The west face of the Drus dominates Chamonix, attracting the best climbers of their time like a magnet. We have compiled a non-exhaustive list of solo ascents of this thousand-meter wall of granite. This is the story of the twelve major solo climbers on the West Face of the Drus, from Walter Bonatti to Benjamin Védrines, including René Desmaison, Christophe Profit, Catherine Destivelle, François Marsigny, Marc Batard, Jean-Christophe Lafaille, Alex Honnold… and lesser-known climbers such as Thomas Gross, Jean-Claude Droyer, Alain Ghersen and Hugues Beauzile.
1955. Walter Bonatti, south-west pillar
After K2, where he was nearly abandoned by his companions, Walter Bonatti set his sights on the south-western pillar of the Drus, where he spent five days alone, mapping out a route on the elegant pillar that would bear his name – a pillar that has now collapsed. But the Dru proves merciless.
On the fifth day, a smooth wall in the granite stopped him. Bonatti made a grappling hook from a handful of knots. With a lasso, he managed to throw it and then, after many attempts, to secure it behind an invisible scale. Hundreds of meters of emptiness lay beneath his feet. His hands tighten on this improbable gymnast’s bet in the middle of the steepest face of the massif.
Russian roulette with several bullets in the barrel, as Bonatti had no way of knowing whether his grappling hook would hold or not. He emerged from the west face thirsty, but alive. A myth was born. And Bonatti