In its general outline, the geography of the southern slopes of Mont Blanc is simple enough. The western and eastern boundaries are, respectively, the Brouillard and Peuteret ridges, which converge in Mont Blanc de Courmayeur. The region enclosed by these two colossal ridges is bisected by the Innominata ridge, on either side of which a glacier flows down from Mont Blanc; the Brouillard Glacier between the ridge of the same name and the Innominata ridge, the Fresnay Glacier between the latter and the Peuteret ridge. Both glaciers are remarkable for their steepness and the extent to which they are broken up. From source to snout, the Brouillard Glacier forms an almost uninterrupted icefall, the Fresnay Glacier even more so: indeed, from afar the latter resembles the tumbling, foaming crest of a storm-tossed wave. To the south of the Innominata lies a third glacier, the Glacier du Châtelet, but compared with the other two, it is insignificant in size and gentle in slope. All three ridges rise from the Val Veni in the form of great bluffs and cliffs. These, in the case of the Brouillard, soon narrow down to a well-defined ridge which, unbroken by any really prominent feature, rises steadily up to the two summits of Mont Brouillard (13,012 and 13,298 feet respectively). A gentle dip leads farther to the snowy Col Émile Rey (13,147 ft.), out of which steep cliffs, constituting a somewhat badly-defined ridge, swing themselves up to the Pic Luigi Amadeo (14,672 ft.), whence a long ridge rising at a comparatively gentle angle culminates in Mont Blanc de Courmayeur (15,604 ft.). From beginning to end, the Brouillard ridge forms a vast crescent; curving north-north-west in its lower half, it veers towards the north-north-east in its upper, and terminates almost due north of its source in the Val Veni. The precipitous, rocky south-eastern flank of the ridge between the Pic Luigi Amadeo and Mont Blanc de Courmayeur constitutes the uppermost portion of the south face of Mont Blanc.
Totally different in character is the Peuteret ridge once it has become well-defined as such in the vicinity of the summit of the Aiguille Noire de Peuteret, where the two ridges enclosing the Fauteuil des Allemands converge. Following a north-westerly direction, the Peuteret ridge carries two outstanding elevations, the Aiguilles Noire and Blanche de Peuteret, which are separated from neighbouring portions of the ridge by the deep clefts of the Col des Dames Anglaises and the Col de Peuteret respectively. Out of the former tower the bold spires of the Dames Anglaises, enhancing the jagged outline characteristic of the ridge which, from the Col de Peuteret, in a final stupendous effort, soars up to Mont Blanc de Courmayeur.
Mont Blanc from the Val Veni.
Facing page 228.
In the Aiguille du Châtelet (8,292 ft.) the Innominata ridge at first makes rather a pusillanimous attempt to merit the description, then becomes lost in broad scree slopes from which emerge two ridges. One of these flanks the Brouillard Glacier, the other the Fresnay Glacier, and carries the Aiguille Joseph Croux and the depression called the Col de l’Innominata. At a point south of the Innominata itself, these two ridges finally unite, enclosing between their southern flanks the little Glacier du Châtelet. North of the Innominata, the ridge, running almost parallel to the Peuteret, dips into the depression known as the Col du Fresnay. Above the col it rises to a rocky summit over 13,000 feet high and called Pic Eccles, beyond which lies another depression, now known as the Col Supérieur du Fresnay, whence, in a futile attempt to connect with the Brouillard ridge, it rises abruptly in the direction of a point almost midway between the Pic Luigi Amadeo and Mont Blanc de Courmayeur and, after a last supreme endeavour to preserve its individuality in the shape of a huge, precipitous, red rock buttress, eventually loses itself in the rocky escarpments of the south face of Mont Blanc at an altitude of about 14,500 feet.
In so far as successful attempts to reach the summit of the mountain are concerned, the history of the exploration of the south face of Mont Blanc is soon told. Prior to 1919, only two parties met with success. On July 30, 1876, Mr. James Eccles, accompanied by the guides Michel and Alphonse Payot, left Courmayeur and bivouacked on the rocks of the Innominata ridge, about midway between the Col du Fresnay and the Pic Eccles, at about 12,500 feet. Leaving their bivouac at 2.55 next morning, they traversed the Pic Eccles into the Col Supérieur du Fresnay, whence, descending steep rocks and an ice-filled couloir, they gained the uppermost level of the Fresnay Glacier. Three hours after leaving their bivouac, they crossed the bergschrund and began the ascent of the steep slopes of the great snowy couloir, which falls away towards the Fresnay Glacier from a point on the Peuteret ridge about 1,200 feet below Mont Blanc de Courmayeur. Taking to the broken rocks on the left (ascending) bank of the couloir as soon as possible, they followed these without difficulty to their end. Another bout of step-cutting then brought them out on to the Peuteret ridge, up which they arrived on to the summit of Mont Blanc de Courmayeur at 11.40 a.m. At 12.35 p.m., less than ten hours after leaving their bivouac, Mont Blanc itself was under foot.
The only other successful expedition carried out before 1919 was that of Signor Gruber, with Émile Rey[9] and the porter Pierre Revel, in 1880. Leaving Courmayeur on August 14, they bivouacked on some rocks near the Col du Fresnay. Crossing the col next morning, they descended to the Fresnay Glacier and worked towards the foot of the great rock buttress immediately between the huge uppermost icefall of the glacier and the Aiguille Blanche de Peuteret. Late that afternoon, after most difficult climbing, they arrived in the Col de Peuteret, and thence followed the Peuteret ridge until nightfall compelled them to bivouac a second time. They were then about 1,200 feet below the summit. Next day (August 16), always keeping to the Peuteret ridge and very soon joining Eccles’s route, they passed over Mont Blanc de Courmayeur and, four hours after leaving their last bivouac, stood on the summit of Mont Blanc.[10] This climb is usually referred to as if it were merely a variation of Eccles’s route. It is true that they have in common the ascent to the Col du Fresnay and the final 1,200 feet of the Peuteret ridge, but otherwise the two routes differ to such an extent that Gruber’s is worthy of being described as a new climb, and it was, moreover, the first complete ascent of the Peuteret ridge, from the Col de Peuteret.