The Club is saddened to learn of the death on 1 April of John Brailsford, a member for sixty years. He joined as a member of the ACG in 1962 and became ACG secretary in 1967.
We have recently learned the sad news of the death on 31 January of Brian Peart, a member since 1996.
As a mountaineer, you will surely care about the natural environment and appreciate the pristine, relatively unspoilt beauty of many mountain wildernesses. It is also likely that you want future generations to be able to appreciate the beauty and majesty of those environments. But what is the likelihood of that happening and what does the future hold for the glaciated and high mountain world?
In 2015, 196 parties signed up to a historic accord, the Paris Climate Agreement, with the aim of limiting global warming to less than 2 degrees above pre-industrial and preferably below 1.5 degrees. These numbers are not arbitrary. In the case of the frozen world (the cryosphere), overshooting 1.5⁰ C will result in passing irreversible and dangerous thresholds (www.50x30.net) and we are already at 1.1⁰ C of warming. That might not sound like much but global ecosystems, the cryosphere and humans are in a delicate balance with the rest of the climate system with reinforcing feedbacks that amplify these seemingly small changes to atmospheric temperatures. It is, however, not just the magnitude but also the rate at which humans are modifying the climate system that is a problem.
The graph above shows CO2 concentrations (blue) in the atmosphere alongside atmospheric temperature (red) for the last 800,000 years. CO2 levels have not been as high as they are now for at least 3 million years and are increasing at a rate that is unprecedented in the ice core records such as the one above. The present-day temperature increase lags behind CO2 as the climate responds to the unprecedented rise in greenhouse gases. Hence, even if we stopped burning fossil fuels tomorrow, the red line would carry on upwards. We are entering new and uncharted territory for the climate system. National commitments to meet the Paris Agreement (called NDCs) currently commit us to warming of about 3⁰ C so are well below the threshold to limit catastrophic climate breakdown.
Mountain glaciers around the world are currently receding at an unprecedented rate since the start of the Industrial Revolution and the latest research identifies human-induced climate warming as almost entirely responsible (Roe et al., 2021). A paper published in April 2021 provides the most detailed and complete picture of glacier wastage over the last two decades from over 1 million satellite images and shows how mass loss has been accelerating during this time for most of the 200,000 plus glaciers around the world (Hugonnet et al., 2021). If we continue on our current trajectory, the latest projections indicate that over half of mountain glacier ice will have melted and for low latitude and lower altitude regions they will be almost completed gone by the end of the century (Shannon et al., 2019). By 2050, Western Canada and the USA (excluding Alaska), central Europe and parts of Asia could be completely void of glaciers alongside many other damaging impacts.
The fate of one small glacier in the Pyrenees that survived since before Roman times but has now almost completely disappeared (Moreno et al., 2021).
On the left is the pre-industrial reconstruction of extent and the right the present-day remnant parts.
That is why, for example, the UK government aims to put into law a reduction of 78% in CO2 emissions by 2035, which, for the first time includes our share of international aviation and shipping. That is the kind of commitment required to stand a fighting chance of not overshooting 1.5⁰ C (again see www.50x30.net). To achieve that reduction is a huge challenge but, just like anything in life, if you don’t know where you’re going you’re unlikely to ever get there. It will require legislation and profound changes to the way we operate but it will also require change at the individual level and each of us can help protect what we cherish for future generations. We need to reduce emissions by 50% by 2030 (relative to 2010) to avoid a dangerous overshoot. That means about a 6-7% reduction per year which is roughly what happened in 2020 during a global pandemic (it’s more than 5% because it’s relative to 2010 values). If each of us reduced our flights, car-miles, consumption and waste by that amount a year we can make a difference. Just like one nurse or doctor cannot change the course of the current pandemic, collectively they can save millions of lives. Collectively, we can do the same for the planet we live on and the mountain environments we care so much about, value and cherish.
This article was written by Alpine Club Green Group member Jonathan Bamber, Professor of Glaciology & Earth Observation at the University of Bristol and former President of the European Geosciences Union.
