Grandes Jorasses

A 4,208-metre massif in the Mont Blanc range, on the border between France and Italy, the second-highest peak in the Mont Blanc massif after Mont Blanc itself. Grandes Jorasses is a long ridge with multiple subsidiary summits — Pointe Walker at 4,208 metres is the main summit, but the ridge holds five additional peaks above 4,000 metres. The mountain is significant in the climbing canon less for its summit than for its north face — the Walker Spur, a 1,200-metre granite buttress that stands among the great alpine rock climbs in the world.

The first ascent of the main summit came in 1865 by Horace Walker — the British climber whose name the principal point now carries. The route, climbed via the Italian flank, was technically modest by the standards that would later be applied to the mountain. The Walker Spur — the central buttress of the north face — was first climbed in 1938 by an Italian party led by Riccardo Cassin. The Cassin Route on the Walker Spur was, at the time of the first ascent, among the most difficult climbs in the Alps. Cassin's account of the climb has shaped the technical vocabulary of European alpinism. The route has been progressively repeated and varied in the decades since but remains a serious undertaking.

The standard route to the summit today follows the Hirondelles Ridge from the Italian side — a sustained climb with technical sections, exposed ridges, and a long summit day. The North Face routes — the Walker Spur, the Croz Spur, the Whymper Spur, the Shroud — are the technical objectives that draw climbers to the mountain. The fatality rate on the north face has been substantial; the rock quality varies, the route lengths are demanding, and the weather window for the upper face is short. The face routes have been climbed by perhaps a few hundred parties in their history.

What separates Grandes Jorasses from the other Mont Blanc range peaks is the technical character of the routes. Climbers who summit Grandes Jorasses by the north face are climbers who have demonstrated something specific about their commitment and their technical skill. The Walker Spur has been used as the test piece for several generations of European alpinists, and it remains a route whose first ascent stands as a defining moment in the climbing tradition of the Italian school.