Storms around Sarradets

Climbing at the high mountain crags of Sarradets Peak had been high on my list of things to go for when we were planning this trip back at The Cottage, earlier in the year. Fantastic rock, big routes, high in the mountains and next to a hut too. It sounded great. Unfortunately, the hut is closed all summer for refurbishment, so we had the choice of biving or an early start for a day trip. Given the uncertain forecast, we chose the latter. After a 6am start, we arrived in the van at the Col de Tentes (the start of the walk in) in somewhat unfavourable conditions...

Climbing anywhere, especially up in the high mountains was out of the question. We sat for an hour, discussing options as some bedraggled sheep walked forlornly past.

Just as we'd decided to make a different plan, a glimmer of light shine through the dark clouds. We waited a little longer. Neither of us expected to be climbing, but once the rain stopped, we decided to go for the walk to the hut and see what views we could. We packed climbing kit just in case and set off at a fast pace.

Storms were still forecast for the afternoon, so we moved swiftly, up past the glacier to the col. It was quite cold and we found we moved much faster without the sun beating us down. The glacier was much bigger on our map, (almost to where I took this photo) but there was only the tiniest amount of ice left showing though the melting snow patch.

It took us one hour and twenty to cross the col where we needed to descend to the base of the cliffs. The guide time suggested two hours, so we were pleased with that. After following a vague path along the cliff base past some old snow patches, we reached the start of the climb, which was signified by a small cairn and an upward pointing arrow that was etched into the rock.

The skies remained dark, but seemingly stable for now. 

We roped up and also put on waterproofs too, for warmth as much as any potential rain. Clare led a cool first pitch on part trad and with a couple of reassuring bolts.

It seemed to go on forever and there was relief in her voice when a solid bolt belay came into view.

I led through to the big ledge at the base of the main cliffs. They looked fantastic. Steep Slabs of rock, with only a few routes up them.

Our intended continuation was a classic route over to the right. It was hard to get a scale of the place.

Across the other side of the valley was the famous 'window' or Breche gap in the cliffs above the building site of the new hut.

Despite being the best looking crag in our guidebook, I still don't think that many people have climbed here. There was barely a path and only the bolts and a dropped bit of climbing kit suggested anyone ever had. We explored the base of the crag, looking at the different lines and wishing the weather was warmer.

Despite the temptation to set off up higher still, we were more than conscious that the forecast was almost certain for storms arriving soon. We had got away with getting this far and didn't want to push our luck. 

Low cloud still hung onto the summits. We decided to play it safe.

The bolts to abseil from were solid, but linked with some dreadful looking tatty old rope. We re-equipped them with new cord before setting off.

Two big abseils later and we were back on solid ground.

The buzz of the day was still going strong as we made our way back up to the col by the hut, past the weird shapes of the old snow patches.

From here, we could relax as the main dangers were over. We'd not got to the top of the main peak, but given the conditions earlier on in the day, we were astounded that we'd managed to do so much. 

Tiredness started to set in as we walked out the final part. The van could be seen far away on the next col - a tantalising view!

We devoured a rapid pasta cook up on arrival back at the van, as a coupe of rain drops fell. Then we rolled back down the hill, into camp for showers then celebrated with Barney and Sinead with pizza and wine before falling asleep while the thunder started up...

Sarradets:

- La Brecha de Ronaldo 5+**  (first two pitches to the main ledge)