Tour Ronde North Face attempt 24th/25th July

Whilst Stephen and Julie were away, we spent some time exploring the approaches to routes on the Chamonix Aiguilles then decided to try for the North Face of the Tour Ronde. This route is a classic but not often in condition these days.

So bags packed and a bivvi night up high before setting off across the Vallee Blanche in the early hours of the morning towards our route. Unfortunately, other parties setting off from the Torino Hut had the same objective in mind and they got onto the route before us. The stonefall coming down from the two people above us made us turn back. We had chatted to a guy on the campsite about his trip there and he had been hit by a rather large chunk of ice which hit him in the face. He completed the pitch he was leading and went on to complete the route but suffered a badly broken nose. When some little pebbles hit me and some larger stones began falling around us from above with no warning shouts, we decided it was a route to go back for at another time. As the climbers above were directly above, any pieces of ice and rock were a real danger and not something we were willing to risk at this stage in our trip. It's a route, hopefully, we can go back to.