The Peutereygrat Integral is considered the longest ridge in the Alps when climbed in its entirety. It can be divided into several sections:
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- South Ridge to Aguille Noire (continuous climbing up to 5c over 800 meters)
- Abseil descent at Aguille Noire (this 400-meter abseil descent has its fair share of horror stories. However, with the newly installed abseil stations, it is not as challenging as it used to be. If the rope gets stuck while pulling it, it can still pose a significant problem.)
- Traverse of the “Dames Anglaises” to the “Craveri Bivouac” (this section is technically not as difficult as the climbing at Aguille Noire, but the rock here is consistently unstable, making the climbing akin to “walking on eggshells” and frequently encountering vertical broken terrain).
- From the “Craveri Bivouac” to the summit of “Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey,” although the rock becomes somewhat firmer, it never truly solidifies. After the impressive snow ridge, there is another section of easy climbing to reach the summit of “Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey” before descending into the “Col de Peuterey.”
- From the “Col de Peuterey,” depending on conditions, one either ascends a steep couloir or traverses through loose rock to reach the “Grand Pilier d’Angle.” From there, an endless snow ridge leads to the highest peak in the Alps, the “Mont Blanc.” After 4,500 meters of climbing, the Peutereygrat Integral concludes here, and one can choose to descend via the Gouter Hut, Gornellahütte, or Cosmique Hut.
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The weather in July 2023 was not as stable as we had hoped, making it challenging to find a good weather window. My climbing partner, David, and I had reserved the first week of July for this tour for quite some time, so we decided to meet on the Italian side of Mont Blanc and make our decision on-site.
David had been exploring the Western Alps for several weeks and had already completed the Grandes Jorasses traverse the day before. He was well acclimatized. On the other hand, I hadn’t done as much in 2023 as David, but I had already climbed “Les Droites” and “Mont Blanc” twice, both of which are over 4,000 meters.
As arranged, we met at “Camping de Peuterey” near Courmayeur. The Peuterey Integral starts from this campsite, and the owner of the campsite is usually well-informed about the conditions of the tour. However, since this particular tour had not been done or attempted much that year, he couldn’t provide us with much information about the conditions. Nonetheless, he gave us some hints that would prove to be very useful later on.
Due to poor weather, we decided to wait for a better weather window for another 1-2 days. The next day, we encountered two climbers at the campsite who had attempted the first part of the Peuterey Integral in the preceding days but had turned back. They reported that there was already little snow at Aguille Noire, where we had planned to bivouac for the first night.
Without snow, which we would need to melt for water, this tour would certainly not be any more pleasant.
When we checked the weather again the next day, we realized that it was still not as stable as we had hoped. There was expected to be some precipitation today, followed by a windy but sunny day. However, the weather was forecasted to significantly deteriorate in the following days. The weather report mentioned strong gusts of wind and an increased chance of precipitation. The long-term forecast also predicted that the weather would tend to worsen over the next 10 days. After a brief discussion, we decided that we would give it a try.
So, for the third time, we packed our backpacks. Since we planned to climb the tour with two bivouacs, we had to bring a considerable amount of food. Luckily, with some squeezing, everything still managed to fit in my 28-litre backpack.
Around 4:00 p.m., we started walking from the campsite up via ferrata to reach the Borelli Bivouac. Just 10 minutes into our hike, it started pouring rain, and within another 10 minutes, we were completely soaked. The approach to the Borelli Bivouac is quite exposed for long stretches, which served as a fitting introduction to the Peuterey Ridge…
After a little over two hours, we reached the Borelli Bivouac. This wooden hut is located near the start of the South Ridge of Aiguille Noire. Here, we dried our clothes and tried to catch a glimpse of Aiguille Noire, but the encroaching fog dashed our hopes. We had dinner, set our alarms for 3:30 a.m. to start climbing at sunrise (it was about an hour from the Borelli Bivouac to the start), and went to sleep. As we slept, heavy rain began once again.
