Salbit

This was my first time in The Salbit area. It is impressive. Here you can find granite ridges up to 1000m vertical and probably enough climbing to last you for a lifetime.

The walk up to the hut takes 2 to 2.5 h. It’s about 900m vertical ‘on a good trail.

The first day we started with the walked up to the Salbit hut and stopped for a light breakfast. The plan was to climb the Ostgrat but when we reached the start of the route we realized that there was too much snow. We setteled for the more sun exposed little brother of Ostgrat of Salbitschijen (2981m), the Paralleler ostgrat (300m 5a). We kept practicing the simul climbing technique to make it smoother and more efficient for the next day’s adventure.

Even thou there was quite a lot of snow on the descent we got back to the hut with plenty of time before the dinner.

We had a 5 a clock start the next day. A perfect day. No clouds and on wind. It was a couple of degrees below zero but we were going to the Sudgrat (south ridge, 600 5+) of Salbitschijen, so as soon as the sun was up it was going to be warm.

The Sudgrat is a long esthetic ridge that goes all the way to the top. Even this peak has a bonus top, Hauptgipfel. After having practiced simul climbing for two days we finally got to put the skills into action on a real mountain route.

The result was amazing. We did the 16th pitches in 5 and cut the recommended time in half. Without any stress we just floated up the route. It was a great day on a great route.

About 20 min before we reached the hut I called and ordered to large rösti. It’s highly recommended.

Thanks Barry for three great days

Aiguille de la Gliere SSE Arret. 2663m

I and Barry had 3 days to climb. The plan was alpine rock climbing and the weather forecast looked really good. It had snowed down to 2500m the previous days so the options were a bit limited. The classic SSE ridge of Aiguille dl la Gliere in the Aiguilles Rouges (the massif north of Mt Blanc) seemed like a good choice for the first day. And it has a fun little bonus peak at the top.

The route is about 400m D+ with climbing mostly around 4c and 5a. It’s very scenic with a not too long approach and is still of the beaten track.

I introduced simultaneous climbing (simul climbing) to Berry for the first time. With this method both climbers are climbing at the same time with running belays between each other. If this type of climbing is practiced in the wrong way it can quickly become very dangerous. But if practiced in the wright way it is very efficient and is ideal for long alpine routes.

The route took us 5 hours roundtrip and we were down in the valley at about 2 pm. The plan was to go to Salbit in the evening to stay for two days. The drive is 5 h so it was nice to be down early.