It first appeared in the Alpine Club Newsletter of March 2022.
On the 8 March 2022, Austrian climber Laura Tiefenthaler made an ascent of The Heckmair Route on the north face of the Eiger with Jana Möhrer. On the 25 March, she returned to the route on her own to make a solo ascent.
Stable conditions across the Swiss Alps have lead to a lot of activity on the face and, having already climbed the Heckmair earlier this month, Laura was encouraged to attempt a solo ascent by Rolo Garibotti. She made her first attempt on the 24 March, but a routefinding error meant that she lost two hours and elected to retreat. She returned the next day, beginning at 1AM and topping out safely 15 hours later.
Writing on Instagram, Laura described her ascent: "With curiosity as my main motivation, and knowing that up to a point, I could get down, it felt safe to go explore. As I progressed, confidence grew. I rope-soloed all the hard pitches and some short sections. Reaching the Traverse of the Gods at 10am, I knew that time was on my side. I slowed down, prioritizing safety over speed, and topped out at 4pm, exceeding my expectations."
This is likely the second solo ascent of the line by a woman after Catherine Destivelle in 1992.
An old track in the Mallory which seems possible although quite dry (several mixed passages, ice exit).
Report translated from La Chamoniarde.
AC member Tom Livingstone has made what is likely to be the first free ascent of the Guides Route on the north face of Les Drus. Tom had already made two attempts to free the line earlier this year, but found success on the third time of asking with partner Tom Seccombe.
The crux of the route is believed to weigh in at around M8+ and the pair ended up on the face for longer than they had expected despite managing to onsight the hardest pitches. Writing on his social media, Tom commented: "Waking up, fresh snow worried us. We’d also run out of proper food since we didn’t expect (or want) 2 bivies. We ate a few boiled sweets for breakfast. Tom S. climbed the final hard pitch and I freed it on second"
We're back!
It's fair to say that since the last update, there hasn’t been much change (all the classic ski touring routes are being done) but above all La Chamoniarde are still struggling to get info! So please think about them when you're out and don't call them just to ask for information.
The birds are singing, the snow is melting, the crocuses are coming out... In short, it's spring!
A warm spell of scirocco covered the surface of the snow with a thin layer of sand, no significant snowfall expected. Not goodl! Let’s see how this will affect the skiability and the mountains (we can expect an acceleration of the melting of the snowpack, also watch out for a potential influence on weak layers in the short and longer term).
Be careful in the next few days with a mediocre refreeze expected!
Before the thaw and the sandstorm, all the classic ski routes were being done, in OK conditions (variable skiability). The snow cover is generally a bit poor, but there is just enough to go around.
Nothing special to report if you are starting from the top of the lifts. For departures from car parks, you will need to walk a bit and it’s not going to get better. It’s a long walk from le Bettey for the aiguillette des Houches; 10 minutes for the aiguillette des Posettes from the le Tour car park; 15-20 minutes for Loriaz; 25 minutes for Bel Oiseau (short snow-covered sections on the road + steep part of the forest). No information from Plaine Joux (Pormenaz) and the Col de la Forclaz (Pointe Ronde). On the other hand, you can ski from Le Buet (until when?) and at the Col des Montets as well as at Notre Dame de la Gorge (crampons are useful for the first 150 metres of the Roman way).
All the classic routes in the Aiguilles Rouges and Navarre are possible: lacs Jovets/Cicle sector, Armancette, Pointe Noire de Pormenaz, Crochue-Bérard traverse (section under the Alphonse Favre very hard snow in the mornings, reserved for good skiers); Glacier du Mort, Col des Dards and Belvédère (up and down the same way); N side of the Belvédère pass quite dry; col de Beugeant, col de l'Encrenaz, Buet, col de la Terrasse, Bel Oiseau, col de Fenestral.
