the last bunks available. With Covid restrictions, the huts are allowed to operate, but only book at 1/2 capacity. At 4am, we took our breakfast, and starting walking around 5. Even still, we were already behind 5 or 6 parties. In the dark, the approach felt easy. There was no towering peak overhead, no landmarks, just walking. It wasn’t until the slope got steep and the first bits of light emerged that I realized we’d already made it to the end of the glacier, like, ‘oh, we’re here already’. 

The approach before sunrise

“an impassible labyrinth of razor sharp rocks”

Perched on a collapsed bergschrund, we switched out of our crampons and into climbing mode. Me and Sid made up one rope team and Polina and Emma made up the other. We followed Emma, as she’d been up the Dent a number of times before through the choss field. The approach / de-proach scramble is absolutely heinous. It’s two to two and a half hours of scrambling through loose granite choss. Route finding is difficult, and rockfall is constant. We made it to the base of the climb itself just after sunrise, but had to wait for close to an hour for all the other parties in front of us to finish the first pitch before we could move up. 

The climb starts with a difficult, slabby first pitch, and some very exposed, thin moves. Incredibly awkward in boots, and pressed for time (we were all trying to catch the last gondola down to Courmayeur), I pulled the massive, Nalgene-thick fixed ropes to get passed the first bit of challenging climbing. I led the next pitch, a beautiful network of cracks up an obvious dihedral. Sid took the third, a slabby, cracky granite face with a thick fixed rope snaking its way up it, and freed it. I followed it free also, finding stellar jams and climbing. I led the fourth pitch, which started with a delicate, unprotectable slab section.  I put a prusik on the rope, as the first 15m were blank - no places to plug gear. Looking back, I wished I hadn’t used the ropes through that section, but at the time, I didn’t see an alternative. Plus, we were trying to move fast - the prusik protection let me move quicker.

At the top of the fourth pitch, Emma said she had to leave to catch the last cable car down - she had to be in Zermatt the next day. She rappelled back down the ascent route, and walked back to the top station. The three of us discussed for a bit, and decided to keep going as three. Sid led the next pitch, and pulled us up to the top ridge. I led the last ‘pitch’, the traverse between the north and south summits. The last pitch is incredibly exposed, and involved climbing up the first summit, then downclimbing, traversing, and then climbing up the true summit where the madonna is perched. I ran out of rope before the madonna, and set up a belay just underneath the true summit. Sid and Polina followed and were not happy with how sparsely I protected the downclimb between peaks. From my stance, I let them tag the summit, then lowered them down to the rappel station. 

We took about 20 minutes trying to find the rappel, during which, a few climbers behind us caught up. Luckily, we were first in line for the raps. We set up, and lowered down. There are raps about every 25m. We made it back to the snow after 5-ish rappels on double ropes, but I think if we’d known where to go better, we could’ve cut that down. 

I said luckily, because behind us it turned into a clusterfuck. The Swedish party that had been behind us all day got passed by a pair of Italians trying to rush back to the gondola. Meanwhile, another party climbed to the summit while the two parties were trying to climb back to the rappel station, tangling and confusing everyone’s ropes. Then, as we were descending, we could see the ropes (without stopper knots!) from 3 or 4 different teams getting tossed down at the same time, overlapping and tangling in each other. 

We reached the bottom, coiled and stowed one rope, and started travelling as a short-rope team. Moving as three over the mixed chossy terrain of the deproach was horribly slow. But what else could we do? Everywhere we stepped, loose rock broke out from beneath our feet, or disitgated in our hands. We got a little lost on the top part of the deproach, and a Swiss party passed us. They’d asked us to be careful not to kick rocks onto their heads, but immediately loosed a stone that clonked Sid in the head. It bounced of his helmet. 

Exhausted and frustrated, we reached the glacier, put our spikes on, and basically ran back to the hut to catch dinner. They served us, and we drank several beers. We talked to Emma, who told us she’d made the last gondola by 30 seconds, but had to abandon her rope when it got caught in some rocks after she rappelled over a bergschrund. We spent an extra night in the hut, and took the first gondola down the morning after. 

Starting the deproach

Sunrise from the Torino hut

The Beta

Both of the climbs are beautiful classics. We did both in ‘summer’ (read: rock) conditions, so I can’t speak for any ice climbing conditions here. We saw a few tiny crevasses on the approach to the Marbrees, and found the upper portion of the glacier on the approach to Dent du Geant to be more crevassed. In mid-September of 2020, when we did the Dent, the bergschrund at the base of the approach was becoming a problem. Maybe it’s better earlier in the season / in a bigger snow year. We transitioned on it in the morning, but when Emma tried to retreat via that route in the afternoon, she had to rappel over it, and had to abandon her rope in the process. On our exit, we had to walk about an hour farther down the ridgeline to find somewhere where the snow met the rocks without a gaping hole. 

As far as protection, for the Dent you’d probably be fine with a set of alpine draws, some slings, and a few cams between .5 and 2. The climbing is about 5c, but it’s stout and not to be underestimated, especially in mountaineering boots. Same for the Marbrees, except only 1 or two parts are equipped with bolts, so maybe skip some of the draws. All of the pitches of ‘serious climbing’ on both routes are absolutely spectacular though. There’s no pulling through shitty moves or heinous rock here. 

Route finding is the major crux for Aiguille Marbrees. Some things that look like routes lead to nowhere, while the real route snakes and winds its way around the various spires and towers at seemingly random places. There’s two exits - the first is off a rappel station, and saves you the downclimb down the sketchy runnel, but cuts out some of the best climbing. The second, the one we took, is the runnel. I’d say the extra climbing is worth it, but keep the ‘easy bail’ option in mind in case you’re going with a weaker climber, or need to catch the gondola. 

For the Dent, the worst part is the approach/deproach - the section between the glacier and the climb itself. It’s Emyn Muil, an impassible labyrinth of razor-sharp rocks. Not only is route finding a problem, but rockfall from the parties above is a constant threat. Emma said the rockfall was extra bad because we were so late in the season, but I have a hard time believing that chosspile gets any more solidified, even in colder months. I’m glad I did the Dent, and the climbing is spectacular, but that approach / deproach gives me pause about doing it again. 

The other thing with the Dent is the traffic. On Marbrees, there are ample opportunities to pass. Not on the Dent. If the queue is too long up top, there is a second rappel option off the north summit, but you need have brought your glacier kit with you, as there’s a section over ice to get back to the base of the climb with that descent. 

Last notes - Anyone doing the Aiguille Marbrees route after August-ish 2020, that’s our webbing and locking carabiner on the mini abseil near the end of the route. Also, anyone skiing the Marbrees Couloir or Marbrees Direct be on the lookout for a BD Venom Ice Axe. If you find it, let me know, I’d love to get it back!