Charles Dubouloz has completed the second part of his planned human-powered Winter Trilogy differently than planned.
Originally, his idea was to climb an iconic north face on each of France’s three most important ranges: the Mont Blanc massif, Les Écrins, and the Pyrenees. He would climb solo and link all three faces without motorized transport, mainly by cycling and skiing.
The challenge started on track in the Mont Blanc massif, where Dubouloz soloed the Divine Providence route up the Grand Pilier d’Angle (4,243m) and then continued to the main summit of Mont Blanc.
Les Écrins, between Grenoble in France and Turin in Italy. Google Maps
However, conditions in Les Écrins forced him to adapt. All the mountains with potential north faces, such as the Pic Sans Nom or L’Ailefroide, were unclimbable due to an excess of snow. Flexibility is key in the mountains, especially since climate change has made “normal” so unpredictable.
Going south
So instead, he headed to the most famous big wall in Les Écrins: the south side of the Barre des Écrins. At 4,102m, it is the highest in the Écrins range, and this huge rocky face is very different from the glacial north side of the mountain. Even here, snow and ice currently powder the rocky features.
Dubouloz chose Gamma, a 1,100m, ED 6b+ route, opened by an Italian team in 1992.
“I didn’t really have any information about the route, except for a rough image from the Sylvain Cambon guidebook… which advises against going there,” he explained.
“Climbers, don’t go to the Gamma!” Cambon’s book bluntly states. Indeed, the route is dangerous in summer due to constant rockfall.
Dubouloz cycles to Les Écrins, with an inset warning climbers to stay away from the Gamma route due to constant rockfall. Photo: Charles Dubouloz/Instagram
No more solo
“Yet, the more I observe the face, the more the line takes shape,” he wrote earlier. “I understand the approach, and I’m instantly drawn to this unexpected plan.”
However, soloing the face was not an option, so he turned to his good friend, Antoine Bouqueret. Until now, Bouqueret had been helping carry the packs. Now Dubouloz asked him to join the climb.
“I saw the doubt and tension in Antoine’s eyes, but he didn’t waver and accepted without hesitation,” Dubouloz recalled. “Madness? Recklessness? A desire for a post-Christmas diet?”
Four days on the face
The pair set off at 1 pm on December 28, calculating it would take them two days to climb the wall and thinking 100 grams of mashed potatoes would be enough to get them going.
It took them four days to onsight the 36 pitches. After tough climbing and three bivouacs on the wall, they reached the summit on the last day of the year.
Route topo. Photo: Charles Dubouloz
Dubouloz has not posted details of the climb itself, although the scarce images shared show the climbers had to deal with several sections of ice on the face.
Next, the Pyrenees
“I’ve gone through eight bivouacs on a face in three weeks,” Dubouloz wrote afterward. “My body is exhausted, my mind is falling apart as the real challenge begins: the Pyrenees!”
Dubouloz is currently cycling south to the Pyrenees, on the border with Spain. He has not said what the third part of his trilogy will attempt.
