Peuterey ridge: all is accomplished!

Among the constellation of 82 4000ers that carve up the Alpine arc, a few are particularly formidable. While climbing most of the Swiss 4000ers (48 in total) went without too much difficulty and almost always at the first attempt, it was a different story for the 4000ers of the Mont Blanc massif (26 in total). The commitment and exposure there are of another order, all the more so nowadays as melting permafrost weakens all the granite structures and the glaciers are ever more broken up.

Practically all these 4000er ascents in the Mont Blanc massif were complex and gruelling: Grandes Jorasses (7), Droites (1), Jardin ridge (3), Aiguilles du Diable (5), Brouillard ridge (4). But none of these ascents required several attempts. That was not the case with the Peuterey ridge.

After a first exhausting attempt in August 2024, followed by a second in July 2025 that came close to disaster, the Peuterey ridge and its two fierce 4000ers, the Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey and the Grand Pilier d'Angle, remained impregnable and unconquered. A whole series of factors must converge to offer a realistic window: the weather, the conditions on the ground and the human factor.

Towards the end of last summer, I sensed that trying to force fate could lead to tragedy, and I resigned myself, reluctantly but with self-denial, to waiting until conditions were right again before making another attempt.

Several months have passed since then. I had time to complete the other great project that has shaped my life over the past 5 years by defending my doctoral thesis, then to give myself time to walk across France for two months. But I still had to finish climbing all the 4000ers to find the kind of fulfilment I was looking for when I began this quest.

June arrives, bringing with it hopes of the planets aligning to untie this existential knot that has been on my mind for several years. Although no rope team has reported back yet this season, an optimal weather window seems to be shaping up for Wednesday and Thursday. Our outing with Anthony on Sunday, climbing the Weisshorn in a day, left us slightly tired, but we choose to make an attempt on Peuterey.

Tuesday is devoted to final preparations and to discussing the best strategies to adopt regarding the line and the timings. In the early hours of Wednesday we leave for Italy and set off at dawn at the foot of that true cathedral of granite and ice, the south side of Mont Blanc. After 2400 m of approach, we reach the Eccles bivouac (3900 m) in the late morning, where we have a few hours to rest and wait for night to fall again and the frost to petrify the mountain before resuming our ascent.

Thursday, midnight: the alarm goes off and pulls us out of our torpor. A mix of very powerful feelings ties my stomach in knots – the visceral desire to climb these 2 long-coveted summits, combined with dread of the exposure awaiting us and of the maximum commitment we will face during the long hours ahead.

Reaching the Col Eccles in the dead of night, I'm overwhelmed by doubts before the hugely gaping crevasses and extremely steep ice slopes that are just waiting for a single misstep to send us into the demonic bowels of the glacier. I doubt, I'm afraid, I question the meaning of it all. Anthony and I take the time to talk and to coolly assess the situation and the consequences of each decision. By a rather mysterious twist of fate, we choose to go on.

At the Col de Peuterey, the situation doesn't improve and conditions are far from straightforward: access to the Blanche de Peuterey is glazed with ice and has to be pitched; progress on its north-west flank is delicate and the rock particularly shattered. The sun greets us on the summit, reached at 5:30 a.m., and rekindles our energy and confidence to continue. After a few dicey abseils, we're back at the col and start up the Grand Pilier d'Angle. This is the part we dreaded most, the wall where we had turned back last year under rockfall. This time our strategy of such an early start pays off: the face is still frozen solid and we make progress without fear of taking a granite fridge full in the face.

We reach the summit of the Grand Pilier d'Angle at 9 a.m. The joy of having made it is held in check by the exposure and the obstacles still ahead of us before we top out on Mont Blanc. We devote all our strength and clarity to it, climbing hundreds more metres of snow and ice slopes, finally leaving the difficulties behind three hours later, then reaching the roof of Europe around 1 p.m.

Emotion overwhelms us there, and with immense relief we gaze out over the whole Alpine arc and its entire constellation of 4000ers, each carrying its share of memories and a part of ourselves that we left there.

Thank you, Anthony.

80 & 81/82 – see you very soon for the last summit, which will mean a convivial walk and a joyful celebration with a wider group.