| Grandes Jorasses | |
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 North face of the Grandes Jorasses and the Leschaux Glacier (September 2000) |
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  Grandes Jorasses
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| Elevation | 4,208 metres (13,806 feet) |
| Location |  France /  Italy |
| Range | Graian Alps |
| Prominence | 841 m |
| Coordinates | 45°52′0″N 6°59′0″E / 45.866667°N 6.983333°ECoordinates: 45°52′0″N 6°59′0″E / 45.866667°N 6.983333°E |
| Type | Granite |
| First ascent | Horace Walker, Melchior Anderegg, Johann Jaun and Julien Grange, 30 June 1868 |
| Easiest route | Pointe Walker, south-west face, AD-, II, 1400m, to 45 degrees - a glacier climb |
The Grandes Jorasses (4208 m) is a collection of mountain summits in the Mont Blanc massif.
The first ascent of the highest peak of the mountain (Pointe Walker) was by Horace Walker with guides Melchior Anderegg, Johann Jaun and Julien Grange on 30 June 1868. The second-highest peak on the mountain (Pointe Whymper, 4,184 m) was first climbed by Edward Whymper, Christian Almer, Michel Croz and Franz Biner on June 24, 1865, using what has become the normal route of ascent and the one followed by Walker's party in 1868.
The summits on the mountain are the following:
- Pointe Croz (4110 m) – named after Michel Croz, a guide from Chamonix
- Pointe Elena (4045 m) – named after Princess Elena of Savoy
- Pointe Margherita (4065 m) – named after Queen Margherita of Savoy, wife of King Umberto I of Italy
- Pointe Walker (4208 m) – named after Horace Walker, who made the first ascent of the mountain
- Pointe Whymper (4184 m) – named after Edward Whymper, who made the first ascent of this, the second-highest summit
- Pointe Young (3996 m) – named after Geoffrey Winthrop Young
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North face
Located on the French side of the mountain, the north face is one of the six great north faces of the Alps. One of the most famous walls in the Alps, it towers 1200 m above the Leschaux Glacier, stretching 1 km from end to end. The classic route on the face is the Walker Spur (Cassin/Esposito/Tizzoni, 1938, TD+/ED1, IV, 5c/6a, A1, 1200m) which leads directly to the summit of Pointe Walker. The other major buttress on the mountain is the Croz Spur, which leads to the summit of Pointe Croz. In her solo ascents of the six north faces, Alison Hargreaves chose this route in preference to the Walker Spur.
South face
On the Italian side of the mountain, the south face can be accessed from the Boccalatte cabin, above the hamlet of Planpincieux in the Italian Val Ferret, part of the Courmayeur municipality.
Summit ridge
The summit ridge links Pt. Walker to the Col des Grandes Jorasses. It lies along the French-Italian border and is almost all above 4000 m. There is a bivouac hut at the high snow saddle of the Col.
References
- Dumler, Helmut and Willi P. Burkhardt, The High Mountains of the Alps, London: Diadem, 1994
External links
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