Written by Dave, James and myself went up to Plan de l’Aiguille for an alpine route with a couple of objectives in mind. The drooling ice on Beyond Good and Evil had a strong draw so we went up for a look. The scorching evening sun kept temperatures high late on and a walk up to the base revealed lots of ice falling down. We decided to see what the temperature did overnight and found a huge flat boulder to get some kip in, but kinda resigned to go down in the morning. I dont think I’ve ever been so warm at a bivi and in the early hours we were treated to spectacular ‘Mer des Nuages’ illuminated by full moon, a good chance to take some photos. With no freeze, it was a pretty quick decision not to climb, and the first ascent of the year went to Perkins, Blakemore & Helliker team the following day. It looks really fun so get out and blast it while its there.
Ross Hewitt Guiding 