Dramatic ridge climbing, or just very dangerous, and scary walking? My answer would have depended on which particular section of the Aiguille de Bionnassay I was on at the time! Occasionally the track was a meter down from the ridge top and everything felt pretty cruisy. Then a few footsteps later we would be back on top of the crest, balancing along with some serious exposure on both sides.
The Aiguille de Bionnassay is a stunning peak when viewed from the lower Chamonix valley, where it sits prominently next to Mont Blanc. A long knife-edge summit ridge connects it via the Italian Gonella route to the Dome de Gouter and therefore Mont Blanc itself. Despite being so close to the main Mont Blanc massif, the Bionnassay is rarely climbed in comparison to the neighbouring peaks. It is in fact fairly remote, requiring an alpine climb in itself to access the hut. Conditions and weather are also pretty important, ice on the ridge would be bad news and any proper wind would be a disaster for that narrow summit ridge.
For those that do climb there, it is quite common to enchain the peak as part of the “royal traverse” of Mont Blanc. Over the Domes de Miage via the Conscrits hut, then a night at the Durier before crossing the Bionnassay and finishing up Mont Blanc with a further night at the Gouter or Cosmiques refuges. A long expedition requiring both fitness and acclimatisation.
Catrin and I had just two days to climb. The weather was looking ideal, Catrin had climbed to 4000m a few days before and conditions on the Bionnassay sounded pretty reasonable. Why drive to Switzerland for a 4000m peak when we had this on our doorstep?
We chose to park in Les Houches and use the Bellevue lift to start. This then gave us a long route winding over the col du tricot towards the Plan Glacier refuge via the awesome 19th century smugglers path. It was good to see the finishers of the UTMB’s PTL race coming down the track from the tricot. They had been out wandering for a full week around the hills and were looking very battered.
After a superb coffee and hot choc at the Plan Glacier we donned full mountaineering gear and began the climb up towards the Durier refuge. Although nothing was technical, the ground was very loose without much of a track. A bit like the ascent to the Gouter hut on Mont Blanc without all the traffic that has cleared a route up there.
The hut is excellent, and very different from your usual big peak refuge. With just 12 official overnight places, it’s a cosy place, with Manon the hut guardian living and working in the same space as the climbers. A busy yet remote life working up there! We were the only climbers staying that night and were well looked after, and it was fun chatting to Manon about various climbs and controversies that she’d been dealing with over the past few weeks.
It was however a cold evening in the hut. The air temperature was low anyway, and there weren’t enough bodies in the hut to warm it up. Thick cloud was still swirling around the refuge, otherwise we would have had some warm sunshine. A huge pile of pasta did a good job for internal heat, and there were a lot of spare blankets in the other beds to be used.
We had our breakfast at 4am the next morning and were moving off half an hour later. What a pleasure to have a quiet route. We walked up the rocks unroped until the snow and then climbed steadily to the “bastion” which guards the final summit snow slopes. We kept our crampons on for this and enjoyed the blocky climbing on good holds. A few pitches and a little moving together got us past all the difficulties quite quickly, and we had a little stop at the end of the rock section. The last flat spot for quite a while.
The summit ridge and ensuing descent towards the col de Bionnassay to the east really is spectacular. Lots of sections where we were right on top of the arête, unable to place an ice axe for balance easily and having to step awkwardly over icy lumps and bumps to get good foot placements. Never difficult, but with extremely high consequences if someone took a tumble. The only hope would be jumping off the other side of the ridge and using the rope as a counterbalance. Better to take it steady and concentrate rather than test that particular method.
Catrin however, did a great job, and we made good progress. A couple of short stops for photos and an extra layer to keep the cold northerly wind at bay is all we needed. We could look back along the ridge and enjoy the view, and once we reached the col it was easy going (although cold in the wind) up the Dome du Gouter. Here we turned left and descended rapidly down Mont Blanc’s normal route, only stopping briefly to help untangle a paraglider that had his lines caught up (and who then promptly tried pulling the wing up again only to completely tangle it around me. Time to call it a day, mate).
A fantastic adventure on a beautiful peak. I’m not sure if I’d want to guide it every week, but in the right conditions and with the right person on the end of the rope it’s brilliant.
Starting the smugglers path on route to the Plan Glacier refuge. An amazing track that contours around the hillside with short sections of scrambling, wires and exposed ground.
Looking past the Durier winter refuge towards the Domes de Miage as the cloud cleared during the evening.
The summit of the Bionnassay not long after dawn. Already a very narrow ridge at this point, we didn’t stop to take ‘sacks off. A quick couple of photos are we were on our way.
On a relatively secure section of the ridge, the summit of the Bionnassay in the background.
Looking towards the next section of the arete, to give an idea of the size. We walked right across the crest.
Looking back towards the Bionnassay whilst descending from the Dome du Gouter.
