“North face of the Grandes Jorasses and Flight” by Kilian Moni

The anticyclone of this incredible autumn will have made some pilots and mountaineers very happy… And one of them is our French team pilot Kilian Moni who tells us everything about his fantastic adventure. Thrills guaranteed!

“Three months after my accident (a stupid fall at work, editor’s note), my desire to return to the mountains is immense. Many doubts are present in the face of my ability to keep up with the effort, to set the pace in a big face after a period of convalescence without much physical effort.

But the desire is too pressing and my friends are available with their wings, so I do not hesitate for a second and we set our sights on the North face of the Grandes Jorasses with the objective of doing the Colton – Extreme Dream combination.

None of us is well acclimatized. My 2 buddies come straight from the South of France and me direct from the valley… just enough to add to the apprehension. We opt for the “water ad libitum and Doliprane” strategy haha. On the approach march, we will have drunk at least 3 liters and the double once at the refuge, I won’t detail the back and forths to the toilets…

The approach is going well but the legs are heavy… Ouch, tomorrow is going to be complicated… even very complicated. Despite everything, I am happy to be here, facing this giant mountain that does not see the sun.

The night at the refuge was short: midnight wake-up.

A rope of friends leaves first and we will follow them with a 30-minute delay so as not to disturb each other on the wall.

The walk to the face is long: between 2h30 and 3h approximately, in complete darkness with the cold setting in as we get closer to the monster.

We pass the bergschrund at 3am and I am already feeling tired even though the first part in snow is climbed with perpetual spine drifts: atmosphere guaranteed!

Around 4am, the first pitches show the tip of their noses, Adrien negotiates them like a boss while I am already dozing off at each relay. I am also freezing… I did not expect such deep cold and I endure each of the pitches. In short, it is not a dream for the moment but the day is breaking, it warms my heart and my mind, we will no longer be in this dark confusion. Quickly, I realize that we have already gained height. Half of the route is swallowed up in the early morning.

Then everything comes together, I feel rather good and not so tired anymore, all the lights are green. Then the crux of the route will be for me: a pitch of 50m sometimes overhanging, in snow not always consistent and where we cannot really protect ourselves: fall prohibited – as in all the other pitches.

The crux is negotiated easily, very easily and I am pleasantly surprised by my physical condition for a comeback, the training of these last months is finally paying off.

Everything comes together and unfolds.

11am, we are at the junction with the Extreme Dream combination. There are 7/8 pitches left and we know that our pace is good. Paulo takes the lead again. We enjoy some beautiful mixed pitches while I feel the effects of lack of sleep. The fatigue is here but I am happy. Happy to see that we are moving forward. Happy to see that there is no wind.

2:30pm Summit of the Grandes Jorasses.

Once past the cornice, the sun brushes my cheeks and warms me instantly. What a joy to no longer be cold. Immediately, I know that we are going to experience a magical moment.

So no time to lose, we put away the equipment and set up the wings. I take out my trusty RONIN carefully stored and compressed in its Vacpack. Paulo is tense, I help him prepare his wing. He misses a first takeoff while my wing turns over because of a gust… Carefully, we redo our pre-flight, it is not the time to cut corners, even more so with fatigue and altitude. The second attempt will be the right one for Paulo, Adrien joins in without waiting. Once both are in the air without a hitch, I take off too from this magnificent takeoff facing South. We immediately head north, towards Chamonix passing the Col des Hirondelles and Wow, what a shock when you find yourself flying above this immense North face. The void is enormous, so impressive to be frightening. We feel so small facing these mountains!

The flight will be a real moment of contemplation, all the tension falls away and I begin to realize that our adventures have gone wonderfully.

Then about 30 minutes later, we are at the Chamonix landing zone, what a quick return to reality! It’s hard to comprehend that we’ve just gone from the North face of the Jorasses to the sun of Cham’ in just 40 minutes.

That’s my definition of happiness 🤟”