On Monday July 10, French mountaineer Benjamin Vedrines climbed the Intégrale de Peuterey, the most beautiful and difficult ridge on the Italian side of Mont Blanc, in a record time of 6 hours 51 minutes, from Val Veny to the summit. Quite a feat.
V édrines has chosen the most beautiful, and most difficult, ridge on Mont Blanc, the Peuterey ridge, known as the Intégrale de Peuterey. Védrines has climbed this long ridge, the standard-bearer of mountaineering since the 50s, in a record time. An exploit? No less: this ascent will go down in history.
Setting off from the Peuterey parking lot before dawn on Monday July 10, at exactly 4:02 am, he began climbing the southern ridge of the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey at 5:10 am. He then abseiled down the Noire, traversed the Dames Anglaises, climbed and traversed the Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey, and finally climbed the Pilier d’Angle and the long final slope to Mont Blanc de Courmayeur, reaching the highest point at 10:53 am. That’s 4283 meters of positive vertical drop (according to its GPS track), a TD difficulty for the Noire, and a breathtaking time of 6 hours and 51 minutes for the biggest ridge in the Alps.
De l’Aiguille Noire (dont il manque ici les 1100 m. de l’arête sud) à gauche, l’intégrale de Peuterey se déplie jusqu’au mont Blanc. ©JC
History
Védrines isn’t the first climber to fall in love with the Peuterey ridge. Some of the finest mountaineers of recent