Cogne 3

Well, last week I went to Cogne again, and like the trips before our primary goal was an alpine route in Chamonix. I think Cogne is getting more than an alternative, the weather is always good, you always find ice here, and even after 20 climbing days here in Cogne there are still plenty of routes to climb.

On our arrival day Miel and I climbed the Stallatito de Cristallo, WI 4+. Good warm up.

At the start of the Stallatito de Cristallo... after 10 hours driving a nice physical activity


Next morning we moved a bit more to the right to climb Tutto Relativo, WI4. But there were people ahead, and with -17 degrees it was definitely to cold to wait an hour or so. So we traversed back to the left and climbed the Stallatito a second time, really nice. After that we got our chance to climb Tutto Relativo, the first two pitches are easy, but then things get really steep, it was cold, but the ice wasn't too bad. Afer the final pitch we walked up and around to go down again to the start of the route.

The crux pitch of Tutto Relativo...

We got some sun, had a hot tea and then crossed the valley to the other side to give Coyote another try. After the first pitch we aborted the climb because of a serious shower, within minutes everything was soaked, and immediatiley frozen. It was time to get down, and at 17.00 we had a nice Paulaner beer in Cogne.

Next day we went into Valleille again for climbing the cold couloir. We were pretty early trying to be the first en route. But as we arrived at the start more than 3 rope teams were preparing, so we decided to come back another time and walked back to Stella Artice.

Stella Artice is a pretty impressive route, with a long 60m start at WI4. But this is just the warm up for the very steep and long free-standing pillar of the 2nd pitch. In januari the pillar wasn’t yet thick enough for a save ascent, but now it was very massive – about 2x1 metres thickness. I never lead climbed a steep massive pillar like that. So it was pretty exciting. But it was really cool climbing. 

 

The left line is Stella Artice...

Steep ice is definitely fun!

 the final pitch of stella artice...

Funny thing is if you climb steeper ice routes it feels more like rock climbing – and that’s what we know and like! Miel second the steep pillar – he was really fast. After the steep pitch we had an easy snow pitch and the last pitch was hard to climb. Really hard ice, it was difficult to place the ice screws and my calf muscles were burning as hell. Anyway, we climbed that last pitch and in 4 abseils we were down again. It was a really cold day and even in the sun it was -15 or so.

 

Stella Artice gets some sun after 12.00h, Miel is rappelling down the first pitch and you can see some guys from Chamonix climbing the pillar

The last day we climbed the first 3 pitches of cold couloir, this time we the first party at the start. At 11.00h we were back in Lillaz for a coffee.

 

Cogne ice climbing

After climbing in Chamonix I spent a day in Verbier for skiing. Next day Peter came in from Berlin. Initially we planned to go to Chamonix again but the weather got bad. As always we have a plan B: ice in Cogne. On the other side of the Mont Blanc the weather was still good. As we arrived on thursday afternoon we both were tired; Peter from the long trip and I because of 3 days of outdoor activities. So we decided just to walk into the Lillaz valley and checking out the routes for the next days. It was a beautiful afternoon and there were lots of people climbing - but not in the cold couloir. This long ice route starts with 2 difficult pitches and then gets easier. I suggested just to try the first pitch. It is never difficult to convince Peter to do some rock or ice climbing. So in the late afternoon we got 2 really cool pitches of the cold couloir.


cold couloir, with the steeper pitches

Next day we went up to Lillaz again to climb one of the classics in the valley: "candelabro de coyote". We haven't seen a coyote here but the climbing was pretty impressive. 6 pitches of climbing. And we were alone - never expected that. The climbing was great. After 5 hours we were back at the bottom and we discussed options like having coffee or climbing.... 30 minutes later we were at the start of the steep pitch of Tuborg, another WI4+/5. We climbed that route as well and after that we went down, it was too late for coffee.... we checked out the bars if they had Tuborg, but they hadn't since we were in Italy and not in Denmark :-)


nice overview from the bottom of the valley: from right to left Tuborg, Coyote and not really visible on the far left the Chandelle Levure


Coyote ice fall



 the first pitch



airy and really cool climbing



the upper pillar



Peter leading the upper pitches

On our third day we went up to the Chandelle Levure. I already climbed that route with Roeland - earlier this winter. Back in december the last pillar hadn't formed pretty well. So I really had to come back for climbing the last pitch. Peter lead the first pitches. Then you got a 35 m pitch with a almost vertical wall at the top. The climbing was really cool and suddenly I felt the sun - reaching the top of our ice fall. Fantastic. The night had been cold, maybe -12 degrees, the ice has a lot of tension. If you work with your axes on that tensioned ice it breaks. But if the sun starts shining, temperature rises and the tension in the ice removes. So in the upper part of that pitch suddenly the ice got really smooth and the climbing becomes easy inspite of the steepness.


the first pitch of the Chandelle


catching the sun...

