The Aiguille du Grépon (literally the ''Needle of Grépon''), informally known as The Grepon, is a mountain in the

Mont Blanc Massif The Mont Blanc massif (french: Massif du Mont-Blanc; it, Massiccio del Monte Bianco) is a mountain range in the Alps, located mostly in France and Italy, but also straddling Switzerland at its northeastern end. It contains eleven major indep ...

Haute-Savoie Haute-Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè d'Amont'' or ''Hiôta-Savouè''; en, Upper Savoy) or '; it, Alta Savoia. is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its prefecture is Ann ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The Grepon has a Southern (3,482 m) and Northern (3,478 m) peak, which are the highest points of a sharp granite ridge to the east of the ''Glacier des Nantillons'' above

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc ( frp, Chamôni), more commonly known as Chamonix, is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It was the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924. In 2019, it had ...

and northeast of the

Aiguille du Midi The Aiguille du Midi () is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif within the French Alps. It is a popular tourist destination and can be directly accessed by cable car from Chamonix that takes visitors close to Mont Blanc. Cable car The idea fo ...

. A madonna statue is situated on the Southern peak.

Climbing history

The first ascent was made in 1881 by the Swiss climbers

Alexander Burgener Alexander Burgener Alexander Burgener (10 January 1845, Saas Fee – 8 July 1910, near the Berglihütte) was a Swiss mountain guide and the first ascentionist of many mountains and new routes in the western Alps during the silver age of alpinis ...

and Benedikt Venetz guiding Albert F. Mummery from England. This team had climbed one of the peaks of the neighboring Aiguille des Grands Charmoz the previous year. Two days after an attempt on the East face was found too challenging, they climbed up the couloir separating the Charmoz and Grepon from the Nantillons site to climb the Grepon over the north ridge. The party took a very difficult narrow chimney from just below the col between the peaks. Though Venetz discovered the route and was the lead climber through it, this vertical crevice became famous as ''Mummery's crack''. The party reached the Northern summit, built a cairn and returned, but Mummery wondered at night if the Southern summit they had seen may have been higher. Thus the party came back over the same route two days later and completed a traverse to the highest crag, which involved some

abseiling Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling the person descending controls their own movement down the rope, in contrast to low ...

, "a broad road suitable for carriages, bicycles, or other similar conveyances", and more spectacular final lead climbing by Venetz, who hauled Mummery to the top after he slipped halfway. The second ascent leader, François Henri Dunod, partly brought up three ladders as he had heard stories of the difficulty of this last pitch, though it turned out there was an easier crack to the top. More than 20 years later this rock climb was still considered to be one of the most difficult in the Alps.O. K. Williamson (1904
Note on the Aiguille du Grépon
The Climber Club Journal, vol 7. pp 190-191 MumeryOK

Other climbing events: * 2 September 1885: After a month of persistent effort, François Henri Dunod, François et Gaspard Simond and Auguste Tairraz climb the main summit from the south west. This route is slightly less difficult and is the normal route of descent. * before 1887: An unknown party reached at least the Northern peak via the first ascent route, but avoiding the Mummery crack by driving wooden wedges into a crack on the East side of the ridge. * 18 August 1892: Albert F. Mummery, John Norman Collie,

Geoffrey Hastings Geoffrey Hastings (1860–1941) was a British mountaineer who made numerous first ascents of rock-faces and peaks in the Lake District, the Alps and Norway, and helped to lay the foundations for mountain-climbing as a sport. He, Albert Mumme ...

and Henri Pasteur do the first North-South traverse. * 4 August 1893: Lily Bristow is the first woman to climb the Grépon, traversing it with Mummery and

William Cecil Slingsby William Cecil Slingsby (1849–1929) was an English mountain climber and alpine explorer from Carleton, North Yorkshire. Born in Bell Busk, near Gargrave, Yorkshire, Slingsby first visited Norway in 1872 and fell in love with the country. He h ...

, while taking pictures on the way * 19 August 1911: First ascent East face (from the Mer de Glace) by Alexis Brocherel and

Josef Knubel Josef Knubel (2 March 1881 – 31 May 1961) was a Swiss mountaineer and mountain guide. He made many first ascents and other climbs in the Alps during his career. He is best known for his ascents as a guide for Geoffrey Winthrop Young. Early life ...

guiding Humphrey Owen Jones, Ralph Todhunter and

Geoffrey Winthrop Young Geoffrey Winthrop Young (25 October 1876 – 8 September 1958) was a British climber, poet and educator, and author of several notable books on mountaineering. Young was born in Kensington, the middle son of Sir George Young, 3rd Baronet (see ...

. This route contains the "Knubel crack", which was the first V+ pitch in the Mont Blanc region. * 16 April 1927: First winter ascent by Camille Devouassoux and

Armand Charlet Armand Charlet (9 February 1900, Argentière – December 1975) was a French mountaineer and mountain guide. Alpinism Charlet was amongst the most celebrated mountaineers and guides of his era. Alain de Chatellus regarded him as the "undispute ...

* 25 July 1947: First ascent West face by Robert Gabriel, Georges Livanos, Roger Duchier and Charles Magol

Statue

Since 1927, at the top of the needle stands a statue of '' Our Lady of La Salette'', 1.20 m high. With its weight of 44 kg, it was mounted on the back of a man on June 22, 1927 by eight guides of Chamonix members of the ''Jeunesse catholique''.

References

* François Labande, La Chaîne Du Mont-Blanc, sélection de voies. Tome 1, A L'Ouest Du Col Du Géant., Arthaud Guide Vallot GHM 2005,

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aiguille du Grepon Alpine three-thousanders Mountains of Haute-Savoie Mountains of the Alps Mont Blanc massif