In Serre Chevalier on Sunday 18 February, Benjamin Védrines took on a new challenge, tackling four slopes of this emblematic mountain of the Massif des Écrins, the Agneaux, in one day, climbing more than 6,000 metres before sunset.
At dawn on Sunday 18 February, it was 4am when Benjamin Vedrines and his sidekick Nicolas Jean set off on an epic ski ascent to the summit of Les Agneaux, l'Agneau Noir, culminating at 3,664 metres in the Tabuc valley.
After a long journey, the two men reached the summit at sunrise. "We had a superb sunrise at the summit of the Agneau Noir, it was magnificent. "says Benjamin, before setting off on the first descent of the east face.
Peaks over 3000 m high
After climbing the Agneau Blanc to 3,634 metres via the Col and the Casset glacier, the two climbers reached the summit ahead of schedule. They then descended the South Face on their second descent, before beginning the third ascent via the Col de la Pyramide.
They then explored the South Face on their second descent. The climbers continued their adventure with a third ascent, this time towards the Col de la Pyramide.
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The descent that followed took them through the northern couloir of this pass, eventually leading them to the Arsine valley.
They then tackled the legendary Piaget couloir on the north-west face and managed to reach the summit for a fourth time, just in time to enjoy the panorama at 16:20, before heading back down the same side.
Benjamin Védrines, the man with all the records
A challenge brilliantly met. "We had a lot of different valleys during the day, we really had a great adventure, it was really what I wanted". the mountaineer is delighted.
But the man of all records just can't get enough (he climbed the Peuterey ascent in the Mont Blanc massif in 6 hours 51 minutes and in 2022 in Pakistan and broke the record for the ascent of Broad Peak 8047 m in 7 hours 28 minutes, without an oxygen tank).
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So the two men decided to tackle a fifth ascent, via the upper Arsine glacier, which took them back to the summit of the Agneau Blanc at 6.15pm one last time, before beginning the final descent through the Davin couloir, illuminated by the light of their headlamps.
In the end, Benjamin Védrines and Nicolas Jean will have climbed five slopes and more than 6000 metres of ascent between sunrise and sunset. That's all there is to it. " We've had a lot of lovely contemplative breaks and a lot of good times together!"