Climbing La Pisse Lazuli (5th August 2019)

Some GoPro video and photos from 5th August 2019, recovered from an old hard drive of Fi and I climbing the spectacular 300 metre 6b A0 multi-pitch sports climb called La Pisse Lazuli by JM Cambon and Patrick Correard in 1992). The route is situated near La Grave in the Ecrins and climbs up the imposing left hand side of the well known free falling waterfall Cascade de la Pisse. We’d previously climbed the the Pisse via ferrata on the rhs and in the past had climbed on the nearby ice climbs but had thought that any ice or rock climbs on that face would have been too serious and committing! In March 2019 I badly dislocated my shoulder skiing and our annual Alps trip staying at St Chaffrey in June was almost postponed as even driving was difficult never mind climbing. Anyway we decided it was good recuperation to get away from the rain and Scottish midges for some gentle walking. So far the trip had been mostly trekking and exploring the nearby alpine peaks and valleys rather than the usual rock and alpine climbing though an excursion up the Aiguille Dibona via the easier voie normale fired up our enthusiasm for some easier climbing. As my shoulder recovered it was into July before we even started rock climbing on the slabs around Ailefroide, avoiding anything too steep or overhung, that is until we'd heard JM Cambon had renewed the bolts on a number of his older routes recently including La Pisse Lazuli. So in early August we decided to have a look at Lazuli having previously happy on 6a+ slabs and some short overhung moves. that is until faced with the aid climbing on the final few pitches of La Pisse Lazuli which were steeper and more sustained than my arms and shoulder wished for! It's an amazing setting and line for a rock climb though the rock quality was a bit friable in places though fortunately more solid than it looked on the steeper section!