Trip Report: Rebuffat (6a)

Our day started before the sun lit the valley, and we excitedly finished off oatmeal and coffee before lacing up boots and beginning the walk to the Aiguille du Midi chairlift. Our goal was Rebuffat-Baquet (6a/5.10-), a beautiful and sustained eleven pitch alpine granite route that finishes with a rappel onto the tourist viewing platforms.

The approach begins with a ride on the téléphérique, gaining 2750 meters (9000 feet) of elevation while smooshed in a box with dozens of people. The tricky part here is not accidentally stabbing anyone with your ice axe. We arrived at the top, transported into a snowy world of jagged peaks and huge glaciers, and joined the other climbers donning crampons before stepping out. Due to the impracticality of traveling with crampons and ice axes, we had rented ours in town. The rental shop unfortunately required that we also rent mountaineering boots despite our plan to wear our lightweight hikers, meaning our feet felt clunky in foreign ill-fitting shoes. Crampons on, we hopped the fence marked “alpinists only beyond this point” into the ice tunnel. The first part of the approach is a thrillingly exposed ridge walk with a section of steep steps carved into the snow. After reaching a saddle, we turned right, quickly crossing a couple crevaces and making our way across the snowfield to the base of the climb. “Good thing we only have to do that once,” I thought.

Gathered at the base of the (ultra-classic) route were five or so parties waiting patiently, and morale was high. We identified a party of three Canadians who were last in line, and took a seat next to them on the snow. Hours passed, and the five of us exchanged looks when one group began to haul a sizeable bag (unheard of on this route), and a climber struggled to make the first moves without climbing shoes. By the time our shoes touched the rock (over four hours after arriving), it was clear that at least one party ahead did not have the experience, skill or speed for us to complete the route behind them in time to catch the last car back down the mountain.

Due to the snow level, our first pitch actually just brought us to the old start of the route, and the gloriously exciting feeling of finally being on rock was short lived when we popped around the corner and found just as many climbers lounging on the belay ledge. The pace generally seemed like 90 minutes per pitch, and we had planned for no more than 30. Finally it was our turn to climb the first pitch, which had us performing slabby foot-trusting moves and then traversing under a huge roof. The climbing was fun (despite the cringe-inducing sound of our ice axes scraping the roof with each move) and we popped out at the belay below a beautiful crack shaped like an “S”.

By the time Alan took off on the crux pitch, we had already decided to bail. It was 3pm, and the last lift today was rumored to be at 5:30. We had no way to pass slow parties, and were unwilling to risk a miserably cold unplanned bivvy, so it was the right call. Luckily we were able to link two incredible pitches (possibly the best pitches we have ever climbed) before joining the Canadians in rappelling back down to the glacier.

Ice axes in hand once again, we retraced our steps back up the snow to the station, pausing occasionally to catch our breath and comment on how amazing the climbing was. This time I was grateful for the waterproof rental boots, as the foot pockets in the snow had filled with ice water from a full day of sun. We rode down to Chamonix with the Canadians, and stopped at Monkey bar for happy hour. We were bummed about our terrible luck with the slow climbers above, but glad for great company and a gorgeous day in the mountains.