In the high mountains, it is still dry. The faces and couloirs are either little or not filled. The glaciers are starting to open up even though it's only mid-March. Lots of crevasse rescues have been going on (vallée Blanche, glacier d'Argentière). Remember to routinely rope up on the way up, even if we all find it hard to get into the habit.
The Conscrits hut opens this Friday 18th March. The Dômes de Miage have been done. On the ascent, it's walking until the end of the forest (45 min/1h). The Mauvais Pas (bad step) is OK. Stay on the right bank of the glacier, arête in good condition (no ice). The beginning of the descent between the summit and the col de la Bérangère has been well worked by the wind (sastrugi) but was still skiable. Short skis off section above the lac d'Armancette and then skiing in the bed of an avalanche (from the beginning of the season) until the bottom of the valley.
No real activity yet on Mont Blanc from the Grands Mulets. The “jonction” is passable (“mode gruyère" - lots of crevasses). Higher up the atmosphere is Himalayan (not recommended for the moment): to be continued...
The same goes for the “trois Monts” with a Mont Blanc du Tacul that is far too dry to climb.
The Vallée Blanche is still going strong (writing this on the 16th of March feels a bit weird... sad) but is more than ever only for good skiers. Crampons are still necessary for the Midi arête. Some tricky crevasses especially near the Gros Rognon. Good bumpy terrain "à la Grospiron” (a famous French Olympic skier) before the Salle à Manger which is already starting to open up. The Vallée Noire is quite easy but you need to be a good skier (patches of ice, crevasses, avalanche debris).
It's getting a bit more dicy descending to Chamonix by the Mottets. You will need to take skis off 2-3 times on the glacier. Beware of the ice (it's hot) which overhangs the place where you take off your skis to go back up to the buvette. The slabs under the buvette have also dried out with the sun and traffic. You will have to walk for 8-10 minutes before the Orthaz couloir and then another 10 minutes on the bends before les Planards.
Still some activity around the Brèche Puiseux. The N face of Pointe Yeld is unrecognisable. Dry atmosphere also on the épaule du Tacul and in the Capucin couloir (2 rappels of 60 m at the last news).
Access to the Talèfre basin is via the Pierre à Béranger (so you have to go early). The central couloir looks too dry. A few teams have climbed the Whymper couloir on the Verte (no more information). Some teams have also been on the Col des Droites and the Pointe Isabelle (no more info). The Y couloir will have been done.
In the Argentière basin, the refuge remains closed for the moment. The winter room is not accessible. The N faces are desperately dry, even the Lagarde couloir is not practicable (very dry at the bottom, cruxes not protectable, the only rope party that has been there recently did not like it!) For the record, a rope party has done the Tournier spur. No news from Petit Viking and co. The Y to the Aiguille d'Argentière is still possible (without access to the refuge, logistics are a bit more complicated!). The summit part of the glacier du Milieu (above the rimaye) is quite dry (ice on the surface) and said to be more technical than usual. Col du Tour Noir and d'Argentière: clear. Dry access to the Col du Chardonnet (crampons). A 60m fixed rope is in place on its N side but the descender does not fit: you will have to manage with an alternate method.
Col du Passon: OK down to le Tour. The Albert 1er refuge opens on Friday (18/03). As a reminder, access is via the Col du Passon at this time.
On the Swiss side, the Trient hut is open. On the other hand, "following incivilities and depredations affecting the security of the building, we have unfortunately had to take the decision to close the Cabane de l'A Neuve completely. Access to the interior of the hut is prohibited until further notice. There is therefore no access possible in winter. It will be reopened for the summer season." Very sad.
Concerning the gullies, the activity is still concentrated around the Aiguille du Midi:
- Vent du Dragon, Burnier Vogler. INFO of 16-03: rockfall in the Passerelle couloir, the belays could have been impacted.
- Chéré couloir, Pellissier, Gabarrou-Albinoni, Modica-Noury, Supercouloir (L1+L2 completely dry). Do not exit at the top of Le Tacul but abseil the routes.
- Lafaille, Valeria.
