Chamonix, France – The Mallory Route on the North Face of the Aiguille du Midi in Chamonix is a legendary alpine climb, named after the renowned mountaineer George Mallory. This challenging and technical route demands a high level of skill, experience, and preparation. The ascent starts from the Aiguille du Midi cable car station, offering climbers a direct approach to the imposing north face.
Joe Collinson has recently shared footage of his descend of the Mallory route from this month (May 2024).
The super classic line on the Midi North face that is on every steep skiiers wish list. Ive wanted to ski this line since my first winter season in Chamonix 10 years ago but things had never lined up with be there at the right time and the right conditions (not helped by moving to New Zealand!). So was beyond stoked to find the line in condition in May 2024. The seemingly constant spring storms left snow sticking well to the ice, but meant finding a window of good weather longer than a few hours was tricky….we were able to ski all of the most complex and exposed sections before dissapearing into cloud which we could see was hanging about just above the level of the mid station. There were still a few sharks and patches of ice around so a cautious, slow approach was the order of the day, especially on the crux sections which are wildly steep and exposed. A short 20m rap to get onto the diagonal and the 2x 35m raps at the bottom. Being able to step straight off a lift onto such a big complex line is absolutely wild and what makes Chamonix such a special place….and the experience of skiing under the constant watch of the cable car full sightseers just above your head is pretty surreal compared to the NZ equivalent where your generally a solid days hard approach from civilization!
Joe Collinson
