Todays climbing objective on the Petit Bargy ended up finishing without even getting the ropes un-coiled. Sometimes that's just how it goes, but better to return safe and sound.
Using the first Wednesday chairlift, we were up at Lac Benit, before the sun was on the cliffs or any other climbers were about. It's not a particularly well frequented place anyway and we weren't expecting to see many other people on our chosen route, so made our way up the loose screes to the base of the pillar unhurried.
On the way to the chairlift, we'd stopped at the village bakery in Mont Saxonnex to pick up a baguette and as a last minute decision, asked for a couple of pain au chocolates too, figuring they'd be a welcome addition to our belay snacks. We were hoping that the the route we'd chosen would be relatively safe as it ascends a pillar of rock so should be out of the firing line of any potential rock fall. However, the first pitch starts to the side of a gully.
Ordinarily, we'd have set up at the base of the first pitch and sorted gear etc, but having crossed the loose screes, we went to a patch of ground just around the corner to tuck straight into the fresh pastries. As we were about to start munching, the crashing sound of rockfall suddenly burst into the quiet of the morning. We tucked into our sheltered position and the moved back further as a volley of rocks came clattering past in the gully, bouncing worryingly close and all across where we'd been due to start gearing up.
Things died down again, but there was no desire to stand up in the firing zone to try and get on the route! A safe retreat was made instead, down to the shores of the lake, where were found a good spot to listen to a book instead!
There were other options for climbing, but by now it was a bit late and we were a bit spooked by another close encounter with high speed rocks, so were happy to enjoy the more relaxing ambience of the lake side for the day before taking a slightly extended hike back up to the chairlift.
No comments:
Post a Comment