The Arête du Diable is a classic Chamonix traverse. The route goes over the five towers that make up the South-East ridge of Mont Blanc du Tacul.
The approach is from Helbronner. It is about a 3-hour walk from the Midi or 2 hours from Torino. We approached from the Midi the day before and climbed a fantastic granite route on the Chandelle peak.
Then we camped at the top of the glacier. It had the advantage of spending a night alone in one of the wilder corners of Chamonix. However, it meant carrying a heavy pack over the climb.
The descent is down the North face of Tacul, which is the normal route, so it’s often well-tracked. There can be active seracs during summer. It pays to check with the mountain guides’ office if unsure of the conditions.
Overall it went well. I climbed Arête du Diable with Monse, a trusted partner and the first I had in Europe. It was great to catch up after over a year apart.
The route on Arête du Diable was surprisingly busy even though the conditions weren’t very good with a lot of snow. There were about six other parties behind us. As we were in front the whole way, it was a little stressful to have so many people behind.
Unfortunately, on the rappels just before the Isolee, we followed the Rockfax topo instead of taking an obvious ridge in front of us. Because the snow covered the next anchor, Monse had to climb back up a snow gully, and the other teams caught up.
Ropes, people and crampons clambered over us. I was happy when we could get off the belay and onto the ridge that looked like the right way from the start. Two other parties tried to take the gully, and although they eventually made it down, it took them a very long time to get out. We had to skip the famous Isolee pitch as there was so much snow, and it was getting late in the day. I do not think anyone went up this day.
We topped out around 2 pm. Besides a sweaty slog up to the Midi, the descent went well.
Growing up on the rugged west coast of New Zealand, Ryan's passion for the outdoors started at an young age. That has since grown into a love for mountains and he has been fortunate enough to base his life around climbing.