Struck by lightning on the Aiguille du Chardonnet - 12546ft (3824m) | ||||||||||||
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Introduction | ||||||||||||
-The ice wall | ||||||||||||
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The sky had definitely lightened a little and we scanned the ground ahead. As we'd made an early start I was a bit surprised to find that there were another pair of climbers just ahead of us. As we got closer to them we could see the sheer rock wall on our right was breached by an icy ramp rising from the cwm. Above the ramp a ridge slanted upwards at a climbeable angle. It was the ridge that would give us access to the upper part of the mountain. Lower in the cwm access to the ridge was prevented by the rock wall on our right. Further up the cwm the ice got really steep. We'd obviously reached the part of the cwm where it was easiest to climb onto this ridge. However immediately ahead of us was an icy step cutting right across the cwm. There was no mention of this ice wall in the guide book. Maybe this was where dangerous seracs form, which in some years can make this part of the route too dangerous to be on. I hoped we hadn't picked such a year. The icy step actually ran unbroken all the way from the rocky wall on the left to our ridge on the right. I felt my enthusiasm and confidence draining away as I began to realise that we were going to have to climb this near vertical ice to continue our route. We stood for a while examining the step and pondering the options open to us. I guessed that we'd caught the other climbers because they too were deciding what to do. They must have made their decision shortly after we arrived. On just the front points of their crampons they tiptoed their way up the centre of the steep slope in the centre of the cwm. They made for a point just below where the icy step was at it's smallest, I'd guess about 8 ft high. I monitored their progress carefully. I didn't fancy where they were going at all. It looked as if it would be very difficult to fashion any sort of safe anchor in the slope. Even if they made it over the step, the ice above continued very steeply and would still require great care. They were already finding it very awkward working on the steep ground immediately below the step. Roped together, if either one slipped they could both accelerate quickly down the icy slope below the step and into the frighteningly crevassed ground beneath us. I hoped we could find an easier way. Close to us a 30ft long narrow ledge jutted out horizontally across the right hand wall of the cwm. Below it, a 15ft drop into a very crevassed area. Immediately above the end of the ledge the icy step was about 10-12ft high. Just above the step, tantalisingly close and set at a friendly angle, was the continuation of our climb. It looked to us a better spot to get over the step. We moved carefully along the ledge and although tight for space, we could stand normally beneath the ice step. Happy that we'd made a good choice I prepared to climb the step. Although I was unused to really steep ice I thought I'd climb this short pitch OK. I was very glad I'd taken two axes with me and slipped my hands through their wrist loops. I reached up and planted them both in the ice. When I was happy that I'd got good placements, I kicked hard into the icy wall in front of me and stepped up off the ledge. Only the front points of my crampons were in the ice and immediately I felt anxious. My ice-axes felt perilously close to popping out. Muscles tensed and straining I tried to remove an axe and get it in the ice higher up. I managed it and moved up 2 or 3 feet. I felt increasingly precarious. I was working hard and looked down to the ledge. It was too narrow to land on if I fell. I would fall off it and disappear into the unknown black depths of one of the many crevasses below the ledge. JC wasn't tied to anything and would never hold me. I looked up, I was still short of the top and even at full stretch I wouldn't be able to get an axe into the less steep ice above the step. Scared of falling I stopped and nervously retreated back to the ledge to rethink. A quick conversation with JC ensued and he volunteered to have a crack at it. Awkwardly we swapped places on the ledge. For some reason we didn't try to fashion a belay, I just paid out the rope as JC started up the ice. He made steady progress and was soon above my high point. He got both axes in the slope above the step and began to inch himself over the lip. While JC wrestled to gain the slope beyond the step, I pondered the bone-cracking drop he now faced. I feared that if he fell, when the rope between us came tight, I'd be plucked from the ledge. My feeble stance was never tested. After an awkward time getting over the lip, JC was up and I could follow in relative safety. Even with the added security of the rope I didn't enjoy the struggle to get over the top of the step. It was a relief to join JC on the easier slope above and I was glad that I hadn't had to lead the pitch. | ||||||||||||
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