Photo/trip report of an ascent of la Ginat, Droites north face. April 2013

The Ginat route is now the classic way to climb the North face of les Droites. It is mainly an ice/snow route up to grade V with some mixed climbing over the 1000 m length. This route can be climbed in all seasons when conditions are right. The route was named following the death of one of the first ascensionists (Jean Ginat, Jean-Pierre Simond, Jean-Marc Troussier et Gilles Modica) who had a fatal accident on the descent one day of July 1978. Although this wall has an austere and severe character, depending upon the strategy you choose to climb it, the sense of commitment can decrease slightly. In April 2013, after a snowy winter, a few days of good weather finally arrived. The route appeared not to have been climbed for several weeks but conditions looked great. At 9h30, less than 3 hours after leaving his comfy bed and 10 min of easy skiing from the top of the Grands Montets, it is time for Marc-Antoine Turgeon to swap ski boots for mountaineering boots. Note: many teams climb with skis on their backs so they are back in town for the evening! Marc-Antoine Turgeon and Antoine Moineville on the first slope with low/moderate angle, after crossing the bergschrunds. We find ourselves at the base of the Messner ramp quite quickly where we join a team who started at the cable car station earlier and that we are going to follow for most of the day. We quickly climbed the snow/ice field to reach the base of the headwall as conditions were perfect in this part. From there it got steeper; the quality of ice was poor and the pace slowed down. What was feeling like an easy day out became a serious ascent where focus, stamina and determination are necessary. On the right of the steep pitch in the middle of the wall, one can see the Jackson, a 90° variant. A pitch of fun mixed climbing bring us to the ramp of the second half. By the time we get to the last but the steepest of the pitch, the afternoon is nearly gone. That day, this pitch was the crux of the route, with some delicate mixed climbing and poor quality ice. On the photo above, Marc-Antoine sits on the only possible place of the whole route. Antoine Moineville on his picks. The last 10 meters before we reach the easy snow couloir leading to the Breche des Droites. After a long break we descended, enjoying fair conditions on the avalanche-risky and loose South side.