We departed from the Leschaux hut at 12:30 AM, navigating crevasses and seracs in complete darkness to reach the base of the route. The bergschrund presented the first real challenge — a 10-metre vertical ice wall that needed climbing before the route even properly begins.
Leading vertical ice at 4am with just the light of your head torch is something else entirely. The pool of light picks out the ice a metre in front of your face and everything beyond it is black. You can hear the mountain but you can't see it. Just swing, kick, swing, kick, and trust the placements.
We encountered a blood-stained patch of snow early on — evidence of an ice strike on a team ahead, one of them taking a hit to the face that caused a nasty nosebleed. A reminder of what falling ice can do on a route like this.
The climbing conditions were different to what we expected. What is normally mixed climbing up a steep gully was in fact ice all the way. We pitched around 25 rope lengths and moved together for the rest, spending roughly 16 hours on the go from hut to hut. Pretty much every belay stance was hanging in uncomfortable positions, which meant limited opportunities for photos. The psychological pressure of maintaining pace to avoid a bivouac kept us moving — stopping wasn't really an option.
I had lost count how many times I had hot aches in my fingers. That deep, burning throb when blood forces its way back into frozen hands. You grimace through it and carry on because the alternative is worse.
The route follows the classic line established by Nick Colton and Alex Macintyre — an incredible bold and courageous first ascent. The climbing quality is logical and sensational. The line-finding is superb, weaving a natural path up one of the biggest north faces in the Alps.
The return proved equally hazardous. Traversing deep crevasses, big seracs and knife-edge ridges in deteriorating conditions. We later learned that a team behind us fell while walking down the arete. One climber had the presence of mind to jump the opposite ridge side to arrest the fall — preventing what could have been fatal for both of them.
Grateful to Twid Turner for a brilliant day on such a classic route. Preparation, favourable weather, and mutual trust got us through it.