Other News

Tom Livingstone Makes Probable First Free Ascent of ‘Voie des Guides’ on Les Drus

AC member Tom Livingstone has made what is likely to be the first free ascent of the Guides Route on the north face of Les Drus. Tom had already made two attempts to free the line earlier this year, but found success on the third time of asking with partner Tom Seccombe.

The crux of the route is believed to weigh in at around M8+ and the pair ended up on the face for longer than they had expected despite managing to onsight the hardest pitches. Writing on his social media, Tom commented: "Waking up, fresh snow worried us. We’d also run out of proper food since we didn’t expect (or want) 2 bivies. We ate a few boiled sweets for breakfast. Tom S. climbed the final hard pitch and I freed it on second"

Jon Bracey & Matt Helliker Climb Probable New Line on Aiguille Noire de Peuterey

At the end of February this year, AC member Matt Helliker and British Mountain Guide Jon Bracey made what is likely the first ascent of a line on the ENE face of the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey.

Climbed entirely on trad gear, the pair have dubbed the line 'Mad Vlad' and graded it M7 R, IX/8 with Helliker describing the crux pitch as "serious, run out, steep and questionable".

Further details at PlanetMountain.

Simon Gietl Makes First Traverse of the Rosengarten Skyline

Italian alpinist Simon Gietl has, over three days, made the first traverse of the Rosengarten Skyline in the Italian Dolomites. Gietl had initially planned to complete the route with Egon Resch but the pair were forced to abandon the route after Resch was hit by rockfall. Undeterred, Gietl returned on his own and, from the 1 to 3 March, succeeded in reaching all of the major summits in the range.

More details are available at Planet Mountain.

First Winter Ascent of 'Padre Pio Prega Per Noi + Echelle Ver le Ciel'

On the 1 March, after 3 days of climbing, the Italian team of François Cazzanelli, Emrik Favre and Francesco Ratti topped out on the link up 'Padre Pio Prega Per Noi + Echelle Ver le Ciel' (1,870m, 7b) on the South Face of the Matterhorn.

'Padre Pio Prega Per Noi' is a 700m line which finishes on the Pilastro dei Fiori pillar. It can be continued to the summit via 'Echelle Ver le Ciel', giving the complete 41-pitch link up. This was the first repeat of the complete route and the first ascent of the line in winter.

Further details are available at Planet Mountain.