Republique
So to finish off my week climbing with Matt and Stu. we hiked up to the Envers Hut on the South side of the Aiguilles. It’s the perfect spot for quick access to an amazing array of Alpine rock routes leading to perfect spire summits big and small. Our main aim was to try a Piola route called Banana Republic which climbs the impressive Aiguille de la Republic. This is one of the pointiest summits in the range and looks unreal when seen from Montenvers or from the Col du Montets.
The hut was charming and lovely with a very different feel to most other mountain huts. First light had us stepping off the glacier and getting stuck into 25 or so pitches of awesome  granite cracks, corners and slabs.. The highlights were a series of stunning corner pitches high up and of course a wild, wild summit!
Some fairly challenging abseils saw us arriving back at the hut for dinner and some well earned wine! Another early start had us back down to Chamonix to all get ready for work (with a happy content smile).