- N face of the Tour Ronde + Gervasutti couloir (rimaye passes on the right, mixed exit) with descent by the Freshfield couloir.
For ice climbing, you can still climb near the cascade Bérard but you will have to hurry!
It also feels like the end for snowshoeing! It hasn't snowed for a long time and the itineraries at the bottom of the valley can be done with good boots, poles and a small pair of crampons. At altitude (access from the lifts: Prarion, Flégère, Index, aiguillette des Posettes + refuge de Loriaz), they can still be useful when the snow is soft (it's warm) and not sufficiently packed.
We are about to enter an "in-between" period: it is spring in the valley bottom but there is still snow at altitude. Hiking activity should therefore be limited to below 1600-1800 m depending on the sector. The paths are slippery, there may be ice or couloirs to cross.
Report translated from La Chamoniarde.
We are sad to learn of the death on 10 March of Ted Norrish, a member since 1975.
Below are links to various resources that can assist when planning how to reduce your environmental impact or help you to discover environmental volunteering opportunities.
The purpose of the Alpine Club Green Group is to assist the Alpine Club in initiating and contributing to mountaineering sustainability objectives - as well as raising the AC's profile, locally, nationally and internationally on this agenda.
The Green Group intends to inform, engage and support individual AC members in reducing all our carbon footprints, but also to facilitate partnership initiatives that are likely to have a more effective impact.
The Green Group is an open consultative group consisting of interested members who meet formally once or twice per annum (virtually at present) and any actions taken are fed back into the main AC committee by the Chair.
The current Green Group is made up of:
John Booth Terry Gifford Andy MacNae
Rob Collister Steve Goodwin Ola Parcinska
Ed Douglas Jerry Gore Martin Price
Mike Fletcher Grace Hurford Andy Tickle
Pete Frost David Medcalf Jonathan White
As part of their work, the Green Group produce position papers and articles for the club on topics relating to the environment; survey members on green issues and coallate resources to help members and the wider mountaineering community make informed decisions. You can keep up to date on Green Group activities at the Sustainability News feed and find more in-depth resources below.
At the end of February this year, AC member Matt Helliker and British Mountain Guide Jon Bracey made what is likely the first ascent of a line on the ENE face of the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey.
Climbed entirely on trad gear, the pair have dubbed the line 'Mad Vlad' and graded it M7 R, IX/8 with Helliker describing the crux pitch as "serious, run out, steep and questionable".
Further details at PlanetMountain.
Italian alpinist Simon Gietl has, over three days, made the first traverse of the Rosengarten Skyline in the Italian Dolomites. Gietl had initially planned to complete the route with Egon Resch but the pair were forced to abandon the route after Resch was hit by rockfall. Undeterred, Gietl returned on his own and, from the 1 to 3 March, succeeded in reaching all of the major summits in the range.
More details are available at Planet Mountain.
On the 1 March, after 3 days of climbing, the Italian team of François Cazzanelli, Emrik Favre and Francesco Ratti topped out on the link up 'Padre Pio Prega Per Noi + Echelle Ver le Ciel' (1,870m, 7b) on the South Face of the Matterhorn.
'Padre Pio Prega Per Noi' is a 700m line which finishes on the Pilastro dei Fiori pillar. It can be continued to the summit via 'Echelle Ver le Ciel', giving the complete 41-pitch link up. This was the first repeat of the complete route and the first ascent of the line in winter.
Further details are available at Planet Mountain.
The Alpine Club Committee deplores the invasion of Ukraine and stands united with the people of Ukraine in the face of Russia's violent aggression.
We also support the many Russian climbers who have expressed their opposition to what their government is doing.
We welcome the suspension of the Russian Mountaineering Federation from the UIAA. No alpinists or mountaineering officials from Russia or Belarus should be allowed to participate in UIAA events and all Russian and Belarus delegates should be excluded from UIAA working groups, committees and commissions, until Ukraine's sovereignty is respected and all Russian troops are withdrawn.
