by Luke Bauer and Luca Signorelli North Face of the Grandes Jorasses The Scottish team of Guy Robertson and Pete Benson has made the first free ascent of the thirty-eight pitch Gousseault route on the north face of the Grandes Jorasses. Famed, and recently deceased, mountaineer Rene Desmaison first attempted the line with Serge Gousseault in 1971. That attempt ended in tragedy, with Gousseault dead and Desmaison nearly there himself, and a bitter controversy over the conduct of the rescue ensued. He returned to finish the climb in 1973 with Giorgio Bertone and Michel Claret at a grade of VI 6a A1/A2, 1200m. The route has only seen six successful ascents since; the Scots´ most recent is the first to eliminate aid for a new grade of VI 6c M5/M6, 1200m. Read the full story by Luke Bauer and Luca Signorelli at Alpinist.com. See also this thread at UKClimbing.com www.ukclimbing.com/forums. ( Source: Alpinist )
