news blog

French Trio Complete 'Winter Alpine Super Trilogy'

The team of Benjamin Védrines, Léo Billon and Sébastien Ratel from the French GMHM have finished off their tour of classic north faces with an ascent of the Gogna-Cerruti (A2, 6b, M7) on the Matterhorn. 

In less than a month, the trio have climbed the Harlin Route on the Eiger (its first ascent in winter), Directe de L'amitié on the north face of the Grandes Jorasses (free) and now the Gogna-Cerruti. Not only does this mark the completion of the so-called 'Winter Alpine Super Trilogy,' of north faces, but the team have also set a new benchmark in terms of style; climbing their chosen routes quickly and with improvements to the previous style of ascent.

More details are available at the French publication Alpine Mag.

Livingstone and Dumarest Make the First Ascent of 'Changing Corners' (M7) on Pointe Adolphe Rey

French mountain guide Christophe Dumarest and AC member Tom Livingstone have made the first ascent of a new line on Pointe Adolphe Rey. The pair put up 'Changing Corners' (M7, 250m) in a single day from Chamonix, both climbing the route free.

In a post on his Facebook Page (below), Tom had this to say about the climbing: "The granite is mostly good, footholds very small, and ice non-existant, which makes for a nice challenge".

More details are available at Planet Mountain.

GMHM Team Follow up the Eiger with 'Directe de L'amitié' on the Grandes Jorasses

Desnivel report that the team of Léo Billon, Sébastien Ratel and Benjamin Védrines from the French High Mountain Military Group (GMHM) have made a successful ascent of 'Directe de L'amitié' on the north face of the Grandes Jorasses. This ascent, completed over three days, comes just a short while after the trio made the first winter ascent of the 'Harlin Route' on the north face of the Eiger.

In a post on his professional Facebook account, (below), Védrines indicates that the team climbed the route free and that they will now have to think of a suitable follow-up, with many observers assuming that this will involve the Matterhorn as a way of completing the so-called 'Winter Alpine Super Trilogy'.

Corrado Pesce Rescue Called Off

Argentina's El Chalten Alpine Rescue Centre have confirmed that they are calling off the rescue operation for Corrado 'Korra' Pesce after drone photography captured images of Pesce's body 50m below his last known bivi spot.

Pesce, who had been descending the mountain following the successful ascent of a new route with his partner Tomás Aguiló, was hit by rock and ice fall during a short rest and was too badly injured to continue the descent. Aguiló, who was also injured, successfully called for a rescue and descended the mountain where he met a rescue party who were able to transfer him to a helicopter.

Alpine Magazine have published a tribute to Pesce, a widely respected Chamonix-based climber and mountain guide, that can be read here.