Eiger - west ridge?

claxxix

Hi folks,

Im wondering if anyone has been on the west ridge of the Eiger. It is apparently the easier of the main accent ridges. I've summited Mt Blanc via the 3 monts route and the Matterhorn via the italien liongrat route with guides. Myself and my buddy are fairly experienced scramblers with a good grounding in mountaineering / ropework. Im interested in doing a decent alpine route without a guide. Im interested in useful feedback on route timings, possibly difficulties and any other useful info / opinions / observations people might have on the west ridge of the Eiger. Im also interested in alternative alpine climbing options that might be considered.

thanks,
claxxix

Ps: if anyone has attempted / summited via the Mittellegi or south ridge i would also like to hear from ye.

Sev

First guy to climb that route was Irish.

I have never climbed in that region. But Chamonix is worth considering. Most of my experience of climbing in the Alps is there. There's plenty of everything.

An advantage of Chamonix, is that there are lots of ski-lifts/transport, that will take you up high quickly so you can get a lot of great routes done in a short time since you save yourself the walk-in. The disadvantage of Chamonix is the weather, the huge bulk of Mont Blanc nearby seems to draw the bad weather around it, well this is my experience anyway.

Examples of options around Chamonix are:

-Arete des cosmiques (PD+/AD-)
Short ridge scramble. Mostly PD+, but one short steep section of rock climbing gives it the AD grade. Finishes at the Midi observation deck. This is great for a warm-up/acclimatisation and very popular. You can get the cable car up the Midi in the morning, do this route, and be back in the Chamonix valley for lunch.
-Dent du Geant by the Rochefort Arete (AD)
Pictures of this look great, havn't done it, want to. I believe the final rock section is steep and technical. However it gets the AD grade due to fixed ropes in place.
-Forbes Arete (AD+) (Aiguille du Chardonnet)
A bit of everything, quite long and ambitious I suspect. Aimed to do this one summer, but cancelled due to poor weather.

Also, it's such a hotspot for alpinism that there's plenty of guidebooks and information on routes in the area.

More routes here: http://www17.big.or.jp/~yuuko/climbing/climbing/mont-e.html

This book is the book you'd want to look at for Chamonix
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mont-Blanc-Range-Guidebook-Reflecting/dp/1898573727

There's another similar book, with all the big (but easy) rock routes in the Mont blanc range, up to grade french 6a+ (from AD to TD), although I cant find this on google.

Also, flick through some of the guided climbs they offer on that cosleyhouston site
e.g. http://cosleyhouston.com/france.htm
You might get some ideas for routes to do, in chamonix or elsewhere.

SomeFool

I find ukclimbing.com to be an excellent resource.

Actually looks like a similar question was asked recently!