Our restless sleep was interrupted only once when a team of two completely soaked mountain guides arrived at the hut at 11:00 p.m. They informed us that they, too, were planning to climb the Peuterey Ridge. This somewhat reaffirmed our decision to go for it, and we quickly fell asleep again.
At 3:30 a.m., our alarm went off. We had a light breakfast and then headed outside. To our surprise, we found that the rock was almost dry. The strong wind had served a useful purpose. We packed our gear and started the approach. After a brief confusion at the start, we began the first of the 50 pitches after about an hour.
Initially, we climbed together on a running belay, allowing us to quickly gain elevation. By bypassing the “Pic Gamba” and “Punta Bifida,” we made good progress. Just before the “Punta Welzenbach,” we decided to switch from mountaineering boots to climbing shoes since climbing would become significantly more challenging from this point on. We chose to take a break, as we planned to bivouac at the summit of Aiguille Noire, and enjoyed the view. Shortly after, we were caught up by the other climbing team that had started shortly after us from the Borelli Bivouac. They shared their plan to climb to the Craveri Bivouac today and continue to Mont Blanc from there the next day. We wished them good luck, and soon they were out of sight. We decided to continue as well and kept climbing. The terrain became increasingly complex, but we managed to make good progress. By evening, with the help of two friends we found that previous parties had left behind, we reached the summit of Aiguille Noire.
From up here, we had a great panoramic view and could catch a glimpse of the further Peuterey Ridge for the first time. After a short break, we decided to set up our bivouac below the summit of Aiguille Noire. As dusk was already setting in, we wondered if the mountain guides had already made it to the Craveri Bivouac. According to the topo, it takes another 7 hours from the summit of Aiguille Noire to reach the Craveri Bivouac…
Since the next day we had to rappel down 400 meters in difficult terrain, we decided that it wouldn’t make sense to start in the dark. So we set our alarm for 4:30 a.m. and quickly fell asleep with a magnificent view of Courmayeur, illuminated below us, 2500 meters in altitude.
When we were awakened by our alarm the next morning, dawn was already breaking, and the sun was slowly rising over the Grandes Jorasses. The sky was clear, and it seemed like we had, at least for the first half of the day, luck with the weather. We packed our gear and quickly started rappelling down the backside of Aiguille Noire.
Since the rappel route was equipped with new anchors a few years ago, it is no longer as treacherous as it used to be (although a rope snag could still pose significant problems). We were fortunate, and everything went smoothly for us. After about 1.5 hours, we completed our rappelling manoeuvre and started the further ascent via the “Dames Anglaise” route.
The climbing here is easier than at Aiguille Noire, but the rock quality is extremely poor. We eventually reached the Craveri Bivouac by traversing a snow-free and extremely loose couloir. The climbing up to this point felt like dancing on raw eggs because everything we touched was barely or not at all solid.
At the Craveri Bivouac, we had a leisurely lunch break and cooked some food. The weather had already deteriorated slightly here, and clouds began to rise from the valley.
As we suddenly heard a helicopter flying towards the “Col de Peuterey,” we started to worry about the two mountain guides who had overtaken us earlier.
After a one-hour break, we continued climbing. The climbing continued as it had before: with almost vertical broken terrain… After some time, we found ourselves completely in the fog, and it started snowing lightly, and as expected, we got off route and wasted some time. However, since this was the only mistake we made, we eventually reached the first of the three summits of the “Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey” in the evening. From here, a narrow snow ridge leads to the second summit. We were lucky with the conditions, and this part of the tour turned out to be much easier than expected. Upon reaching the lower summit, we began the final climb. The approximately 50 meters of ascent went quickly, and before long, we stood on the main summit of the “Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey.”
