Bi Level House Designs

Argentiere Basin - 9 and March 11

In the last few days of sun a few times I visited the Argentiere basin.

On March 9, with Max Lucco we tried to say "la voie du Rom" recently opened by Philippe Collet & C. on the south side of the Aiguille d'Argentiere, but once we arrived at the base had a bitter surprise of not finding a bit of ice on the road, so a little strung for the "package" we are striking down quickly and we headed the street to the Swiss Courtes.

The climb at the moment is in excellent condition. The descent from the NE couloir is drawn and has a few strokes of ice just below the hill.

the terminal for boarding passes easily to the left face the wall, and been shut down everywhere.

two groups after the March 11 attack the couloir with Lagarde that Sabrina was released at the last minute to take home this beautiful climb in very good condition.

Access: for the Mont Blanc tunnel to Chamonix and then up the valley in the direction of Switzerland until the entry of Argentiere. From here you can park at the start of the Grands Montets.

Approach to the shelters or : from the top station the cable car down along the slope towards a rocky island about 300m further down on the right track. Drive along to his right, just past a large semicircle to the right to do to get around the crevasses in the change of slope. Then take the foot on the Argentiere glacier. Climb, crossing to the right side of the valley and reach the refuge located on the large moraine debris, just opposite the beautiful walls N. There is another option that cuts under the N wall of the Verte and Droites, but at the moment is to prevent the fall of the numerous crevasses and cracks open.

Approach to the NE face of Droites - Lagarde couloir direct: the shelter down the glacier and cross it pointing to great spur that descends from the N wall, go up the glacier on its left up to the attack of the street (about 1hr 30min), many crevasses.

Ascent: at this time the terminal moves easily to the right, but given the shape may change rapidly making it difficult to overcome.

The direct attack of the couloir Lagarde has a gully for 250m up to 90 degrees in the penultimate shot. The stops have to be done on snow / ice except the one at the end of the pitch is steeper than on rock (out right).

After you enter the gully channel true and that just makes a kind of S until you reach an area of \u200b\u200bmixed. This year is a long shot, only to continue along the ridge up snowy slopes to the left shoulder of a snow feature.

Descent: follow the snow ridge to reach the first major block that blocks the road. Get off before this D-side for about 10m. A sling around a boulder marks the beginning of the descent. The right channel is the one in SW side, most received. From here

11 doubles between 50 and 60 yards leading to the terminal.

At this time the crack has opened away from the latest dual axis of the channel, therefore, to end of the 60 m traverse 40m on the left (upstream side) to reach a belay on a block that allows you to make a final double, and so overcome the crevasse (stop with the last common dual channel descending from Breche) . See photo.

About halfway down you jump over a compact rock. Go down to the bottom of this to find the right stop (60m).

Another possibility is a variant of down the normal route but for the fact that usually do not recommend you reach the top with warm temperatures and takes place along the slopes that can be downloaded more frequently.

Material: normal equipment ice, a number of lines to be replaced for the descent, from 0.3 to 0.75 Camalot friends, referrals, ice screws, taking into account the need to also make stops on the gully (to save weight can also be expected to make stops on abalakov) , 2 nail down the blade.