Final ascent Frenchman's Cap

[eggmammal]

Hi
I was recently at FC after an 18 year gap. The new final track to summit from Tahune hut zig-zags and is longer than the old route which went straight up the steep couloir slope to North Col. I followed the zig zag in snow and reached the sign post indicating the summit was (apparently) straight up. I skirted around quite a bit and did push up to some extent but was not sure I was on a good/correct line (or at least one I could get back down safely as alone and snow/wet conditions) and so backed off without summiting. It seemed that I was to snuffle up a fairly blank rock face with not a great deal in the way of simple and reasonable holds which would catagorise as a bit more than a simple scramble in my book. What think thee?

I realise a full description not possible here, but can anyone comment on the final ascent from the new sign? Any top tips for features to look out for? I'm used to rope climbing/scrambling etc so that sort of stuff doesn't bother me but just how much "marginal scrambling" (if any) is required to make the top from this new point of departure? Some have said the route from the sign is hard to find and can be tricky. I'm not sure. Is it fairly straightforward if you know where the hell you're going?

Also, I then contoured around to the North Col which is not far away and indicated at the same signpost as the "Summit Straight Up" sign. I was hoping to find the old route to the summit but failed again and had to give up as running out of time. Have all traces of the old sumit route from the North Col been removed or am I just a numpty?

Thanks any help/observations/comments.

Cheers.

[eggs]

I can't answer for any old route - but what you describe matches my 2009 effort.
At the sign you go straight up the rock face. Not sure how easy that would be with snow & ice, but it was ok in a January, and it was not the crux.

Above the sign

I felt that an elevated ramp up under a bit of an overhang with little to hold onto was the worst of it. It was not much further on.
They were the 2 worst bits that I remember.

What I thought was the trickiest bity

[Tortoise]

Good pics, Eggs. I agree, nothing 'marginal'. I'm not a climber, and am not very good with heights. The first time I went to the summit (a couple of years ago), it was raining. We decided to keep going till we got to the 'tricky bit', but got to the summit before we found one. Scrambling up under that overhang was a bit awkward. I expected the rock to be slippery in the wet, but it wasn't very. We just took it carefully on the way down. Snow, on the other hand, could easily obscure the cairns indicating the way ahead, and I can see how it could be confusing without them.
Some bits looked steep, but weren't hard.

[South_Aussie_Hiker]

I second the above two posts.

Reasonably straight forward, with just the one tricky bit that eggs mentions.

You aren’t the first to get to that sign and be left scratching your head as to where you should go!

[eggmammal]

Thanks for the replies. Very helpful. Yes, I wasn't expecting anything tricky and consequently a bit p**ed off with myself now for not pushing on. Oh well, better safe than sorry I suppose. I think I'll go back next week and finish it properly this time.
The photos helped confirm that really the route was pretty obvious. I'll blame the snow!

[Tortoise]

Thanks for the replies. Very helpful. Yes, I wasn't expecting anything tricky and consequently a bit p**ed off with myself now for not pushing on. Oh well, better safe than sorry I suppose. I think I'll go back next week and finish it properly this time.
The photos helped confirm that really the route was pretty obvious. I'll blame the snow!

An excellent thing to blame. Seriously, if the cairns were under the snow, and you aren't familiar with the route, it wouldn't be hard to get yourself into a tricky situation.

[weetbix456]

The tricky bit that eggs has mentioned does get pretty banked up with snow, and it sticks around for a fair while. Could be easy to get a bit baffled at where the route goes I guess in the middle of winter if it's not fresh in the memory. Tassie quartzite does stay surprisingly grippy even when wet. Different story entirely when icy!!

[NickMonk]

I got totally confused at that sign a few years back - you literally go straight up behind the sign.
Yes that overhang bit was the worst - I know of people that have got that far and had to turn back under ice - would be very difficult without proper ice gear at that point.

[north-north-west]

I don't remember an overhang. Probs just my memory, because that was such a great day all the good stuff has pushed out anything bad or hard.
A bit like Torty, I keep expecting to hit a hard patch on the climb but it never eventuated.

[pazzar]

I have been up in extreme ice and snow conditions before. It was a little tricky climbing up the 'crux', but no gear was needed. The section in the photo was probably the hardest part, which is not far above the overhang section. It wasn't caked in ice or snow, but it had a clear film of ice over the top. Much more dangerous on the descent. From that point on it was all pretty straightforward, the biggest challenge for us was walking against the wind!

[Thylaseen]

Jarod, you're a legend - those photos look like atrocious conditions. I've been up a couple of times, once with a bit of 'remnant' snow but nothing like that. We didn't have any trouble as both times the conditions were good. Even so lost the cairns a couple of times on the way down, but nothing too dramatic as the line was fairly obvious and found it again.

[eggmammal]

An excellent thing to blame. Seriously, if the cairns were under the snow, and you aren't familiar with the route, it wouldn't be hard to get yourself into a tricky situation.

Thanks for the advice which was helpful. Yeh, well maybe you missed the bit about me turning back. And maybe you also missed the subtle bit where my tongue was rammed so far into my cheek when "blaming the snow" that it could have knocked over any nearby cairns.

[eggmammal]

I have been up in extreme ice and snow conditions before. It was a little tricky climbing up the 'crux', but no gear was needed. The section in the photo was probably the hardest part, which is not far above the overhang section. It wasn't caked in ice or snow, but it had a clear film of ice over the top. Much more dangerous on the descent. From that point on it was all pretty straightforward, the biggest challenge for us was walking against the wind!

Thanks pazzar - yes, I was more concerned about coming down rather than going up. Had same issue on Ossa a few winters ago and that was with crampons and ice axe. Went up the usual way but found a safer alternative down.

PS Looks like a lovely day in your photos.