Since the weather didn’t improve and we were still in thick fog, we quickly took a few summit photos and descended promptly. The route to the third summit of the “Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey” went smoothly, and we reached it shortly. As twilight set in and visibility was severely limited by the fog, we decided to start rappelling directly into the Col de Peuterey. Due to the encroaching darkness, we didn’t always find the rappel anchors immediately, so we arrived at the Col de Peuterey around 11:00 p.m., guided by the beams of our headlamps.
Due to the snowfall and strong winds in the past few days, we found ourselves standing in knee-deep powder snow. As the wind was blowing fiercely there, we began digging a hole in the snow to spend the night. After about half an hour, we were finished and lay down to sleep.
The wind continued to intensify, intermittently covering us with snow gusts. Therefore, we decided to start around 3:00 a.m. We packed our belongings in the dense fog and hoped that we could even find the entry point to the couloir we intended to climb in such poor visibility. After about 10 minutes, we came across tracks that, however, led not towards Mont Blanc but down towards the “Eccles Bivouac”.
We assumed that these tracks were left by the two mountain guides who had abandoned their ascent. So, at this point, we were completely on our own. After some time, we concluded that it would be impossible to find the way in the fog, and we decided to find a sheltered spot to sit down and wait. After about 30 minutes, the fog lifted for a minute, allowing us to reorient ourselves. We immediately set off towards the couloir.
We quickly climbed over the bergschrund, and after a very precarious 10 meters on icy slabs, we found ourselves at the base of the couloir. From here, we had another 400 meters of climbing at an incline of about 45-55 degrees. The relentless wind blowing snow into our faces made this climb far from pleasant.
When we emerged from the end of the couloir, our gaze turned to the right. There, hidden in the dense fog, was the “Grand Pilier d’Angle” (another rarely climbed 4,000-meter peak on our list). So, we began ascending on the narrow snow ridge towards the “Grand Pilier d’Angle.” The fog had become even denser, and we could barely see a meter ahead. It felt surreal to know that we were on an exposed snow ridge with a drop of about 1,000 meters on both sides, yet we could hardly see our own feet due to the fog. We continued descending until we finally reached the “Grand Pilier d’Angle.”
We took a summit photo of the 81st out of 82 4,000-meter peaks, double-checking on the GPS to ensure we were indeed at the summit. Then, we began heading back towards the couloir. From there, it was another 400 meters of steep ascent along the ridge to the summit of Mont Blanc.
After a while, it started to snow, completely shattering the “perfect weather” we had hoped for. About an hour and a half later, as we climbed over the summit cornice, we were greeted by such strong winds that we had to crouch down to brace ourselves. The previous day, we had entertained the idea of continuing to climb to the “Picco Luigi Amadeo” and thus complete the ascent of the last of the 82 4,000-meter peaks. However, the wind was so intense that it was impossible to take a step without being knocked over, making any further climbing on an exposed snow ridge out of the question.
Therefore, we decided to quickly descend from Mont Blanc towards the Gouter Hut. We took a few more photos and enjoyed the privilege of standing alone on the highest mountain in the Alps. After about 5 minutes, we started our descent. Just before reaching the Gouter Hut, the wind died down and the sun came out. We arrived at the Gouter Hut around 12:00 pm and had some food. We decided to spend the night here and descend to the valley in a relaxed manner the next day. We spent the rest of the day leisurely and went to bed early.
The next morning, we woke up early. The descent to Chamonix was a mere formality at that point. Upon arriving in Chamonix, we first went to eat some burgers and then took the bus through the Mont Blanc Tunnel back to Italy.
From there, we headed towards the campsite from which we had set off five days earlier. At the campsite, we were greeted and congratulated by the owner. After a brief description of our tour and the current conditions, we fell into bed tired but happy.
Since we couldn’t climb “Picco Luigi Amadeo” as planned, there was still one of the 4,000-meter peaks of the Alps left. The next morning, David and I started planning how we wanted to tackle this climb…
The Peuterey Integral is definitely one of the most impressive mountain tours I have ever climbed, and it was even more special to be able to share this experience with a good friend!