Yesterday Morgan and I climbed La Dame du Lac at Aiguille du Midi (Mont Blanc Massif). Actually, it is a nice route overall with a very nice first half, especially the second pitch. As often in the Aiguille du Midi, the second half of the route is a bit confusing and we mistakenly climbed some pitches of Quand Yannick s’en mêle.
Aiguille du Midi (© M. Baduel)
Gaétano et Romain Vogler opened the La Dame du Lac in June 1982. The route is graded (ED-, 6b+, 200m).
Aiguille du Midi – La Dame du Lac (© P. Gatta)
The first pitch is an easy crack (5).
The beautiful and technical 2nd pitch (© P. Gatta)
Then, the second pitch is a nice and technical traverse to the right. It is the nicest one of the route (6b+).
2nd pitch view from the anchor (© P. Gatta)
The third pitch is a weird 6b and it was wet.
End of 3rd pitch, a hard one (© P. Gatta)
The fourth pitch is a short 6a. Then, the 5th pitch is a nice crack (6b) but a bit confusing. Actually I went to far right and climbed Quand Yannick s’en mêle 6c instead.
5th of La Dame / Quand Yannick s’en mêle (© M. Baduel)
The 6th (6b) and 7th (4) pitches are easier to find.
Morgan in the 6th pitch (© P. Gatta)
The last pitch (5+) leads to the top of the pillar.