11,102 feet. Difficult (Hard). Oxygen.
First Ascent: 29th May, 1953. Hillary, Tenzing (leading through). Others, unable to follow, were: Hunt (Leader), Band (C.U.M.C.), Bourdillon, Evans, Gregory, Lowe, Morris, Noyce (C.U.M.C.), Pugh, 35 Sherpas, Stobart, Ward (C.U.M.C.), Westmacott, Wylie. Time; 7 weeks. Rope 1,500 feet. A fine route on snow and ice with a little rock on the last three pitches.
Start: At 17,900 feet from a patch of moraine on the Khumbu Glacier.
(1) 2,300 feet. Follow the glacier to the Icefall. Climb unstable blocks and pinnacles of ice avoiding large crevasses and rickety seracs. Journalists ’should not lead too immediately here.
(2) 2,100 feet. The Western Cwm. Easily along the big sloping snow ledge until the face ahead steepens.
(3) 3,550 feet. The Lhotse Face. The crux. Up a series of steep ice walls alternating with shelving snow covered ledges. After 2,700 feet, make a rising traverse left up a snow gully on the right of a prominent rock rib. The rib is joined and climbed to the top. Descend 200 feet – this may be found difficult in reverse – to a roomy but unattractive stance. Much energy expended here.
(4) 2,850 feet. Join the S.E, Ridge after 1,350 feet by the obvious snow gully. Follow the ridge. A steep, possibly dangerous, snow slope of 400 feet leads to the South Summit. This was avoided in a variant by Evans and Bourdillon on a preliminary inspection by climbing snow covered rocks well to the left.
(5) 302 feet. A formidable looking pitch. Descend a few feet and continue along the ridge on its left face, slightly below the crest. At half distance, a 40 foot chimney between rock and ice provides the key to an interesting finish. Cut over successive ice humps to the summit.
The same route was used in descent. A stronger party might find the traverse completed by the N.E. Ridge feasible and more satisfying.
D. R. Fisher, A. Kopczynski (NM), Hon. R. R. E. Chorley, G. J. Sutton. Some time during July. A most enjoyable and recommendable route, likely to remain in condition even in a bad season. We thought it about TD. inf. with three pitches of V and several of IV. Quite sustained and exposed. I do not remember exactly what time we started, probably about 7 a.m. Seven hours of unhurried progress took us from the hut over the Zahn to the summit. One ice-axe and no claws suffice a whole party for the descent. Good rock and good assurance.
During July. G. J. Sutton, J. Wilkinson (NM). I think we left the hut about 10 a.m. The ridge gave pleasant climbing chiefly on sound rock, with two or three pitches of IV. Great care is necessary in the zone which was shattered by the earthquake. Comparable with the traverse of the Gds. Charmoz. Descent by the same route without rappel enlivened by a squall of hail. After a lazy day we were back by 5 p.m. Good assurance; no axe or crampons.
J. Hammond (NM), G. J. Sutton, G. Dyke (NM), M. Ridges (NM). 5th/6th August. An attempt a few days earlier was turned back on the "deuxième tour." Attack, I think, about 6 a.m. We suffered a good deal from thirst. Opinions seem to differ, but this party felt that, climbing in a rucksack, the standard rose occasionally to VS, and was seldom less than v. diff. The rock is excellent and the assurance good. There are many bivouac sites available. We wasted time by rappelling on baby nylon, which tangles abominably. A very beautiful ridge, whether to look at or from. We bivouacked under the summit at about 7.30 or 8.0 p.m. Of the descent the less said the better: it is a ruin. No axe or crampons. Delicate rather than strenuous.
July 20th. A. Blackshaw (OUMC), Hon. R. R. E. Chorley, G. J. Sutton. I think we left Envers des Aiguilles about 4 a.m. It was the first ascent of the season, and the bergschrunds were difficult. The lower part of the climb was in bad condition, and the first chimney of V full of black ice: a fine lead by Blackshaw. The two chimneys were thought to be just VS in normal good conditions; the artificial pitch only Al; the rest never more and virtually never less than severe, a very sustained 1,000 ft. or so, strenuous and tiring in character. Our sacks were too comfortably garnished and so had to be hauled up most of the hard pitches. This forced us to bivouac near the summit. It would be far better and more enjoyable to gamble on travelling light and fast enough to get down in the day. Descent by glacier to the Requin hut. Crampons and one axe per cordeé. Good assurance and ample ledges. Little exposure. Stirrups and hammer.
Hon. R. R. E. Chorley, G. J. Sutton, E. D. G. Langmuir, J. Sims (NM). Our ascent at the beginning of July was the first of the season. The climb was in very bad condition. The penultimate diedre of IV was thought to contain a pitch as hard as any on the S. ridge of the A. Noire de Peuterey. None of the party had been on the mountain before; and an error in route-finding on the way down, coupled with the condition of climbers and climb and delay caused by the dropping of the rappel rope in the Fontaine Chimney, caused the party to bivouac in an unfrequented corner of the mountain. I have forgotten the date. Good rock, good assurance. Not sustained. Crampons and one axe per cordé.
