The Rond

Sat clinging precariously to the North face of the aiguille du Midi is the glacier Rond. A steep descent with quite a serious exposure level.

To access the route you must first traverse the west edge of the cosmique arête and directly behind the Abri Simond hut drop round onto the front face.

After a "tip off" that the route was "epic" the day before we decided to give it a shot.

In conclusion, I feel the snow conditions had deteriorated greatly as 3 cm off fluffy snow on hardpack was not that pleasant.

At the ridge you drop left into a west facing couloir which in the right conditions can be amazing. Today was not one of those days, and as we crossed the large bergshrund that's appeared at the foot we were both a little disappointed.

The Bosson glacier has recently been experiencing a revamp and the large blocks of broken ice do make skiing quite a challenge.

Though after the trauma of the morning we were finally rewarded when the final part of route turned out to be nice deep, soft, spring snow.