New Chamonix Alpine Route is Above and Beyond ED M6 5.11
The splitter new ice and rock line climbs one of the most famous walls in the world of alpine climbing
British alpinists John McCune and Will Sim have climbed a winter route to the left of the classic Beyond Good and Evil on the north face of Aiguille de Pélerins near Chamonix. They new route is called Above and Beyond and goes at ED M6 6b+ 5.11.
The two top climbers spent a night in the famous hut Refuge du Plan de l’Aiguille before starting up the climb early in the morning. They climbed The Rébuffat/Terray for a few hundred metres before heading left up an obvious icy line to a big roof. After four pitches of stiff mixed at M6, they switched to rock climbing shoes for the roof cracks. The rock was mostly solid, except for a few loose flakes. After a number of pitches, the regained The Rébuffat/Terray and descended.
McCune had spotted the line while climbed Beyond Good and Evil last year and had tried it with Danny Uhlmann and Chris Warner, but bailed at the roof. This aspect of the mountain has seen a number of rockfalls over the year, and the first ascent team didn’t find any fixed gear from previous attempts or ascents.
The route can be seen from Chamonix, as can The Rébuffat/Terray, which was done by Gaston Rébuffat and Lionel Terray in summer 1944, and Beyond Good and Evil, which was first climbed by Andy Parkin and Mark Twight in April 1992. A third line on the face is One Step Beyond, which was climbed by François Marsigny and Thierry Renault in winter 2001.
