Between December 26 and January 1, three members of Chamonix’s Military High Mountain Group (GMHM) set a new route up the West Face of Les Drus in France’s Mont Blanc Massif.
‘Petit Pont’, the new route on the West Face of the Drus. Photo: Amaury Fouillade and Philippe Bruley
Philippe Bruley, Amaury Fouillade, and Baptiste Obino spent seven days on the winter wall. They named their new 1,000m route Petit Pont and graded it ED, M5, 6a, A3. Their line leads to the 3,730m summit of the Petit Dru.
Back in 2021, Thomas Auvaro, Leo Billon, Jordi Noguere, and Sebastien Ratel, also from GMHM, opened BASE (1,000m, M8+, 7a) over five days. Petit Pont goes to the right of BASE.
Topo of ‘Petit Pont’ (marked in blue) and topo of ‘BASE’ (marked in red). Photo: GMHM
New route in the Aosta Valley
Meanwhile, Francois Cazzanelli and Giuseppe Vidoni rang in the New Year with a new 500m route in the Glacier des Grandes Murailles in Italy’s Aosta Valley. They named their new line L’Esprit des Murailles (AI IV, M5, 6a, A2). It took them 10 hours from base to summit.
On ‘L’Esprit des Murailles’ in Italy’s Aosta Valley. Photos: Francois Cazzanelli and Giuseppe Vidoni
“Leaving at dawn, heavy backpacks, difficult terrain, unpredictable results,” summarized Cazzanelli on social media.
Glacier des Grandes Murailles. Photo: Framcofranco56
