British climber (and Trek & Mountain contributor) Tony Penning has soloed a previously unclimbed rock tower on the Italian side of the Mont Blanc Massif.
Situated just below the southeast face of the Grandes Jorasses, the tower attracted Penning’s interest while camping in the Val Veni this August. Penning made two carries to the bivouac below Punta Grassi, before repeating an earlier route he had established some years ago solo. He then traversed around a pinnacle on the ridge, heading north to the base of the unclimbed 100m tower.
Penning reached the summit at 12.30pm, after soloing the tower’s south face via a chimney and the peak’s upper ridge. The descent involved 350m of down climbing and abseiling which saw Penning fall off a section of ridge before being stopped by a granite wall. He arrived back at the valley that evening.
The face was one of many climbed by Penning in the range since 1987, with others including the first ascent of Punta (2,862m), on the east side of the lower Pra Sec basin, and the ascent of a tower to the north of Punta Grassi last year.
RELATED LINKS:
www.tonypenning.co.uk