After my rope mate David and I were able to climb the Peuterey Integral at the beginning of July 2023, for me only one from 82 x 4000th of the Alps remained unclimbed - the Picco Luigi Amadeo.
This rare 4000s is located on the Italian side of the Mont Blanc and usually climbs over the Bruillardgrat. David and I had the idea since last year to climb this 4000er over the “Bonatti-Oggioni” at the “Piller Rugue”.
This tour was very attractive for us for several reasons. For one, we preferred the persistent steep climbing to 6a of the fragile 3er to 4er climb at the Bruilliardgrat. On the other hand, we played with the idea of climbing the Freneypililer on the south side during the summer. Since both tours have the same reach, the “Piller Rugue” would be a good exploration tour in this area.
Since the weather was still not as stable as expected at the end of July, we first met in Courmayeur and spent the first 2 days eating pizza and ice cream.
When the weather forecast for the next day predicted semi-stable weather, we decided to start the next morning and dare to try.
The only risk was: for tomorrow day according to the weather report bad weather including 30cm of new snow. We talked to each other that it wasn't gonna be that bad and told Matt, who was going to film our climbing for Epic TV.
Matt was very excited and told us that he would be at Peuterey around 22:00 (the starting point of our tour). The rest of the day we spent packing our backpacks and studying the top of the tour.
The tour can be divided into several sections:
- Access to Ecclesbiwak (the access to ECCLESBIWAK takes approximately 8 hours and leads to the Bruillard Glacier at the Monzinohütte. From here the search begins in a maze of huge columns. If you have approximately 2200 meters of altitude behind you, wait another 200 meters in fragile rock before you reach the tiny Ecclesbiwak.)
- Access to the Piller Rugue (behind the Ecclesbiwak there is a sailing piste that leads back to the glacier. At the bottom you cross towards Bruillardgrat until the entrance of the “Piller Rugoues”)
- Piller Rugue (Piller Rogue has 12 rope lengths up to 6a in top granite)
- On the way to the Picco Luigi Amadeo (arrived at the end of the Piller Rugue, the quality of the rock diminishes and becomes more fragile from meter to meter. In suspended climbing, continue to the summit of the “Picco Luigi Amadeo”)
- Mont Blanc (achieved at the Picco Luigi Amadeo, continue to the end of the Bruillardgrat to the Mont-Blanc)
- Departure (you can choose from the Goutehütte, Gornellahütte or Cosmiquehütte)
When we met Matt in the evening, we briefly discussed the details of the tour with him again and went to bed early, as we were going to start at 4:00.
When the alarm clock rang, we got up quickly and left immediately afterward. After about two hours, on a narrow path and steep stairs, we reached the Monzine hut. We had only walked five minutes, and it was already raining. After another hour, however, the rain stopped again and we reached the beginning of the Bruillard glacier.
Here we switched to steep iron and continued as a rope. To our surprise, we were able to cross the glacier much better than expected and so after some time, we stood only 200 meters below the Ecclesbiwak. It went up in lighter but fragile climbing. Arriving at Ecclesbiwak, we first made tea and rested a little. Since the Ecclesbiwak is no bigger than a medium-sized beech chamber, we hoped that not too many other ropes would want to sleep here. After about 2 hours, another rope, consisting of two Italians, joined us. For the fifth, it had now become tight, but it was still sustainable. We decided to explore the path for tomorrow and were not surprised when we saw the huge column that was to be crossed tomorrow. From our position, it was not clear whether it was possible at all. Fortunately, we had a great look at the “Piller Rugue” and saw that there was almost no snow up here. In addition, the weather continued to clear up and it did not look like it was going to snow again. So the risk was worth it.
We thought that it would make no sense to start in the dark and decided to start at dawn. The Italians who wanted to climb the Inominatagrat would get up at 2:00 and start their climbing in the dark.
We ate dinner, set the alarm clock at 4:30, and went to sleep.
We woke up when the alarm clock rang. The Italians had already gone but had been so quiet that they had not woke us up.
We had a quick breakfast, dressed up, and went out. Although we were already at 3800 meters, it was amazingly warm. Behind the Biwak they immediately found the sailing piste. After about 30 minutes we stood on the Bruillard glacier. 10 meters below us was a sphere about 20 meters wide. We walked along it, but couldn't figure out how to get over it. When we arrived at a collapsed edge gap, we decided that this was the best point to pass the column. This also went astonishingly well and so after a short time, we stood on the other side of the column.
After another 20 minutes, in which we climbed a steep firm slope, we stood at the entrance of the “Piller Rugue”.
We switched from mountain shoes to climbers and started climbing. When the sun got up, it became warm and we the beautiful climbing in complete loneliness. The rock at the “Piller Rugue” is super firm and does not in any way stand behind the “Grand Cappucin” in its climbing. So we climbed rope lengths for rope Lengths until we finally arrived at the end.
When we planned, we thought about putting a biwak in here. However, it was not until 12:00 a.m. and a look at the weather report said nothing good. From around 19:00 a.m. it is expected to see strong winds of up to 100 km/h. There are better places than a suspended barrel for such conditions.
After a short break, we continued on the running rope towards “Picco Luigi Amadeo”. Climbing has become much easier from now on. In the same way, however, the rock became more and more fragile. After another 3 hours we reached the summit of the “Picco Luigi Amadeo” and the view for a brief moment. We took some summit pictures of Summit No. 82/82, ate and drank some.
The wind was already a little stronger and so we continued climbing. After a few towers, which we all climbed, we came to the company council.
From here the terrain became lighter again and we came forward quite quickly. We reached the summit of the Mont Blanc at about 7 p.m. At the latest here it was clear to us that our decision not to go to biwak and go on was the right one. The wind was so strong that it was difficult to stay on its feet.
After a summit snap for David and Matt, we went to the descent.
We chose the route towards Goutehütte and arrived there tired but happy shortly before sunset.
We decided not to go further down and let the evening be comfortable here.
At a delicious dinner, we celebrated the completion of my 4000 project and the moment.
The next morning we got up early and set off for the descent to Chamonix. From there we went by bus to Courmayeur.
When we got there, we said goodbye to Matt and ended the tour as it started. With pizza and ice cream.
The climbing of the “Picco Luigi Amadeo” a project that has accompanied me for the last seven years and driven me to the Western Alps every summer ends for me. It was an incredibly beautiful time with great, but also risky moments! From the thunderstorm at the "Täschorn" with David W. to the exhausted climbing of the "Grandes Jorasses" with Tim S. and three days alone at the Peuterey Integral with David D. everything was there.
I like to remember fun conversations, beautiful climbing, and indescribable summit happiness back.
But I also think of the endless cottage climbs, getting up at 2:00 a.m. at night, endless car rides, and stone blows, which were sometimes less than one's favorite.
Without my climbing partners, this project would not have been feasible and so it was all the more beautiful that from fugitive climbers acquaintances became good friends!
#project82ofthealps