Hon. R. R. E. Chorley, J. Lawton (NM), G. J. Sutton. Lac Blanc 1.30 p.m. Attack perhaps 3 p.m. Summit 6 p.m. Lac Blanc again about 7 p.m. A very agreeable climb, somewhat reminiscent of Longland’s, Suitable for unsettled weather. It was thought to be somewhat overgraded: We went up to Planpraz on the first telepherique from Chamonix, and walked back down to Chamonix after the climb. I cannot remember the date. The walk from Planpraz to La Flegère is so beautiful that we almost never got to the climb; perfect for a sunny day of photography. Slightly loose rock. Moderate exposure, varying assurance.
August 13th. G. J. Sutton, Miss E. Gregory. Attack about 7 a.m. We chose the traversing start for speed. The climbing is exposed and strenuous, much of it on pitons. Some of the stances are not of the best, but there is good security; the rock varies. Summit about 130 p.m. One axe per cordeé. Descent short and easy. First ascent of an ED by a British lady. Stirrups, hammer.
A.B.C., J.C.H.D., G.J.F., J. S. Huddart (ex-member). A natural route of great charm and character on superb rock. It is short – about 700 ft. on the Kanzelgrat proper – and leads directly almost to the summit. The hardest part is only very difficult. It is highly recommended for the average party, especially as it is little frequented. Our descent was by the Rothorngrat.
The Baltschiedertal runs north from Visp. It is practically uninhabited and comparatively little visited, giving a sense of solitude and intimacy completely lacking in larger Alpine climbing centres. The walk to the hut must be one of the longest in the Alps, but can be enjoyable if it is taken easily. The path is reasonable: one passes from the dusty heat of the Rhône Valley, through a beautifully wooded glen, and out onto the steep open pastures; a final slog across moraine leads to the well situated Baltschiederklause.
This really provides a variety of excellent rock climbs of all standards. A.B.C., J.C.H.D., G.J.F. and A. W. Pilborough (non- member) climbed the south-east ridge of the Südlicher Jagihorn, a short pleasant rock climb of no particular difficulty, with the great merit of starting at the door of the hut, and the south east ridge of the Bietschhorn. Roch describes this ridge as "une des plus belles escalades d’arêtes dans les Alpes." The hardest part occurs towards the top of the initial "big step" of some 300 ft., but it is nowhere more than mildly severe, even without using any of the entirely superfluous pitons. There follow some interesting gendarmes in a startling situation, until .html ridge is joined. It seems quite simple to bypass the final part of this on the right, though the more interesting, safer, but probably harder route keeps to the ridge except for a mushroom gendarme which is easily turned on the right. We did this. The rock,’ elsewhere rotten, is good on the ridge itself, though there is loose material. We descended by the north ridge, mainly snow, but still largely in good condition even in the afternoon, and enjoyable.
Other rock climbs in the valley that should be particularly worth while, though we did not have time to attempt them, are the south ridge of the Stockhorn and the "Blanchetgrat" on the Lötschentaler Breithorn. The Nesthorn, the next mountain of the area after the Bietschhorn, has its attractions also. All these climbs face south, which, combined with the lower altitudes of the peaks, makes the Baltschiedertal a welcome refuge from Zermatt in disappointing weather.
G.J.F.
1. July 8th. Il Pollice (The Thumb) of the Cinque Dita (Fünffingerspitze): R. O. Downes and J. P. Gaukroger. Much loose rock, but an enjoyable and pure climb, of IV sup. We were on the rock 8 hours.
2. July 14th: Traverse of the three Vajolet Towers of Winkler, Stabeler and Delago, with the small Piaz Tower for good measure. J.P.G.
The standard route, but avoiding the Winkler crack by the easier, but exposed, right hand wall Left Vajolet Hut 8.30. Back 6.30. The hard places, the Winkler crack and variants and the Pichlriss crack are well pitoned and good security was had by threading cords through them from the waist. Standard IV sup.
(It was quite the most enjoyable rock climb I have done – and the rock firm most of the way).
3. July 16th: S.E. Pillar of the Sasso Pordoi. J.P.G. with guide Fabio Pederiva (thought to be 4th ascent).
A delightful " outside edge" climb not far from the road (at the Passo Pordoi, on which British rock climbers would feel at home, the scale being that of the bigger Welsh climbs. Standard V, with two pitches of VI. Four hours without stops.
4. July 18th: Via Preuss on Delago Tower. Standard V on fine vertical line.
Woodhouse Scar, on N. side of Calder Valley, S.W. of Halifax. Steep, an outcrop of the "Rough Rock," which gives 20-30 very good lines mostly S. to V.S., plus good and varied scrambling. Seven main buttresses of 30-40 feet, of which the right-hand one gives the best climbs. Well worth an evening or two if seeking rocknastics in the vicinity. Grid. Ref. 44/083254.
J.P.G.
Deserves to be better known by Sassenachs. A 900 ft. climb on superb rough granite. The skin-sacrificing S crack is avoidable by a long groove on the right. Pitch 9, less obviously avoidable, is perhaps Just VS. The details are in the 1952 S.M.C. Guide. There is probably some scope for new routes still, in Arran.
R.O.D., J.W.O.