The excitement was hard to contain when I had finally managed to park my car in an acceptable manner below the switch backs at 1827m. I had enjoyed my comfortable bed until 2:30am and had to hurry a bit to make my intended departure time at 4am. Wanting to economise my energy for the long day, I forced myself to walk, despite an overwhelming urge to run as if there was no tomorrow. =). I took a little honorary loop on the first intersections and decided to put my headlamp on bright mode to avoid further detours. It had dutifully signaled the green light of excellent battery status the evening before. But when I lifted my hand to adjust its position, I saw a red reflection on my hand,... was it possible? What a faux pas. It was still pitch black, with the sunrise over an hour away. So, I went back to low light mode and moved carefully on my way across the long flat beyond Bricola.
Once the terrain changed from earth and grass to slabs and scree I promptly lost the trail. The general direction of the journey is indicated with colorful poles and cairns, but often there is no actual trail, so route finding requires a bit of attention in the dark. It is useful to verify your position on your phone quite frequently, to avoid longer detours in the loose scree. But I had already ended up on the wrong side of a river that should have been crossed lower down. Instead of the easy rockhopping through a wide and shallow stream that I would find on the way down, I was facing an angry sounding water snail, spraying and roaring across some slippery rockslabs. I hesitated for a moment. But my compass was pointing upward and I was not going to turn around searching for mercy from the water dragon. One last burst from my headlamp, two sturdy placements of my hiking poles and a wholehearted lunge across the spray and I was on the other side,...to my big surprise with almost dry feet. Up it was and I could already make out the silhouette of the summit and the slope leading up to the hut. The natural light was going to take over from my fading headlamp!
As always when the mountains awake in the morning, I was in awe and full of gratitude to be allowed such a wonderful day in a beautiful place. I had estimated 3 hours to the hut, and managed with a 2 min delay. Here, the ambiance changed from a comfortably warm morning hike in the hills to a more serious and wind-chilled alpine adventure. Time to eat my obligatory egg sandwich and to put on a few extra layers, gloves and the helmet. Ready to meet the mountain!
The light of dawn and the marks of thousands of crampons that had already eaten their way up this mountain made the route finding a lot easier. The snow sections were in perfect shape and I could walk all the way to the final rocky ridge without any problem. The beginning of the rocky part is just walking. I passed the Grand Gendarme on the left, as I was not sure whether a rappel would be required to descend on the other side. Next time, I would also climb over it, as the by-passing is not very beautiful. Getting back up to the ridge requires a few easy climbing moves and I really enjoyed finding my rhythm. Until then, I had been completely alone with the feeling of peace and connectedness with the mountain. It’s almost as if you forget that you are there, the focus on the movement and the route completely absorbed me.
Hence, I was very much taken by surprise, when I suddenly saw a single person sitting at the top of one of the steeper sections. “Hey, so cool! Another girl going alone all the way!” Big smiles! We gave each other high fives and continued our respective ways. She was already on her way down and somehow I only realised 5 minutes later that I would have really liked to ask her name and whether she would be interested to get in touch about joined, future projects. Luckily, she read my report on camp2camp and I know now that it was Nina Alpina that was the first one to touch the summit that day.
Shortly after this encounter, the solitude was over as I had reached the tail of a long line of rope teams. Mostly, everybody seemed very focused on their mission, but I exchanged a few cheerful sentences here and there. I usually avoid the crowded routes, because it is nicer and safer when you are alone-alone (fewer feet kick off fewer rocks). But I understand very well that others also like to visit these great places =). And it is nice to share the happiness.
After the Grand Gendarme, I followed the thread of the ridge (fil de l'arête) all the way. It is the most enjoyable and the most compact path. Many plus points for this section in my personal opinion:
- It feels like a fun upward-ish climb and not like an obstacle course,... if you also like ridges, you will know what I mean =)
- If you stay on the top of the ridge, the rock is really cleaned and solid, not a single hold that seems shaky.
- Great feeling of being high up in airy terrain, without having to execute any moves that feel particularly physical, shaky or uncertain to reverse on the way down.
- The view is just amazing, with the Cervin taking a very prominent position in the southeast.
- The entire route can be maneuvered with climbing grade 3. There are no sudden drops that would require a rappel (or harder climbing).
The last part to the summit is walking again, but the noticeable absence of oxygen still makes it feel like an accomplishment to finally stand on top. After spending almost a year looking up at the Dent Blanche from my terrasse, I finally got to look down at my terrasse from the summit. Super happy. I was so taken by the scenery that I almost forgot the obligatory summit picture. Luckily, a very cheerful team that arrived shortly after me, reminded me and we took each others’ photo. Thanks for the nice moments!
The way down was still lined with the same rope parties, but mostly there was enough space to not get into each others’ way. Once back on the snow, I was alone again, except for one tardy team that was still going up. The snow was still hard and grippy around 11am, given that it is mostly oriented westward. Having the ice axe in hand is a good safety measure on these exposed slopes, but there was no place where it was needed to actually enable the progress (same with crampons). The way back to the hut seemed to reveal some new sections that I did not remember from the way up,... but the GPS track confirmed that I took the same route.
Once I had reached the hut, I was fairly confident that all serious dangers were behind me and my absolute and non-negotiable priority for safety gave way to my secondary but undeniable ambition to test my speed and see what my legs still had in them. Hence, I turned on my favorite music, rolled up my pants and started running down the mountain, much to the amusement of most of the hikers that I crossed on the way down. Thanks for the many cheers and smiles! At some point, I thought I could maybe beat the 9 hours, so I went a bit overboard on the last kilometers. I stopped looking at my watch and even darted down the concrete road at the end in a full sprint, playing my own little movie of success and glory in my head (in full awareness of its futile foolishness, but nevertheless in full enjoyment… I admit =) .... Suffice to say, I did not make the 9 hour mark and I barely got back up onto my legs after crashing in the parking lot and eating all my remaining food. But it was fantastic and exhilarating, so much fun.
Bottom line: An amazing day and I am still vibrating with all the beautiful views and the intoxicating feeling of moving free and light in the mountains. It is a beautiful route from the bottom to the top and also a great vantage point to pick out the next adventure.
My shout to all women out there: I put this FKT up for you to come and beat it!! While I had firmly decided for once not to take a spontaneous nap on a warm rock of my liking, I was also not on a serious speed mission. I had never been there before, got lost a fair bit in the dark, took time for pictures, chats and my double-egg sandwich aaaand of course I enjoyed the views from the summit. So: Go for it and put up a new FKT,... I will come back for it next year =).