On the Frison Roche

Awoke this morning a little worried about the day ahead. Andy had mentioned that we would be doing a HVS/E1 multi-pitch (“only” two grades higher than I usually climb, eek!). I had images of me continuously falling and getting frustrated with myself – not what I needed just before my ascent of the Matterhorn, and I was afraid it would shatter my confidence.

We met Andy after breakfast at 8.15am and drove a short way to the Brevant lift in Chamonix. As we reached the top of the lift we spotted a group of wingsuiters jumping off the top! I don’t know how they can do it! Apparently it takes years of base jumping and then wingsuiting from planes to get to that level. We were horrified when one of the jumpers appeared to get into difficulty in the valley below and span seemingly out of control towards the ground. However in the nick of time he righted himself and then parachuted out to safety. Terrifying!

At the base of the climb – the Frison Roche (named after the famous French alpinist) – we put on our climbing shoes and tentatively began. The first pitch was a 6a and I struggled on the slab but eventually got up it and the rest was straightforward. The next two pitches weren’t too bad technically (5b/5c) despite being very exposed. I didn’t particularly enjoy one of the narrow traverses (the belay point being to my right and therefore anticipating a nasty swing across the rock if I slipped) but eventually managed to get across safely.

The fourth pitch was the crux - another 6a but much more sustained. The first half swung out round an edge and then it was a lot of tiny finger holes and nimble footwork up the face – much more technical than I’d ever done on rock before but actually I managed it fine in my rock shoes and even enjoyed the challenge! Sometimes I find route finding quite difficult outdoors as I don’t yet have enough experience in spotting the holds etc but actually found myself just going for tiny cracks and somehow getting myself up by balancing on my toes. The next half however was a nightmare – I wedged myself in a chimney and watched as people climbing above me struggled up the long slab using a crack on the left hand side. It looked ridiculously hard! Luckily by the time I started climbing another climber (who I’d met over beers the previous evening!) had come up behind us and shouted out tips and encouragement as I tackled the crack. My arms ached and I fell more than a few times (luckily Andy had the rope from above), but finally reached the top.

The next pitch was a nice easy walk/scramble to the right where we could have a short break on a large grassy ledge with a bit of chocolate and rest our pumped arms before the final ascent. It didn’t actually look too bad from the bottom of the pitch, but at 30m I knew it would be a tiring final climb. There were more tricky moves than I realised from the ground as I started climbing, and with fatigued arms and legs I slipped and stumbled on the rocks. Half way up and stuck on a particularly tricky move I felt my body shaking and hot tears sliding down my cheeks and struggled to compose myself. However I was determined to get up and after wiping my face and re-focusing, I realised I needed to lean back into crack and get up the next part in that way. Andy was great – shouting down encouragement and keeping the rope taught so I felt safe. Eventually I reached the top; emotional, tired, out of breath, but ecstatic!

Richard followed soon after and we had a round of group hugs and a celebratory lunch at the top (more stolen baguette and some chocolate) before scrambling back up to the lift. Back at the hotel we reflected on the day and Andy appeared pleased with our progress. I like to think we had redeemed ourselves! Toughest day yet but really happy with what I’d achieved and brimming with confidence, excitement and anticipation for the next challenge – the Matterhorn…

#frisonroche #chamonix #climbing