Grands Charmoz, North Face, Solo, French Alps. On June 19 I soloed the north face of the Grands Charmoz by the Heckmaier-Kroner variant of the Merkl-Weltzenbach route. I bivouacked on the descent. Though the route was first done in the 1930s, it is the hardest mixed climbing I have ever done. Contrary to New England opinion, the ice

(water ice) was of the same texture as that found in Huntington Ravine.

John Bouchard