Went on a day trip to the crags of 'Le Coin' at La Saleve, which are pretty much on the Swiss border. We'd found a cool looking ridge to climb, so set off early to catch it before the sun did.
The first pitch seemed impossibly steep and smooth, but we found a sneaky way around to the right and later found that most people just walk around to the start of the second pitch and avoid our struggles!
Having regained composure, we blasted off upwards again while admiring the views from our shady position.
Near the top of the third pitch, we got a birds-eye view of Geneva and it's lake.
But then came the show-stopper.... A very wide step/leap, over a 30m deep chasm, lay between us and the continuation of the arete. The photo makes it hard to see, but it looked outrageous! Even after much searching and puzzling, a unanimous decision was made to beat a retreat while we still could!
This photo, which we took later in the day, from below, shows a Mexican climber that we met, going for broke and committing to the irreversible move. We met him again afterwards and he said it was actually okay, but very very scary, making the step across! He said it didn't dare look down!
Meanwhile, we were very happy to make a few abseils back the way we'd come, after enjoying the views of Geneva, where the huge fountain in the lake was clearly visable.
We moved around the the front face after getting back on the ground and went to climb a few pitches of a classic corner climb, but accidently started up the route next to it (which is also good), and when we got back to the bags, the Mexican climber came over to climb the corner, so we decided to call it a day.
By now all the rock was in the sun, so it was time to go anyway.
We stopped in a few towns on the drive home and checked out a few town square and tourist views, but were feeling too tired to stay out much longer. A few wisps of cloud were forming, but it stayed warm and bright.
Back at the pad, we got in and rested in the shade of the patio, feeling exhausted, excited but still glad that we'd not 'gone for it' with the leap of faith!
Later on, I sorted though some of the crystals from yesterdays hunt. Some are pretty good.
Finished the day with a beauty sunset too...
La Saleve Climbs:
- Arete desc Toiles, 5c*** (up to 'the crossing'!)
- Face Ouest, 5c** (P1)
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