On June 11, 14 highliners successfully connected and crossed a giant highline between the Dent du Geant and Mont Mallet in the Mont Blanc massif near Chamonix.
The team, which included Aurelia Lanoe, Antoine Mesnage, and Camille Le Guellaut of France, among others, used drones to assist with the highline installation at an altitude of 4,000m. It took them over two days to set the 19mm-wide, 788m long line across the gulf and a preliminary three days to prepare the setup.
The 788m-long highline connecting Mont Mallet and Dent du Geant. Photo: Antoine Mesnage
The French media, including Le Monde, reported the achievement, noting the technical difficulty and the absence of any problems. The adventure community celebrated the feat as a milestone. British climber and Everest guide Kenton Cool noted on social media that it represents “a bold vision suspended between sky and rock.”
Each step during the 45-minute crossing demanded razor-sharp focus, with the void below amplifying every heartbeat.
One of the highliners carefully approaches the end of the crossing. Photo: Antoine Mesnage
“Having walked between these two peaks still feels unreal,” recalls Le Guellaut.
The 4,013m Dent du Geant is a prominent rocky spire above the Glacier du Geant, while 3,989m Mont Mallet is lesser known and stands almost a kilometer away.
Mont Mallet, left, and Dent du Geant, connected by a highline of nearly 800m. A tiny figure the size of a speck of dust is visible at center left. Photo. Antoine Mesnage
Another use for drones
Connecting these two peaks by climbing would have been challenging. The terrain includes the crevassed Glacier du Geant and loose, unstable rock, with no established route between them. Descending the Dent du Geant’s steep, technical normal route (5.9) leads to the glacier, followed by a tough, uncertain ascent up Mont Mallet’s mixed snow and rock slopes. This traverse would have taken expert, well-equipped climbers several days — hence their reliance on the increasingly useful drone technology.
Highlining between Dent du Geant and Mont Mallet. Photo: Antoine Mesnage
The highliners spent eight months planning and a total of three weeks of grueling logistics, hauling 400kg of gear over 29 trips without helicopters, honoring the spirit of traditional mountaineering.
Crossing at around 4,000m. Photo: Bertrand Delapierre