Peter followed very quick and we went up to the last pitch. It still looked thin, but most of all very steep (at some parts overhanging). The sun was shining on the upper part and small pieces of ice came down. I saw no signs of previous attempts. But I thought ok, in parts it  looks protectable. I can try. I started really careful the first steep part, but already the second ice screw pinned through the ice and catched air on the inner part of the pillar. Normaly, good icescrews in good ice can hold 2000kg - this is more than my car and thats what I am always visualizing if I'm climbing ice. Ok, stay calm, you just put an ice screw where my BMW could hang on - I don't know but this thought makes me way more relaxed... In this pitch my ice screws were not solid, there was still a lot of tension in the ice and I really did not feel confident to continue. So I carefully climbed down again and we went away.

Cogne - ice climbing

Last week the winter is officially opened!!! I went to Switserland and Italy for skiing and climbing. After the heavy snowfalls on the main ridge of the Alpes there was plenty of snow. And in Cogne (Aosta valley) it had been cold for more than 3 weeks so there was a big chance that the first ice climbs would be possible.

The first day I did some really nice skiing together with Harold. We spent that day in Verbier. We tested some moments all mountain skis - great stuff. The snow on and off piste was great and it felt good to make the first turns again.

In the evening I drove from Verbier to Cogne. It is just a 1,5 hours drive through the tunnel of the col St. Bernard, down to Aosta and than up again on the other side of the valley. I was really excited about how the conditions of the waterfalls would be. Last winter I have been to Cogne two times and the climbing was great.

Next morning I met Roeland. Originally he is from the same area in Holland where I live but he moved to Chamonix a few years ago and now works as a mountain guide. We decided to start with the chandelle Levure. A cool waterfall in the Lillaz valley with two steep crux pitches. It is close to the Tuborg waterfall and on the opposite side of cold couloir. After soloing the first easy steps we roped up and climbed the first steep pitch. Great to hear the sound of my ice axe in the perfectly frozen ice.

 We continued up through the snow gully to climb the second pitch but unfortunately the second steep pitch looked very thin at the top. This side of the valley gets way more sun and it was still early in the season. We decided not to climb that pitch.

Next day we made a long walk in for 3 hours into the Valnontey for climbing Erfaulet. At arrival the steep top pitch looked too thin and we decided to climb Monday Money, WI4 on the other side of the valley. I already climbed that waterfall last winter but it`s a great route and worth to climb it twice.



On saturday we went to Lau Bij, WI5+ close to Lillaz. A really cool waterfall with a steep first pitch and than followed by a really airy traverse over some pillars to the right - real climbing though.

After three days of climbing it was definitely enough. It should get warm on sunday and that's why Roeland went back to Chamonix and I went back to Verbier for a last day of skiing.

If you like these ice climbing pictures but never tried it here is an interesting option: Roeland van Oss is a certified UIAGM mountain guide. He offers beginners and advanced courses in ice climbing but also a lot of other stuff. Check out his website and learn more about the possibilities: www.intothealpes.com  and you can also find him on facebook https://www.facebook.com/IntoTheAlps

ijsklimmen Cogne 2

Oorspronkelijk waren Peter en ik afgelopen week van plan om in Chamonix te gaan klimmen. Na een telefoontje met de gardien van de Cosmique hut hebben we echter besloten om niet door te rijden naar Chamonix maar via de grote St. Bernard naar Cogne. Het weer was voor donderdag toch wat minder voorspelt dan de dagen ervoor. Ach ja, we wilden klimmen, en waar en welke route maakte helemaal niet zoveel uit. En Cogne is een uitstekend alternatief voor Chamonix, ik was daar begin januari voor het eerst geweest en er waren nog meer dan genoeg routes voor 5 dagen klimmen.

