Decorps-Perroux Couloir (D/D+ / II 2), Tour Ronde

With an acclimatisation climb under our belts we decided to up the anti a little bit today. We rose before dawn and trekked around to Tour Ronde. During my my June trip I had taken note of the line to the right of the North Face route called Decorps-Perroux Couloir (or North Couloir in the AC guide). It appeared to offer more mixed terrain compared to the North Face and went at a slightly more challenging grade.

The Walk-in (Tour Ronde directly ahead)
Phil did not feel up to the climb so Jon and me climbed as a pair today. The lower portion of the route was thin on ice so we started to the right. There was some good ice in the middle pitches. Towards the top the snow was a bit powdery. Rather than veer left onto the North Face towards the top we chose to stay right of the summit, which seemed the natural continuation for the route. It was dusk by the time we reached the top of the route. We down-climbed the Gervasutti Couloir in darkness and walked back to the Abri Simmonds Hut feeling exhausted. A great mixed route and a fantastic day's climbing.

Beneath the route - we started up the obvious snow funnel
(Photo by Phil Davis)
Our route vs the normal route - The dashed lines show our variations
Location: La Tour Ronde, 74400 Chamonix, France

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