Big new mixed climb 'Norah Padnom' on Pic Sans Nom (Mont Blanc)

A few days ago, the French climbers Manu Brechignac, Raphaël Georges and Jérôme Sullivan established Norah Padnom on Pic Sans Nom, just to the left of the Drus in the Mont Blanc massif.

Described as "technical, very beautiful, with some sections of thin ice," the route ends at the mountain's presummit and had been attempted a few weeks earlier by Sullivan with Victor Saucede. The two were forced to turn back due to excessive fresh snow and freezing temperatures.

Sullivan set out again on February 4th, this time with Brechignac and Georges. Writing to planetmountain, the mountain guide explained: "This time conditions were really nice. On day one we left from Grand Montets and bivied at the top of the big snow couloir, that is also the first 300m of the north couloir of the Dru. On day two we climbed to the summit and bivied again on the way down.

After leaving the snow couloir you enter a easy mixed gully for two pitches. The next six pitches are fun with ice. At the moment the conditions are great as the dihedrals are plastered with thin smears of ice. Then comes the most sustained part, with four technical dry tooling pitches on steep terrain: lots of good hooks and generally good gear. The route crosses the summer route Le phantom et son métèque in the top section. Overall it's a varied mixed climb that works very well with crampons and ice tools!"

Writing on his social media handle, Brechignac added "It's hard to be objective about the quality of the climbing, but to all of us it seemed like a fantastic route! Complete, long, challenging, aesthetic, and on the more sustained sections it can be protected quite well. A great alternative to the Drus, the line is currently in superb condition!"

Norah Padnom is 800m high and graded M7+. The name of the route is a play on words with the name of the mountain, and that of Sullivan's young daughter Norah.