Some very brief information!
Not much has changed since the last report.
There is still a lot of ski touring happening. All the classic routes are being done daily.
Generally speaking, it’s possible to find "powder snow” on shaded slopes that have not been exposed to the wind. There is spring snow on the southerly slopes. In the high mountains, the wind has worked the snow well but the skiing is still quite pleasant. Ski crampons (couteaux/harscheisen) are becoming more and more useful.
Good snow on the descent between the Brévent and the Pont d'Arlevé. It's not so good in the combe du Pouce (a small gap in the exit canyon).
As is often the case, the traverse between the Col des Crochues and the Col de Bérard is on hard snow especially below the Pointe Alphonse Favre: you need to be a good skier. Very hard snow at the top of Mont Buet, couteaux are recommended.
The Bérard valley is still ok well down to le Buet (some rocks below the Bérard waterfall).
There will be a little bit of portage to go up to Loriaz (the path is quite icy: best to stay on the 4WD path). Same thing to go up to the Aiguillette des Posettes from the le Tour car park.
There is a good track in to go up to the col des Autannes (couteaux and boot crampons useful). The descent from the col de Passon to le Tour is fine. The col supérieur du Tour is fine (50 m of easy mixed climbing at the top).
Some activity around the Aiguille d'Argentière with the Y being done in ascent (a mixed pitch at the bottom), the Barbey couloir (upper third in hard snow/ice then good), the Glacier du Milieu (quite dry above the rimaye with a lot of ice, the narrow bit is fine)
Vallée Blanche: after the wind, there is ice back on the arête: you will need crampons. The quality of the snow is variable but the snow cover is good. There is still some ice in the exit couloir of the Grand Envers which should be avoided. A few patches of ice and skis off in the last few turns before the Planards farm.
Still good general conditions on the brèche Puiseux.
The Cosmiques arête is tracked.
Report translated from La Chamoniarde.
The ski touring season is in full swing. Mostly very good conditions. The snow cover is quite good (except under 1700-1800 m where you can hit the ground depending on the sector). The quality of the snow is also good where the sun has not yet warmed it up too much. Let's hope that the wind today and in the next few days does not damage the quality of the snow too much!
All the classic routes are being done: Contamines, Anterne/Pormenaz, Aiguilles Rouges, Bérard valley, Bel Oiseau, col de la Forclaz (rather thin snow on the path leading to the Giète alpage).
Good conditions also on the glaciers which are relatively well filled in: col du Passon, 3 Cols, col du Chardonnet, col du Tour Noir, col d'Argentière, brèche Puiseux.
The Vallée Blanche is also in very good condition. The snow is still a bit sparse at the Salle à Manger and on the Mer de Glace, but it is skiable. At the moment you can ski down to the buvette des Mottets. You will need to take skis off twice on the way to Les Planards down the James Bond track.
The entry to the glacier Rond needs crampons. There was a "frozen crust" on the upper slope. The exit corridor is well filled. Couloir des Cosmiques skied in good conditions on 24/02. Exit on the right bank of the glacier quite technical, it's narrow between the crevasses and the rock. Maybe better to cross to La Para than go down the right bank of the Bossons glacier (little snow and lots of rocks).
As a reminder, the Requin and Torino huts are open. The Cosmiques hut opens this Saturday, 26 February. The Argentière hut will open on 6 March.
On the other hand, we are approaching the end of the season (which has not been exceptional in the valley) for the ice climbing.
Gully activity is on hold after the snowfalls but it should start again soon. Beware of overcrowding and temperatures: we are moving towards spring and the sun is beating down fast (you will have to think about sleeping in a hut!)
Report translated from La Chamoniarde.
The Club will be saddened to learn that Dr Jim Milledge, a past Vice-President, and renowned for his research on the physiology of altitude, has died.
The funeral service will be held on 17 March - more details later.
We have recently learned that Lutz Bormann, a member since 1994, sadly died on 21 December.
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.
