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Ian Parsons
climber
UK, England
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Excellent, Hermann; and apologies for spelling your name wrong - twice! This thread needs a bit of input from somebody else who has done the route; my own account rather ground to a halt - so far - before we had barely laid hand on rock. Do you remember many details of the route - the exact line you took, and where you bivied? Once above the Grey Ledges (on the 1952 Magnone Route) we bivied on the long ledge on the right just above the first overhang (also used by the French Direct and, I think, the Gross); on a very small ledge between the second and third overhangs; and on a small gritty ledge three pitches below the hole that leads through onto the south side terrace, having tensioned left in the dark to escape an icy chimney and popped round the corner onto the North face! Did you reach the Grey Ledges via the 1952 route, or climb one of the various more direct lines up the tier underneath. For the historical record can you add any details about subsequent ascents, in particular any that haven't yet been mentioned? And do you know anything about the recorded ascent in 1979 by Clement and Robinson; my attempts to find out any more about it or them have been completely unsuccessful.
Welcome to the party!
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Tamara Robbins
climber
not a climber, just related...
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Hey guys! I've been working with Ascent a bit on an upcoming issue featuring the Dru. Steve and Ian, hope you don't mind if I point them towards this thread.... ? Or, you may already be in contact with them?
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 2, 2015 - 10:33am PT
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Hey Tamara- Duane knows how to find me easily so no worries there.
These threads are out in the public domain by design to do as much good as possible.
I love it when a good one catches fire again...
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Ian Parsons
climber
UK, England
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Absolutely no problem, Tamara; as Steve says, it's already out there. And it's his thread anyway, not mine; I've just cluttered it up a bit!
I had a reply from the editorial office a couple of years ago following an enquiry from me about a piece in an earlier issue; with a bit of luck they'll still have my email address on record, if required.
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Tamara Robbins
climber
not a climber, just related...
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copy that, guys... ;)
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moggela
Mountain climber
germany
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hallo Ian,
nice to meet you so quickly.
I have some notes and a few fotos (slides 35 mm) of the climb, I have to look for, I also made my own topo.
Our Dru undertaking started August 7, we returned to the valley on August 11, 1972.
first thing I remember I got in contact with Royal Robbins (RR) beforehand and his answer was a short letter and a piton list, very useful indeed. What we did not know was RR.s hauling tecnic, so we did it the hard way.
second we did not get the brandnew Hexes from Chouinard, which RR suggested.
We did a training climb of 6 pitches a couple weeks before, where we have tried our new Chouinard piton set (alloy steel) and it was about the same aid work as on the Dru face. I like to name it "handwerk". Those 6 pitches nailing and "unpegging" took us a long day. So we knew about our next job. Only few of the local climbers had tried this face before, making only one pitch and so far I know until now nobody repeated it. you can look at this overhanging face on "Roter Stein" almost from the windows of Neuschwanstein castle. This is the country where we used to live. Georg lost his live on a trip to Bolivia, 1979, walking through Condoriri group.
I remember very well the bivy sites on the Dru face, but need to realise the right wording. Again, we did 4 bivies on the face.
First bivy at Rognon (not counting). We came down from the cablecar station from Grands Montets.
The other morning we climbed the couloir, than several pitches of rock steps on and over freshly broken granite blocks diagonal to the left. At OHM* office we were told last rockfall was only some days before and there is no trespassing. Beneath loose blocks, it was very sandy. we almost were to return. Finally we arrived stable terraces, were we made up bivy, it was about midday, say 8 hours work under heavy load, carrying 20 liters of water. This place was not the grey terraces of the old west face, as Georg knew from his climbing the Magnone some years before. Nothing was left after rockfall from this part of Magnone route.
When you were asking upon grading: I remember a topo in THE AJ*, issue 1992/93, p.257 from Cave & Jenkinson. I would agree with this grading.
Geisenberger did the Brandler-Hasse (Lavaredo) twice and argued for the same difficulties for both, if you have to do your own piton work. Cave & Jenkinson give a topo of the Brandler-Hasse in the same AJ issue, p. 249. I did Brandler-Hasse only once.
Here I will compare some facts:
-On Brandler-Hasse and Harlin-Robbins you have to climb the same amount of pitches (15), done on the same amont of pitons (180). Do not forget taking the amount of pitons those days was for aid climbing.
-First ascents are only seven years apart. Both took four days of climbing, after preperation work. Brandler-Hasse used soft iron pitons, also needed some drilling. The Lavaredo team were aficionados and amateurs. RR & Harlin brought fom US alloy steel pitons, angles and bongs. RR had a huge experience in big wall tecnic & using this tools.
