It’s hard to find a new climbing route in an area as well-trodden as the Mont Blanc massif, visible from Chamonix, but John McCune and Will Sim have managed.
The British pair did a winter line on the north face of Aiguille de Pélerins. Dubbed Above and Beyond, it lies to the left of the well-known Beyond Good and Evil and has been graded ED M6 6b+.
Photo: @johnmcuneguide
On the morning of April 13, they climbed the Rébuffat-Terray for approximately 250m before bearing left onto an icy line and upward to an obvious roof. McCune and Sim climbed four pitches of mixed corners at M6, then changed into rock shoes for the following two pitches that led them to the roof.
At the roof, Sim was able to aid climb the roof. They then tackled a number of cracks and corners that led them to the top of the buttress and traversed back over to Rébuffat Terray, which they rappelled down.
Photo: @johnmcuneguide
McCune initially noticed the new route when climbing Beyond Good and Evil last year. He attempted the route twice last year during day trips, but he and his partners ran out of time on both occasions.
