Aiguille de Leschaux via Bivouac Gervasutti. Alpinism in Courmayeur Valle D'Aosta Italia on 4th and 5th of August 2020 with Edoardo Saccaro.
Starting from Val Ferret, the steep and rocky ascent towards the Gervasutti Bivouac proved to be a direct contact with the altitude. We scrambled through rock, snow and ice clearly feeling the thin air (after driving through the night from Germany).
Once at the Rifugio, we crawled into the nice bunk beds for a deep (if brief) rest. As the team was not feeling so well, we decided that only Edoardo (Guide) and I would attempt to reach the summit.
At 4 am we left the site and pointed our crampons steadily towards Aiguille de Leschaux. Traversing the glacier left both the guide Edoardo and me impressed by the size of the crevasses. At one point, we even heard a giant klunk sound, and we could feel the ice beneath us drop by a few millimetres. Instantly, we stopped talking and kept walking despite being almost paralyzed by fear. For the next minutes, the silence was incredibly unnerving as we crossed the stretch of ice that had just moved under our feet. Once we crossed the next crevasse (where a bus could have easily fit in) we sighed in relief.
I felt much more at ease once we reached the rocky section of the climb. I can work mentally with ice, rocks and snow falling from above, but crevasses really freak me out! So we started gaining altitude quickly on short rope and mixed sections. Slowly, the rising sun let us see more than just what our headlight revealed. And what a sight we had: seeing the mix of purple, reddish and orange tones of the first sunrays hitting Grandes Jorasses is something I will never forget. Slowly but surely, we moved on and reached the final snow field before the summit climb.
The view from the summit was absolutely incredible. We reached the summit just when the sun was flooding the valleys with the first light, revealing the depth and three-dimensional aspect of seeing everything from above. The summit is literally a ridge, where only one person can stand on each side, never together. as fast as we climbed up, we decided to hurry down, as the sun could set off snow and rocks on the way down.
We literally crossed the last snowbridge as the sun was about to hit it in its full glory, so perfect timing! I am really proud of what the guide said to me when we reached the bivouac again: "Perfect timing, we moved on really efficiently. You are Philipp the Space shuttle!". After training the whole season for big projects (which had to be cancelled due to the global lockdown) it felt really good to see that I was acclimatized and ready for the altitude on a technical level.
Hope next time I can summit with Dad and Irene too!
Thanks to Rab Equipment and Lowe Alpine for supporting my adventures.
Filmed on GoPro Hero 7 Black, Sony A6500 and some iPhone footage.
Music Epidemic Sound.
My GoPro: prf.hn/l/7AvkMj8
My Photo Backpack:
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Discount Code: PHILIPPKLEINHERRERO15
12 ноя 2020
