Grand Pilier d'Angle

A vertical granite buttress on the Brenva (Italian) side of Mont Blanc, dropping more than 800 metres into the upper Brenva glacier. The summit itself is a step on the upper Peuterey ridge; it does not have a 'normal' route and is reached only by serious mixed climbing. The Pilier owes its fame to Walter Bonatti, who with Toni Gobbi made the first ascent of its central pillar in 1957, and then with Cosimo Zappelli climbed its north face in winter 1962 in one of the boldest pieces of alpine ice climbing of the post-war era. The Bonatti routes on the Grand Pilier d'Angle are still considered benchmark testpieces of committing mixed climbing on Mont Blanc.