Frendo Spur

This was my main objective for the trip. 1200 Meters (3,937 foot) of big alpine mixed technical terrain, finishing at the summit the Aguille Du Midi at 12,605' (3,842 m). For perspective, the Nose of El Capitan is 880 Meters (2900 ft).



It starts with a quick glacier crossing, then up 1000 meters or so of rock, followed by 200 or so meters of steep neve/ice to the top.



We took the last tram up to the Plan de l'Aiguille station at 7545 ft (2300m) and bivyed in a little grassy spot near the base of the morraine in thick fog. We went to sleep without even being able to see our route for the following morning.



We woke up at 3:30am and were packed up and moving by 4am. We crossed the glacier and made it onto the first lower pitches right at sunrise.



We moved through the rock section mostly simulclimbing. We took a harder variation and knowingly went off route to pass a couple of teams that were slower and sending down a lot of rockfall.



The Crux Rock pitches were high quality, and we pitched them out.



The upper ice section was definitely the crux for me, mostly just from being exhausted after 5 straight hours of fast moving rock climbing at high altitude. To then have to spend 2 and half more hours ice climbing was just mentally draining.



We finished the route in 7 hours and 35 minutes from camp to tram.



After collecting our bivy kit from the mid station, we were back in town with plenty of time for dinner and drinks!

