Grand Cornier (attempt)

Despite being a very nice summit Grand Cornier is supposed to be rarely frequented. Unfortunately, we had to retreat at about 3500m because we were running too late.

Leaving Cabane de Moiry, the route follows white-blue markings, then Steinmännli and red and yellow markings until reaching the glacier below Col de la Pigne. Our route book suggested passing Pigne de la Lé to the south, then heading east (left, keeping close to the rock) up until about 3100m, then continuing south (right) on Moiry Glacier without gaining much altitude (essentially, staying in the basin of the glacier, “Gletschermulde”: this route was supposed to avoid the crevasse area on the left-handed side of the glacier), later heading up towards point 3466 in a wide left turn. From there on, the route is supposed to follow Bouquetins snow ridge (well, not really a ridge) until reaching the firn triangle from which Grand Cornier’s rock ridge is accessed. So, that was theory.

As we were on the glacier, we could not spot a good opportunity to ascent to Bouquetins ridge due to lots of crevasses. We continued on the glacier, in the upper part ankle-to-knee-deep snow slowed us down. Eventually, Eli hit a covered crevasse and sunk in with his lower body, but he managed to “escape” before worse could happen. At an altitude of about 3500m, pretty much underneath point 3626, we decided to retreat. On descent, we followed a trail of a second party that had approached the summit entirely on Bouquetins ridge. Looking back, this was the far wiser option. Access to this route: After passing Pigne de la Lé to the south, directly ascend to around point 3282, and then head south.

The indicated rating is taken from the route book and refers to the entire tour.

Thanks to Eli for doing most of the tiring lead through the snow. Although we did not make the summit, it was an enjoyable tour. We'll be back.