Woensdag middag arriverden we in de Valnontey. Prachtig weer, natuurlijk in de zon veel te warm om ijs te klimmen, maar ja, geen klimmen was ook geen optie. Dus gingen we woensdag in de middag nog richting de waterval Lauson.

 een jonge gems op zoek naar iets lekkers... 

Lauson, WI3

Luchttemperartuur rond de 0 graden zorgt natuurlijk voor heel soft ijs, dus het klimmen was echte fun.


Donderdag stond het Cold Couloir op het menu. Deze route hadden Bernd en ik in januari nog moeten skippen omdat er voor ons al touwgroepen waren. Deze keer moest het gebeuren, dus gingen we om half zeven op de parking in de Valleile weg. Het was even schrikken toen we ongeveer 15 minuten voor ons twee hoofdlampen zagen, maar zij gingen gelukkig naar een andere route. Dus hadden we het Cold Couloir voor ons alleen! yes!

de volgende lengte in het cold colouir, echt super leuk...

Mooie zonsopgang, mooi ijs en 7 touwlengtes klimmen, een geweldige route.Pas bij het abseilen kwamen we andere touwgroepen tegen.

Hier een korte video over het Cold Couloir.

Vrijdag (het werd steeds warmer), dus gingen we ook nog vroeger van start, waren we om half zeven de eerste touwgroep bij de waterval Tuborg, WI5. Een mooi makkelijke lengte om op te warmen en super oefening voor Peter om zich wat meer in het voorklimmen te bekwamen. Vervolgens de crux lengte met ca. 30m tussen 80 en 90 graden. De route was goed ingepickeld, scheelt heel veel, maar dan nog zijn 30m in dit terrein veel. Ik vond het geweldig, mooie structuren en leuke klimbewegingen. De volgende lengte - een stijl sneeuwveld - was weer voor Peter. De laatste lengte kreeg al zon toen ik halverwege die lengte was. Een aparte gewaarwording om met ijsklimmen zon te vangen, heerlijk, maar ja, in sommige routes ook gevaarlijk ivm vallend ijs. Deze route was wel safe, maar na het klimmen van die lengte zijn we wel zo snel mogelijk naar beneden gegaan.

de aan de andere kant van het dal (tegenover het cold colouir) met Candelabro del Coyote en rechts daarnaast Tuborg.

in de crux lengte van de Tuborg

Hier een korte video van de Tuborg

Op de terugweg van de Tuborg zag ik de steile pilaren van de route Stella Artice en dacht bij mezelf, vet apparaat voor morgen. Dus de volgende ochtend weer om half zeven weg bij de Parking en aanlopen naar Stella Artice. Toen we bij de instap kwamen werd direct duidelijk dat de zachte temperaturen van deze nacht niet erg goed waren geweest voor onze route (er kwam constant een beetje ijs naar beneden en het regende als hel). Heel slecht idee om hier nu in te stappen, vervolgens gingen we op zoek naar een alternatief voor die dag - we dachten b.v. aan Tutto Relativo, half uur terug lopen. Maar ja, toen we daar kwamen waren ongeveer 10 klimmers voor ons, nee, hier hadden we geen zin in. Dus doorlopen, en zo kwamen we uit bij de Lillaz Gully.



De Lillaz Gully is een vierde graads route met een mooi mixed uitklim (ongeveer M4). Je hebt super uitzicht op de Mont Blanc. De waterval is niet erg moeilijk en zo kreeg Peter weer ruimschoots gelegenheid om voor te klimmen. Lekker klimmen, lekker rustig en een mooi uitzicht, het leek bijna vakantie :-)

Zondag avond vloog Peter terug naar Berlijn, maar 's ochtends wilden we per se nog Tutto Relativo klimmen, en we dachten, als we nou heel vroeg vertrekken kunnen we wel de eerste bij de instap zijn. Dus, weer om half zeven weg bij de Parking (soort groundhog day gevoel) en we waren daadwerkelijk weer de eerste bij de instap. Om 9.15 hadden we de route al geklommen en om 10.15 waren we weer bij de auto, tijd genoeg om in Lillaz nog koffie te gaan drinken en van de zon te genieten.

vanuit Lillaz blik op de Lillaz Gully aan de linker kant en de dunne ijslijn van Tutto Relativo rechts van het midden. er is dus nog genoeg te doen, jammer dat ook in Cogne gezien het warme weer van deze week het ijsseizoen waarschijnlijk afgelopen is.