Les Droites

Les Droites
The north side of Les Droites
Highest point
Elevation4,000 m (13,123 ft)
Prominence204 m (669 ft)[1]
Parent peakAiguille Verte
Coordinates45°55′59″N 6°59′21″E / 45.93306°N 6.98917°E / 45.93306; 6.98917
Geography
Les Droites is located in France
Les Droites
Les Droites
Parent rangeGraian Alps
Geology
Mountain typeGranite
Climbing
First ascent7 August 1876 by Thomas Middlemore and John Oakley Maund with guides Henri Cordier, Johann Jaun and Andreas Maurer
Easiest routeEast ridge (Glacier approach, then rock climb, AD)

Les Droites (4,000 metres (13,123 ft)) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps and is the lowest of the 4000-metre peaks in the Alps. The mountain has two summits:

The north face of the mountain rises some 1,600 m from the Argentière basin at an average angle of 60°, and is the steepest face on the 10-km-long ridge that stretches from the Aiguille Verte to Mont Dolent. The first route to be made on it was via the central couloir on the north-east flank by Bobi Arsandaux and Jacques Lagarde on 31 July 1930. The north spur was first climbed in 1972 by French alpinist Nicolas Jaeger. The dangers of climbing this face were highlighted on an episode of the Discovery Channel documentary series I Shouldn't Be Alive.[2]

Huts

  • Refuge d' Argentière (2,771 m)
  • Refuge du Couvercle (2,687 m)

See also

References

  1. ^ Retrieved from the Swisstopo topographic map (1:25,000). The key col is the Col de l'Aiguille Verte (3,796 m).
  2. ^ Episode Guide: I Shouldn't Be Alive Archived 2011-05-10 at the Wayback Machine, "Death Climb."
  • Dumler, Helmut and Willi P. Burkhardt, The High Mountains of the Alps, London: Diadem, 1994
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