Courmayeur · Italy
The Aiguille Noire
The dark point at the end of the ridge, above this part of the valley, is the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey. It is genuinely black: a rock different from the pale granite of the rest of the massif, steep on every side, placed there like a sentry before Mont Blanc. For climbers it constituted an examination for decades. The south ridge, climbed in 1930, is long and unforgiving; the east face was opened five years later by Giusto Gervasutti, whom the newspapers called il Fortissimo and who died on the massif in 1946, aged thirty-seven. From here it does not appear especially high, because Mont Blanc stands behind it. It is one of the deceptions this valley keeps in reserve.
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Why is it black?
Because it is made of different rock. The heart of the massif is pale granite; the points along the Peuterey ridge belong to darker formations that the granite pushed up. The contrast is easy to see when the sun is low.
Who was Gervasutti?
A climber of the 1930s and 1940s, among the strongest in Europe, known for very hard routes done with very little equipment. He died in 1946 during an abseil. A route on Mont Blanc du Tacul carries his name.
How high is it really?
A little over 3,700 metres, which in the Alps is a lot. It only looks modest because it stands in front of a mountain of nearly 4,800. Climbing it is still a long day on serious rock.
Where it is
More stories in Courmayeur
- The Aiguille Blanche
- Duke of the Abruzzi Alpine Museum
- The Brenva Spur
- The Guides' House
- Church of Saint Pantaléon
- The quiet col
- The Col de la Seigne
- Saussure on the Col du Géant