Slabs of Peigne — Women's Alpine Adventure Club

By Tselane Mead

The pale blue night sky still lingers even as the shards of morning sun come bursting through the deep crests of the jagged mountains. With each step over the dew jewelled grass, the dawn slips further away as the warming sun rises, bringing with it the promise of unknown adventure as we approach the base of Papillons Arête.

Our coffee-fuelled alpine start is all the more worth it to experience the quiet dawn that feels crafted especially for us and even though there is no one around we maintain a respectful silence as we wind our way up into the mountains.

The ground gets rougher as we hike higher to the imposing wall of grey granite, made all the more atmospheric by the deep shadow that we now find ourselves in. Clambering over the huge boulders we can make out a faint path emerging through the dense boulder field that leads to the snow line, where, shaded by the mountain, the snow has remained in July and through the hot Chamonix summer.

The route we were searching for was on the Aiguille du Peigne, tucked in between two faces. Our climb was a 5 pitch route called Les Lepidoptères and whilst not considered one of the classics - perhaps owing to this - it felt wonderfully wild and untouched.

After navigating over boulders and snow we find the hidden chossy ledge system which snaked at the base of the route. We gear up and begin our ascent.

The climbing was varied and amenable at an alpine grade of difficile 5b. The first pitch felt a tad bold (as slabs often do) and besides a piton mid-way and bolted belays it’s a traditional route. In general though, the gear was good and can be done with a standard rack. We moved through the pitches from delicate the slab sequences; to thrutching through chimneys; fiddly crack climbing; and finally an unusual large flake crux manoeuvre, protected with an old, questionable piton (I could go on but I don’t want to be accused of blowing the details of the crux for the on-sight alpine purists!) topping out on a spectacular exposed arête.

Secure at our belay on the arête, we take in the view, a breathtaking panorama: looking over to Mont Blanc, up to the ridge and down the Chamonix valley. We chatter until disturbed by a rumbling, not knowing where the supersonic sound is coming from. We look around and across to another snow packed cliff face - below the summit of Mont Blanc - and witness an enormous avalanche. Clouds of snow billow down the slope and dissipate into the sky. We let our feet dangle over the edge of the face and once again we are silent, awestruck by the magnitude of the surroundings.

After descending 200 meters on the abseil we pick our way back across the snow and boulders until we reach a little mountain hut for a much welcome cold beer. As the light slips away, casting long shadows across the valley we begin chatting animatedly about the day, turning terrifying situations of soloing above trapped ropes and dislodged boulders into stories of comic ambivalence which weave together with all the other wonderful parts of the day until we are filled with a deep glow of satisfaction, joy and perhaps a little sunburn. Until next time.

Tselane is an emergency nurse from Sheffield who is also a qualified ski instructor. She works winters as a nurse/ski instructor for a ski school in the Swiss alps and has spent periods in Chamonix developing ski touring and mountaineering skills. Her aspiration is to become an expedition medic one day.