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Rod's Euro 2009 - Trip Report ~ with updates! 21-Jun-2009 At 7:33:55 PM rod

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That last post doesn’t do justice to Pierre Avoi, a place that provokes strong emotion in every climber that goes onto the Grande Face: its alpine, bold, off-route it’s a horror show and the sensation of gas below the feet is omni-present. I’ve been climbing nearly 5 years now, the place is still was mental as all f--- for me right up until last year: I shared a rope with Olivier Roduit who equipped most of the routes, I took a big fall on the 7th pitch of the day using his beta and had to take it head on throughout the rest of the route…that day I finally slayed the intimidation dragon but each time I’ve loved the experience up there.

Some personal highlights:

First experience on the face, leading a group of 3 on the Arete which is fairly simple but was a fairly big undertaking for me at the time, no falls but one of my co-climbers was Marianne who has since had two major alpine accidents that nearly ended her life. She was a great asset on that climb, accompanying Gaynor who has an uncanny ability to transfer her nerves up the rope.

A year later I was climbing with more skill in general and onsighting at a level that would allow a nice day out on Pierre a’Roi. I got completely shut down mentally by the end of the first 6a+ pitch and handed over the lead to Christof at the next belay with great relief. Ruedi and Alex were beside us on Edelweiss and, seconding, Ruedi had totally wigged out on their opening 6a pitch (screaming/temper tantrum stuff) through which he managed to freak out all of the 3 teams on the Face…some rapped off, others climbed bolt to bolt for the next few pitches. Christof and I finished our climb onsight, I was Elvis incarnate half the time. We immediately sought out a bar and Christof sank many beers in a VERY short time frame.

Another year later and I’d had a lot of work issues. In mid-September, immediately after getting off a plane we headed to Valais with the possibility of good weather. Knackered I had ONE destination in mind and we gave it a shot both days. We got onto the Grande Face by ourselves both afternoons with Tichdromes and Edelweiss everywhere and I climbed my heart out…SO exhausted that a 40 metre 6a coupled with the omni-present gas under my feet was a total mind-pump. I onsighted Eureka on the second day and was euphoric, it seemed really tough. Topping out we entered the wind and cloud formation that had been hitting the ridge line all afternoon. Suddenly Gaynor’s silhouette was evident in the backlit cloud formation along with the cross’s shadow…for an instant a halo surrounded the silhouette. Surreal. We walked off and ate in a sunny patch amidst the clouds. Very Lord of the Rings. ALL weekend I’d been thinking of what/why regarding work and as we ate I reached a decision which in the end saw me finish work 18 months on. The photo following was taken from our place in Branson later that evening.

July 2008. 2 in a day with Roduit…the day prior I couldn’t find partners, I’d wanted to do Olivier’s Mecca and J-M Porcelanna’s Delicatessen over the weekend as a training run for Wolfgang Gullich in Sardinia (in the calendar for September). Olivier called back and said he was free Sunday, could do 2 in a day but we’d have to play it by ear given the big afternoon storm forecast. I went up on the Saturday just to acclimatise myself and watched a young guy rope lead-solo Mecca. I was impressed by his ballsyness, first time ever soloing and he picks this one.

We got onto the face and on second long route of the day, Mecca, I peeled leading the first pitch. It was a pretty big fall and that using Olivier’s beta.

“So…do you still have the “morale” for leading this Rod?”

“Yeh”

I pulled back on and sent it my way despite being pumped to near oblivion. The rest was a relative stroll on a beautiful route and we topped out with a lightening storm about to hit. It was already on Martigny a few kilometres away and headed our direction, by the time we reached the car 20 minutes later the Grande Face had been fried a couple of times. Later at Namaste, Olivier revealed I was his first client to lead Mecca 10 years after it was put up. His follow up statement that he’d be happy to climb with me anywhere was a real boost; his tales of woe with some clients were pretty scary.

I’ve done 8 of the 12 Grande Face climbs now and they’ve all been an experience: bold in nature, generally quite tough grading and an element of altitude effect that you don’t really expect but it tends to be there the whole time. Its not for everyone, the rock has that dolomitic tendency to fall out of the face on a regular basis and its not Verdon style limestone so the climbing tends to be a bit more classic and physical. If you happen to be in the area in good weather conditions give it a lash but expect to take some time for adaptation.