Cache Cache - 250m 7a(6b obbl.) - Pic Adolphe Rey 3535m
I’m in the Skyway cable car with Giacomo, heading up to Punta Helbronner, but my mind keeps returning to a scene from ten years ago: a local guide and his client climbing a set of perfect parallel cracks up the otherwise smooth south face of Pic Adolphe Rey, in the Mont Blanc massif. The guide was moving with the agility of a weasel.
What really stayed with me was how it ended. The cracks seemed to stop abruptly beneath a huge roof. Yet somehow, as if by magic, the guide disappeared into a gap beneath the overhang, only to emerge, with a few audible grunts, some ten metres higher, right on the southeast ridge. I promised myself that one day I would discover the secret behind that vanishing act and get my hands into those beautiful splitter cracks.
Now, here we are. It’s already mid-August, and the glacier is showing the scars of the relentless summer heat. The approach proves more complicated than expected, but we still reach the foot of the route in good time. With no time to waste (there’s a cable car to catch on the way down) we head up the uninviting gully leading to the first belay.
The first pitch is fairly long, with just one bolt to point us in the right direction. Staying on route takes a little care and some mountain intuition. A relatively straightforward second pitch, graded 6b, brings us below the third: a magnificent granite slab, given 7a by some and 6c+ by others.
My lead. I start a little hesitantly, but gradually learn to trust the friction and settle into the climbing. A few delicate moves near the top keep me focused, then I reach the belay without falling or weighting the rope. Turns out I can still climb slabs!
The fourth pitch, also graded either 7a or 6c+, follows a long crack slanting up to the left, with a mixture of jamming and laybacking. If you want to protect it well, I’d recommend bringing plenty of BD 0.75 and 1 cams.
The next pitch starts up a system of parallel cracks before joining a wide crack that cuts diagonally left through a large roof. Fortunately, a few bolts appear just as the crack widens. Whoever put up the route must have spared a thought for the backs of future climbers, saving us from hauling up the biggest cams.
The line leads straight towards an opening beneath the roof. Up close, it turns out to be the entrance to a rather tight tunnel, which provides a passage through to the summit ridge. At last, the secret of the teleportation trick is revealed, and the route’s name suddenly makes sense!
The final two pitches along the ridge are among the finest granite pitches I’ve climbed in the Alps: breathtaking views and rock sculpted into lunar pockets and chicken heads. The sort of climbing you wish would never end.
Once on top, though, we notice huge dark clouds rolling in from the north. Unfortunately, thunderstorms were a possibility in the forecast. A swift series of abseils takes us back to the foot of the wall; we strap on our crampons and hurry towards the cable car.
We return to the warmth of the valley, thoroughly satisfied. From there, we’ll go our separate ways: me to Champoluc, Giacomo to Milan. Ten years on, that little mystery on Pic Adolphe Rey finally has an answer.
Pitch Summary: 6a+, 6b, 6c+/7a, 6c+/7a, 6b+, 5c
Gear: 60mt ropes,10 draws, 2 racks of cams up to 2 BD + n°1 3 BD and n°1 4 BD
For more info: https://www.gulliver.it/itinerari/adolphe-rey-pic-cache-cache/