Frendo Spur - The Light Approach

I have admired Kilian Jornet for a few years now ever since I started climbing and skiing in the Alps. He has been at the forefront of Fast and Light alpinism for some time now and along with the likes of Ueli Steck and Alex Honnold has been pioneering the practice of moving quickly through the mountains, whether it be on rock, ice or with skis. These three alone are very much at the top of their game and are more than ever the focus of media attention. 

The idea of fast and light alpinism started in the Alps and is now what is considered 'Alpine Style'. No base camps, no advanced camps just moving up the mountain in one continuous push. This results in less time exposed to the unpredictability of the mountains and the danger that comes with them. One great example of fast and light alpinism was when in September 2012 Kilian Jornet ran from Courmayeur to Chamonix via the Innominata ridge in a measly 8 hours and 42 minutes. This route normally takes experienced mountaineers a few days to complete the climb.

These feats of endurance inspired me to try moving fast and light in my own, more relaxed way. I had climbed the classic and iconic Frendo Spur on the Aiguille du Midi's north face before but over two days, with an amazing bivi spot overlooking Chamonix far below. I was keen to give it a go from the first cable car in the guide book time of 7 hours for the route. I have a few friends who had solo'd the route before in around 3-4 hours but not being confident or stupid enough to try and solo 5c rock moves or 75° ice with over 1000m of vertical drop below me I asked my friend and fellow climber Tim Oliver if he wanted to join me. He jumped on the idea of climbing a superb route and being back in time for happy hour. 

Being in the midst of a heat wave we knew the weather would be good (unlike Kilian's September 2013 attempt) the only issue would be the 300m of snow and ice that the route finishes on. We would have to climb the rock quick to limit the time the snow and ice had to soften. The first departure at the Aiguille du Midi was 07:30 and waiting amongst other climbers last Tuesday morning we were listening in to see if any other teams had this plan in mind too. 

Arriving at Plan d'Auiguille we headed straight for the start of the route. Powering our way through the moraine and reaching the bergschrund at 08:50. We then knew we had 9 hours to get to the top before the last cable car returned to Chamonix and a cold toilet floor awaited us [where you end up sleeping if you miss the last cabin down].

The route has 3 main cruxes, two grade 5 rock moves and the ice to finish. We chose to move together for all but the second rock crux as this would save huge amounts of time not building belays etc. As a result of this we brought a larger rack than is needed for the route, 12 cams, a set of wires, multiple slings and quick-draws and a few tib-locs and ropemans so we could make running belays when needed. Running out huge sections of rock, moving fast together feels great. You cover a great deal of ground quickly and we only stopped to change over the gear 3 times on the 800m rock face, before changing to crampons and ice axes for the final snow section. There were a team of two Brits behind us who were moving slow and by the time we hit the snow, 1pm, they were nowhere to be seen and we both knew they would struggle to make last lift.

By the time we changed to crampons the sun was belting down on us and we thought the snow would have transformed to slush. Surprisingly it was not too soft and we made reasonably steady progress up the snow arete and were heading towards the end of the route in good time. Fatigue was starting to hit me, unacclimatized and feeling unfit, my calves started to burn, and frequent stops became the norm. From climbing the route previously I knew points along the route and knew where we were. When it came to the last ice pitch I felt relieved, only a small snow slope then the arete to go. We finally topped out and after a quick drink of what little water we had left we plodded up the arete reaching the Midi in a respectable time of 8 hours 18 minutes. The climb itself is 1200m with a total height gain of roughly 1500m.

The week following our ascent has seen constant high temperatures and the snow at the top of the route looks very much destroyed and nowhere near optimal condition. Unless the temperatures subside slightly and we get some much needed rain the Frendo could be out of action for the remains of this season. The hot weather has also made the normal route up Mont Blanc du Tacul impassable due to a falling snow bridge. This heat wave has created unwanted problems for the high mountains and it is becoming ever more dangerous.

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NB: Mountaineering is dangerous. The opinions expressed in these articles are very much time and condition specific and the content is not intended in any way to be a substitute for hiring a mountain guide, undergoing professional mountaineering training and/or the individual's own back country decision making.