New Year's Eve on the Dru: Filip Babicz, Olivier Gajewski climb the Allain - Leininger route free in a day in winter

On the 31st of December 2025 Filip Babicz, an Italian-Polish climber based in Courmayeur, and Olivier Gajewski, a French-Polish climber based in Chamonix, repeated the historic Allain-Leininger Route on the North Face of the Dru in the Mont Blanc massif. This is an extremely rare free, single-day winter ascent of the original route on the mountain, established in 1935 by French alpinists Pierre Allain and Raymond Leininger. Published below is Babicz's report.

NEW YEAR'S EVE ON THE DRU by Filip Babicz

The moon on the 29th of December, observed from Chamonix as it stood still right above the summit of the Dru, left us with no doubts about what our New Year's goal should be: the Allain-Leininger route on mountain's north face!

And so, after the approach on the afternoon of the 30th of December and a bivouac in bivy sacks under the face on the Rognon du Dru (our tent, visible in one of the photos, lasted only a few minutes after being pitched before disappearing in a sudden gust of wind on the Nant Blanc glacier!), we started climbing on the 31st of December at 4:15 a.m. We reached the summit almost 15 hours later, faithfully following the north face all the way to the top. We did not use the passage in the upper section that allows you to finish the climb on the south face.

From there, we continued along the ridge to the Brèche du Dru and then made the descent via the Couloir Nord. At midnight on the 31st of December, we were in its lower section, at a single belay station from which we could admire the fireworks in Chamonix.

The climb was a great way to celebrate the New Year! Even though it was only our first route together, it was proof of how much the spirit of a shared goal and mutual support can lead to great results.

We suffered a lot, especially in the central part of the route due to the strong, icy wind, but the Polish blood flowing in both our veins clearly made the difference!

Filip Babicz, Courmayeur

Petit Dru, North Face
Via Allain - Leininger
First ascent: Pierre Allain e Raymond Leininger, 31/07-01/08/1935
First repeat: Loulou Boulaz, Raymond Lambert 1936
First winter ascent: Gèrard Devouassoux, Yvon Masino, George Payot 8-9/01/1964
First solo: Daniel Monaci 17-18/08/1971

Info: www.altitudini.it