Sump To Summit

The Big One!
35 pitches and over 1,000 meters of rock—both in height gain and distance covered!

We woke at 4:15 a.m. to ensure an early start. A quick breakfast in the car as we drove to Tag… From there, we followed the path to the crag that we’d recced on day one of the trip. I’d carefully built a cairn path to mark the way for the big day, though we still managed to get a little off route.

We reached the base of the climb in the dark, donned helmets, harnesses, and climbing shoes, and started up the first 10 pitches. These were mostly scramble-able, so we made quick progress, though El had a foothold break off near the top of pitch one.

Soloing in the dark, with the call to prayer echoing through the valley, was something really special. By the time we hit pitch 8, the sun was rising, painting the landscape in a beautiful glow.

At pitch 10, we made our first 20-meter abseil. From there, the exposure ramped up, so we roped up for the next few pitches, working our way to the top of the second tower. The climbing got tougher here, with our first ‘severe’ section—a cracked wall that El led like a champ. From the top, we wandered toward a big boulder with a hole beneath it. El led an excellent 40-meter pitch next, and I followed with a stunning lead up an exposed ridge, opting for a severe section on a beautiful rock face. By then, we’d reached pitch 21.

The climbing eased off as we continued along the edge toward the Millennium Gendarme. The only noteworthy moment here was when a two-handed hold came off on me. Luckily, A) we were in coils, and B) I landed on a small ledge just a meter below. We stopped for a bite to eat beneath the gendarme before El climbed up and over it (pitch 25).

At the end of pitch 25, El broke into a rendition of “The Final Countdown”—we only had 10 more pitches to go! The route continued along the ridge, and just before the abseil on pitch 32, we roped up again as the ridge narrowed and the exposure intensified. We abseiled down, scrambled up the gully, and veered left for the final few pitches. At the base of pitch 33, El started to suffer from vomiting and a headache—heatstroke was setting in. It had been a massive day, with a lot of sun exposure despite each of us carrying 2.5 liters of water and drinking regularly.

I led the final two proper pitches and belayed El up as she powered through, feeling nauseous but determined. From there, it was a scramble to the summit. The route was incredible, and the evening light at the summit was breathtaking.

Now for the real challenge: the descent.

We walked over the next summit (Buzzard Peak) and made our way to the col as the daylight faded. The descent began with a steep, relentless boulder field—hard work and slow-going. As the gully narrowed, we needed our head torches. The scree was awful and stretched on for nearly a kilometer, making for painstaking progress. After some tricky route-finding (thankfully, we had excellent head torches), we finally reached the bottom. The descent was far tougher than the guidebook had suggested!

When we picked up my cairn path, it felt like a small victory. We raced back to the car with one thing on our minds: making it to Chez Nadia’s in time to order dinner! Back at the hotel, it was a quick shower and straight to bed.

This had been a 15-hour, 15-minute epic—time for a well-deserved rest day!