Page 27 - 1998 AMA Summer

over the m oraine boulders adja­ cent to the water pipe towards the base of the western flanks of the Aiguille which we reached in two hours. We roped up and for the next couple of hours moved together placing occa­ sional pieces of protection until we were beneath the ‘slender gendarm e’ referred to in the guide. We were pleased with our route finding hitherto and so were startled when our progress was checked when the seemingly sound rocks that were supporting all my weight decided to give away. Fortu­ nately, I stayed put but a couple of large “suitcases full” of rock set off with gravity towards Richard 25m below. After establishing he had escaped this intrusion into his life unscathed I rapidly tied myself into a mul­ tiple belay of Friends and nuts, detected that I had an extreme ‘adrenaline-dried’ mouth and throat and brought him up to the relative safety of my recent­ ly excavated stance! I recollect that from this point onwards we climbed in pitches!
Just above this point the route traverses beneath a small snow patch which over previous days had melted. However, in this m orning’s shade it presented Richard with a entertaining pitch of iced-up holds which heralded the start of the ‘good’ climbing. We shared the lead­ ing of the half dozen quality pitches that followed, the most memorable were the ‘brown chim ney’ (a shallow groove!), the 40 metre ‘staircase’, the exposed but straight forward ‘Passage de Cheville’ - which really did resemble a row of wooden pegs, and the very exposed traverse - at about severe standard - to the relative safety of the top pitch of the East flank route complete with magnificent vies of Dent
Blanche and the M atterhorn. We ‘topped out’at about 4 pm - eight hours after leaving the Hut. Memories of multiple anchor belays, lumps of air­ borne rock and exposure faded as we abseiled down the East face route in two rope lengths and reached the relative safety of the sun warmed wet and very soft snow trail leading off to the Bertol Hut. After two hours of walking through slush and over a number of fresh avalanche debris piles we took a short break at the hut before descend­ ing by im prom ptu glissades and high speed boulder hopping to our car parked in Arolla.
The next morning we woke to overcast skies and more rain! That weather window was now closed ... and unfortunately we had run out of time to wait for any more to open!
Lt Roger S. D. Smith is an MIC holder and CCF Officer at Malvern College with responsibility for Adventurous Training. He has led expedi­ tions to Iceland, Greenland, Scandinavia, the Andes and Himalaya and has made fre­ quent visits to the Alps since 1964 - including twelve sea­ sons in the Val d’Herens in the Pennine Alps.
Richard Smith on Col below WSW ridge of Petit Dent de Veioeve