Alps 2010 - North Face of Tete Blanche (Day 9)

After quite a comfortable nights sleep I was raring to go at 4am.  We had been told by everyone (the mountain office, guides and hut) that Tete Blanche (3429m) north face was not in condition because of the massive bergshrund and thin conditions.  I wanted to see for myself!  Dan and Tariq were up in the hut too, they were making an early start for the Aiguille du Tour, although I'm not sure which summit.

Pre dawn start, overlooking the hut and Tour Glacier

We dropped from the hut straight onto the glacier and roped up although we should of carried on along the ridge to gain the glacier so as to not have to regain the height.  The walk wasn't too bad we drudged up one hill to the Signal Reily and turned back towards the Aiguille du Tour.  A bit more walking saw us at the foot of the Col Superior du Tour.

Foot of Col Superior du Tour

We carried on as if to follow the ordinary route up Tete Blanche but then peeled off up the glacier to hit the Col du Tour.  Because of the weather it was a little mixed route which was good fun.  We moved together on it mostly although about half way up I put a sling on a spike to secure Chris.

Col du Tour just left of centre, see people on top right for perspective!

As we gained the top of the col we were greeted with the amazing view of the Plateau du Trient and Switzerland.  To the right we could see the bad conditions on the Tete Blanche North Face.

Chris in front of the North Face of Tete Blanche, overlooking the Plateau du Trient

We dropped down onto the Plateau du Trient which is roughly level with the Col du Tour and walked along towards the north face.  If you look carefully at the photo above you can see a colouir on the right hand side of the face.  We moved along to this and I decided we should give it a go to gain the west ridge.  At first the snow was quite good neve but this meant moving around in the colouir a little to find the best snow/ice.

Chris in the colouir to the right of the north face of Tete Blanche

At the top of the colouir I could of continued up, over rock but given we had no gear and the snow was dodgy I didn't fancy it, or traverse right over a boulder with soft snow which I didn't fancy either!  I tried to climb the rock but because of the heat it was all soft and scree was coming away in my hand.  I decided to hook my axes on the rock and move quickly over the soft snow.  I was glad to reach the shoulder where I bought up Chris.  At this point I saw some climbers crossing the bergshrund and thought I would join the North Face.  Chris wasn't so keen on the idea so we untied from the rope and Chris took it up the ridge to the summit and I soloed the face.  For the most part it was fairly good condition but there was a couple of occasions when I was scratching around in powder and just had to kick my feet hard and hope!  As I got further to the top the snow turned to ice and the axe placements became more solid but the angle became more vertical, I'm guessing 60 degrees!  Again it was slightly sketchy because the top was loose scree and boulders.  I used my hands at the top, placing my axes behind a rock first and then moving.  I was pretty chuffed to make the summit.

Looking down the North Face of Tete Blanche from the summit.  You can see the other party, the bergshrund below them and my tracks heading out from the shoulder

There were a few more rocks to scramble over to get to the summit where I met Chris and we spent a long time relaxing on the summit in the sun.  After about an hour we decided that we couldn't be bothered with the plod up Petite Fourche which was just over the ridge, over the Col du Blanc.

Chris on the summit of Tete Blanche

After relaxing on the summit we decided to head across the Col du Blanc which can be used to abseil down in to the Swiss side and took some photos, it really is a massive wall of ice - not something you'd want to fall down but just a 30m abseil then you can descend safely with crampons.  

Me above the Col du Blanc with Petite Fourche behind

We followed the normal route of Tete Blanche back and got back in plenty of time.  We had some food and went for a snooze before being woken up for the main meal.  Fish soup! Not just any fish either!  Tinned fish!  Blimey I don't know how I managed a bowlful!  It was duck and beans for the main course though so not all bad.  We were all tucked up in bed ready for kip by 8pm.