In the winter of 1979, after a couple of wonderful climbs in Scotland, Jonathan Waterman and I got fed up with days of torrential rain and made an epic train journey to Chamonix.
Not having planned on the alps, we were under equipped - no skis or snowshoes and no heavy duty winter sleeping bags - which meant floundering in deep snow and cold night bivies in cable car stations, at well over 12,000’.
However, after lowering Waterman off the crux pitch from a Mjolnar ice tool (he had a broken crampon) I managed to lead us to the top. The route is direct and goes right through the black ice in the narrow part of the hourglass.
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