Tour Ronde SE Arête 3792m
October 26th, 2009
Grade PD
On the south edge of the Vallée Blanche, the Tour Ronde provides some of the finest views of the Brenva face of Mont Blanc, the south face of Mont Maudit and the towers of the Grand Capucin.
The southeast arête is excellent mixed climbing with exposed sections along the granite ridge, various obstacles to climb or maneuver around, easy snow slopes and a final rock climb to the summit.
An excellent introduction to Alpine climbing.
Length of climb – 3 hours from hut to summit
High season – July to September
Equipment – axe, crampons, harness, slings, ice screws, quickdraws, rope
Access – from Torino hut
Route
Day 1:
Hut is accessed from the Aiguille du Midi télépherique station and crossing the Vallée Blanche via the télecabine to Pt Helbronner.
Day 2:
It is about an hour from the hut to the foot of the climb over the snowy slopes of the Col des Flambeaux, around the base of the Aiguille de Toule and up the glacier to the Col d’Entrèves.
Follow the snowy SE ridge on its right hand side for a way and then the route crosses to the left side finally reaching a snowy saddle (Col Freshfield). From there, climb the rock ridge leading to easy snow slope and finally more rock to the spectacular summit block. 3 hours from the hut.
Descent
It is possible to climb directly to Col Freshfield from the glacier but this is more usually the descent route.
Head back down the ridge and then bear left over mixed ground leading to the steep snow slope, bergschrund and glacier.
Grade PD
On the south edge of the Vallée Blanche, the Tour Ronde provides some of the finest views of the Brenva face of Mont Blanc, the south face of Mont Maudit and the towers of the Grand Capucin.
The southeast arête is excellent mixed climbing with exposed sections along the granite ridge, various obstacles to climb or maneuver around, easy snow slopes and a final rock climb to the summit.
An excellent introduction to Alpine climbing.
Length of climb – 3 hours from hut to summit
High season – July to September
Equipment – axe, crampons, harness, slings, ice screws, quickdraws, rope
Access – from Torino hut
Route
Day 1:
Hut is accessed from the Aiguille du Midi télépherique station and crossing the Vallée Blanche via the télecabine to Pt Helbronner.
Day 2:
It is about an hour from the hut to the foot of the climb over the snowy slopes of the Col des Flambeaux, around the base of the Aiguille de Toule and up the glacier to the Col d’Entrèves.
Follow the snowy SE ridge on its right hand side for a way and then the route crosses to the left side finally reaching a snowy saddle (Col Freshfield). From there, climb the rock ridge leading to easy snow slope and finally more rock to the spectacular summit block. 3 hours from the hut.
Descent
It is possible to climb directly to Col Freshfield from the glacier but this is more usually the descent route.
Head back down the ridge and then bear left over mixed ground leading to the steep snow slope, bergschrund and glacier.
Posted in Climbing in Chamonix | Comments (0)
Comments are closed.
