SAMAYA x KILIAN MONI
ÉTAT DE CHOC AND AVE CÉSAR AT LE PETIT CLOCHER
Kilian Moni, his sister Elona, and their friend Tristan Roguiez set off to climb État de Choc and Ave César, rated 7a max and 7c max respectively, in August 2023. Kilian shares the story of the pitches they completed to reach the summit in detailed and passionate terms.
"It was with Elona and Tristan, over two days, on the north face of the Petit Clocher du Portalet, in the Swiss part of the Mont Blanc massif. You find the purest, most vertical, and most linear cracks there, with the summit standing apart, alone in the middle of the vastness.
After finishing the approach, we set up our base camp and headed straight for État de Choc, a 300-meter-long route with a crack line from start to finish. The crack is quite wide and more akin to a chimney that you can fully slide into, which is super fun to climb. We were heavily loaded for the pitches, carrying a large set of cams up to size 6.
The route is broken down into 7 pitches. At the start, it's 6b+, then a third pitch of the same difficulty that leads into a system with a highly physical 6c crack. Next, we had a 7a off-width crack—a crack where only your body fits, while your head and helmet stay outside. At that point, you have to thrutch; it’s a battle against the crack. It’s very physical again, and you become your own cam, so you aren't allowed to fall, despite it being slightly overhanging, which makes the pitch quite committing. The last pitch was difficult; we had no room for error. We were asking ourselves a lot of questions. What am I doing? Should I move forward? Am I taking the risk of falling? Will the cam hold? It's as mentally exhausting as it is physically.
We continued with a 6c pitch, a double crack in compression at the back of the dihedral. The last hard pitch was 7a, starting with a chimney that doesn't take protection, then a small, smooth roof with a somewhat blocked-up crack at the back. We had to push ourselves one last time and finish with a final 6b+ and 4 pitch before reaching the sun at the summit.
While climbing, we were watching the second route we wanted to do the next day, which was just 10 meters away from ours, running in parallel. Once at the top, we rappelled down, found our bivouac, and were able to enjoy a beautiful starry night filled with shooting stars.
The next day, we set off early for Ave César. The start of the route was the same as the day before, up until the third pitch where we veered right. We started with a 40-meter-high 7b+ in an off-width chimney that doesn't take protection, to reach a slightly smaller, protectable crack. Between these two cracks, there was a bouldering move that required commitment, using two crimps and flat feet to reach the slightly overhanging crack. I had to save energy to send it. My arms were gone, but I had to push on. We made sure to lock our hands well into the crack so it wouldn't hurt too much. After placing 14 or 15 cams, we were happy to finish the pitch.
We continued with a magnificent 6c pitch, featuring a 10-centimeter-wide crack on that very pure, orange-yellow rock. Aside from the cracks, there were no other holds. Not a single crimp, not a ripple, nothing at all. We arrived at the first 7c, which featured a long traverse to the right on small, non-protectable holds, to reach a slightly overhanging crack until reaching a beautiful terrace. You really have to know the movements. Only the width of your fingers fit in the crack, using a ring lock. It's a painful lock, but it works. Before starting the second 7c, we took a quiet break to enjoy a nice meal that you don't necessarily expect to see up there: a slice of bread, mango-curry chutney, and some nice, fatty Beaufort cheese sticks. It was exceptional.
We continued with the second 7c, a 35-meter finger splitter that gets steeper toward the end in a vertical crack. It was torture for the fingers, the arms, and the feet alike. It was very hot, and the back of the crack was damp and extremely slippery. We were able to reach the final sections of État de Choc from the day before and reach the summit, tired but happy."
