Gosh it's already the middle of August! While we wait for cooler temperatures to return, it's the end of the line for technical mixed routes....Solid rock climbing is good too :)

Glacier du Tour

Petite Fourche, Tête Blanche and Aiguille du Tour are still being climbed. The rimaye of the latter is opening up but is easy to cross. The col Supérieur du Tour is also starting to dry out. That's it for the Aiguille du Chardonnet. The "roture" (gap between snow and rock) below the abseil descent is very difficult to cross.

 

All the snow routes are finished! All the rock routes can be done without any problems. The Glacier du Milieu has become very tricky and you have to be careful with falling rocks. For the descent of the Jardin arête, it's better to take ‘La part des anges’ (60m technical abseil). This route is no longer recommended. Access to the refuge is via the ladders.

The Aiguille du Moine (including the normal route) remains in good condition. The E face is more complicated - Contamine-Labrunie and Aureille-Feutren routes - because of the rimayes. The Nonne traverse is still climbed, even though the rimaye is opening up more and more. The conditions change every day! Pointe Isabelle is still in good condition, but has been climbed very little. It's over for the big technical routes (Verte, Droites, Courtes), and even dangerous! (very open rimaye, rock falls etc...)

Access for hikers is very good. The rock routes behind the refuge are also fine. The Cassin route is still in good condition. Come up here, the guardian is waiting for you!

 

The glacier on the way to the Drus is still crossable (as high up as possible). Some rockfall on the Drus traverse. That's it for the W face. There are still teams on Contamine on the Evêque, which looks to be in condition. Ditto for Sale Athée, which still has snow in the access couloir.

Access to the refuge is from the left bank - 2 crevasses to cross - The Jonction to Torino has deteriorated badly! Access to the Dent du Requin is very good: Chapeau à Cornes arête complicated, lots of teams on the Renaudie (for the record, you can no longer branch off to the other side of the glacier, you have to take the 15 abseils). Lots of people on Congo Star.

The Grépon/République rimaye is still OK (by the rocks on the right) as is the Bec d'Oiseau rimaye. The descent via Les Nantillons is still passable, it's opening up and there are a few icy sections, but they are easy to get round. Otherwise nothing to report. Lots of good climbing up here.

The access is dry but you can still climb the Dent du Géant. For the Marbrées and Entrèves, it's best to opt for full traverses, because of the rimayes. The rimayes on the Grand Capucin, Pyramide du Tacul and Adolphe Rey are still fine. The arêtes du Diable are much less climbed, as it's very dry, especially in the couloir.

The Cosmiques arête is very dry! So is the arête Laurence, but it's still being climbed. Little activity on the Pointe Lachenal due to the dry conditions. The 3 Monts are still being climbed, there's still a fixed rope to get over the 1st rimaye on Maudit, but you have to go around the 2nd, as the bridge is now very fragile.

 

 

The Dôme glacier has deteriorated considerably in recent days. The glacier is very open and the snow bridges are fragile. There are frequent rockfalls below the Aiguilles Grises. In view of the conditions, the hut is closed, and the guardian will go back up when it's cooler.

Conditions on the Brouillard glacier are no longer good: rock falls, crevasses, dry arête! On the other hand, all the rock routes around the refuge are practicable except for the Pilier Rouge because of the access.

Overall conditions are still good. Following the rain, rockfalls resumed in the afternoons in the Grand Couloir, lets hope it will snow next time. Higher up, things are starting to open up, so the classic route is best for the 1st "bosse", then contour round to reach the Tournette.

 

The Dômes de Miage from the Conscrits are in pretty good condition for the season (see photo above) and the ‘belle arête’ is well covered in snow.

This is the end for the traverse, with quite a bit of ice at the Col de la Bérangère except for a small strip of snow that may not survive the next rainfall - be sure to know how to crampon - It's all over for the Aiguilles de Tré la Tête.

 

Durier sector

The Bionnassay arête is being climbed every day and is still snow (see photos above).

The Dômes de Miage are dry between the Col des Dômes and Durier, so beware of rock fall. 

 

 

Translated with kind permission from an original report by La Chamoniarde.

Readers are reminded that conditions in mountain environments are prone to (sometimes rapid) change and that they should use their own best judgement when visiting them.