-At the most difficult parts both climbs follow vertical to overhanging crack systems. Of course I know the difference between Mt. Blanc granite and Dolomite rock. When you look at the vertical sections both break into similar cracks for climbing. Most of Mt. Blanc granit breaks into blocks. In later years I have learned about granite exfoliation and other joints, as flaring and flexible flakes.
-But on P. Dru the problem is rockfall. Within 50 years half of the face fell down (probably) due to permafrost melting. I would think in those years it changed also from season to season. We did not encounter the loose rocks which Harlin describes. Those pitches below the roof were expanding flakes, open on the lower side, the loose stuff had fallen off.
 Geisenberger did Hemming-Robbins the other year, in 1973, August. So he had a good measure doing the grading. I did the North face two or so years later, again on the Dru. We did not discuss grading, as Harlin-Robbins was overall one of our most impressive climbs. This season we went on climbing. The week before Harlin-Robbins we did Bonatti Piller and P.Jorasses west face, and Georg the week afterwards did Walker Spur with a girl friend.
1972 summer in Chamonix was very fine weather and we believed in the OHM meteo desk, where we went daily when in the valley.
Not so much we visited Bar National, the sacred place.
We were very fit this summer, as I remember we did Abram-Schrott on Roda di Vael (Dolomites) in a couple of hours, this was some days before we went to Chamonix.
*THE AJ, The Alpine Journal, London
**OHM: Office de la Haute Montagne, Chamonix, Place de l'Eglise
regards 2
Hermann
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jaaan
Trad climber
Chamonix, France
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Come on Ian, finish your story!
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moggela
Mountain climber
germany
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more on the subject will come. there is no hurry, the face felt down. everything is pure and only nostalgia.
regards Hermann
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jaaan
Trad climber
Chamonix, France
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there is no harry, the face felt down.
Whilst this is undeniably true, it's worth noting that Ian started his tale on 29 January 2012...! Now I've climbed a lot with Ian over the years and am well versed with his unhurried approach to most things, but three years is pretty slow even by his standards!
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moggela
Mountain climber
germany
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hi Jaaan,
sorry for the delay, I found this site just on first of May, 2015.
You will get a short but nice story, soon.
until the 50th birthday of the climb are some weeks left, i just realised the date ~~50~~ at this moment.
cheers
Hermann
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Hermann-Great to hear details about this historic route from one who climbed it.
What we did not know was RR.s hauling tecnic, so we did it the hard way.
Ouch! You're saying that the second jumared the rope with a giant pack or haulbag? Yikes! You guys were made of sterner stuff.
1972 summer in Chamonix was very fine weather and we believed in the OHM meteo desk, where we went daily when in the valley.
(not so much we visited THE bar, what was the name of the holy place?)
The name of the sacred pub was the Bar Nationale. Here is how it looked in 1976.
Here also is the OHM from that same year. Nearby was a tiny patisserie, where if the meteo bulletin indicated "orages" (storms), one could console oneself with a flans pātissier or a profiterole.
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moggela
Mountain climber
germany
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thank you for your compliment, we friends really did it the hard way, if we did not know it better.
But none of our friends get in company with us onto this Dru project.
Thanks for the fotos of OHM and the sacred place, the Bar National.
So we get some color and patina with the story.
You have in good memory, the patisserie was also a favered place at Chamonix.
Tecnic: we hauled the big pack on a seven Millimeter (7mm) Kernmantel line, but we had not a second pair of jumars. So the first, sometimes together with the second, did the hauling almost hand over hand using the biner as a pulley and fixing it with prusik. low tec, hard work.
cheers
Hermann
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jaaan
Trad climber
Chamonix, France
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sorry for the delay,
Ah, you've misunderstood my comment, Hermann. I was referring to Ian Parsons, not you!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 21, 2015 - 10:31am PT
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Fantastic article on the history of the Drus in Alpinist #50.
Hot off the press!
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Tamara Robbins
climber
not a climber, just related...
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Jun 10, 2015 - 10:26pm PT
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forgive me for being a numbnuts... my original post in this thread should have read "Alpinist" not "Ascent".
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deuce4
climber
Hobart, Australia
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Feb 11, 2016 - 01:53pm PT
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cool info. I am currently teaching at the same high school with the son of Marian Piekutowski (who is mentioned in this thread several times)--Alex Piekutowski.
Some impressive winter climbing to be sure!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 17, 2017 - 08:51pm PT
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Bump for Royal's climbing in the fabled Alps...
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