3 okt. 2011

Escalade dans CROIX de FER

Ni Dieu ni Maitre, 6c

a 4star route at Croix, Ni dieu ni maitre 250mts, 7 pitches up to 6c.
takes the line on the right side of the arête

Def. well worth the stars, steep, exposed, great limestone with superb friction. Non polished, but I guess that the approach is the reason for that!
With a bit speed under the soles there is still a good 2h walk if you don't take the car up to the Refuge Varan. But that might cost you a trip to the garage and new brakes:)

exposed approach, nothing else

Anyhow, I had a bit of the good luck at this time since i decided to walk the walk, "its such a nice walk, anyhow" I happily told myself at the same time as i had a glims at the time to realise i was late, AGAIN...
BUT, I still decided not to try and hitch with the army 4x4 jeep that in a quite good speed passed me...a couple of minutes later i saw it hanging on the sidebar of the road. Turned out that the brakes didnt work that well when he had to stoop for an other car, wow!
So, we walked on and thought better safe then...slow.

After passing the CAF Refuge it looks quite close, getting to the base of the rock...but not!
Steep terrain on up to vertical, feels like over hanging:), gras but then the ropes appear and life goes easier again.
Vanja choose to make a permanent stop in the shade of a big pine and I cant blame her, the indian summer is going hard to my 1/2liter of water. Gonna be dry lips on the climb.
Finally at the base, quick on with the gear and up the first pitch a gently 6a.
And, I m not even alone. Some fellow climber s on the arête as well. Nice
After the first one the climbing just get better and better. To warm still but who cares when the rock is solid and the run outs comes and goes.
The 6b pitch,3rd on the route is amazing! And the great thing about soloing is that i can climb it ones more after rappeling down and cleaning on the way back up. Actually this one i could do almost 3 times, because the rappel rope got stuck, YES, so i have to rapp it again. Very scary on my old 6 mm rapp rope. Ha, die young as Black sabbath sings...well im not that young anymore. But still.
After that the climb runs smooth and nice, accept the lack of water.

So, i decide to skip the last pitch and head down to dog and water, feels like a smart decision since the walk back down is just as long i guess.
But, it's a route, area, to recommend for sure!

time to go home mate

/Basecloudflyer

AREA INFO
Drive trough Sallanche and head for St Martin and go to Coudray.
From here there is a termac road that takes you quite high, but it's a bit steep so consider your car...
After September the road is open to drive al the way up to chalet Veran
Otherwise there is a public parking where the dirt road starts
If you drive after this point you are happier with a 4X4
The walk from Coudray tkas 1h+ up to the CAF hut, and an other 1h up to the rock
Walk to the road end and from there it's a path that goes steep up to the rock
An option is to walk in from the Flaine side but after tried both I find the lower one nicer

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