Grandes Jorasses

Non-neophytes will have noticed that the blog is currently topped by a picture of the magnificent arête de Rochefort from the Grandes Jorasses to the Dent du Géant. I don't intend to climb the grandes JOrasses any time soon, but I find this picture very inspiring. I took it from the Aiguille du Midi in the summer of 2011, my first alpine season. That day I went from the AIguille du Midi to the AIguille du Plan, it was technically my second tour with crampons, after the Arête des Cosmiques. Maybe pitched a little bit high for a second tour, but as you can see the conditions were optimal. THe snow had re-frozen pretty well the night before, and the cloud sea at around 3300 made the day just magic. I struggled on that day to cope with the altitude, with the crampning technique ( I did rip my pants open), but it was another milestone in my mountain experience. See below, just for your eyes, a couple of pictures I took on that day at 7am:

The ridge in the background starts with the Aiguille verte, then les Droites, les Courtes, at the far left the Grandes Jorasses seen from the side. At the foreground you see the ridge I took that day (behind my mountain guide!), we reached the summit of the AIguille du Plan, the highest point of that ridge. Further down that ride, the Aiguilles de Blaitière and the Grépon are just above the clouds...

At the foreground the Aiguille du Plan, our target for that day. In the background, the Aiguille Verte, a target for this year or next year. No easy route to get up there. Although I can't possibly go there without someone guiding me, I always said I would only call myself an alpinist when I succesfully make it to the summit of the AIguille Verte and safely back down. A big project in itself, for a beginner like me!