Une histoire d'amitié added to Roc de Garnesier at Dévoluy in France by Melvin Bou, Kilian Moni

As time goes by, our ankles are getting better and better, so after our new mixed climb with Raphael Olbrecht on Cascade de Saute Aure, Melvin and I finally allow ourselves to approach on skis with increasingly heavy packs. This time, we're heading for Lus-la- Jarjatte, carrying: a drill, friends, bird beaks, pitons, and 30 8mm bolts. Needless to say, the 1 hour and 40 minute ski approach takes its toll.

We set our sights on the west face of Roc de Garnesier, a little-known and little-seen face that Melvin had spotted a few days earlier. The recent thaw hadn't done too much damage to the line, which unfortunately only gets sun in the late afternoon. The ice conditions, however, look more than perfect to tackle this huge, untouched face which attracts us as much as it frightens us.

The choice of 8mm bolts is a natural one, firstly to keep the weight down and also because we wanted to give our route an adventurous feel. Melvin tackles the first pitch and its first ice pillar, and I quickly send him up the drill to equip a tricky little mixed traverse, which leads to a large patch of ice where we place our first equipped belay.

The tone is quickly set: the pitch is steep, and the atmosphere is already palpable with the little cigar of pitch 2 towering above us. Now it's my turn. Here, I encounter the worst rocks on the route, with limestone slabs of more "alternative" quality. I'm understandably shaky. Despite a lot of cleaning, the section remains tricky for 5m, and I quickly reach the coveted cigar thanks to some aid climbing and a nice line of bolts. Once I reach the ice, I immediately feel a little more in my element. What follows are 20m of vertical ice and, above all, fun before moving on to the next pitch.

Melvin doesn't free the A0 section and quickly tackles the superb traverse on pitch 3. Balancy moves, sections of bare-handed climbing, a little ice, and two pegs await. The third belay is finally bolted, and I then tackle the next section: a pure rock pitch on excellent rock. We would have liked to have had our climbing shoes with us! As I start free climbing, the first bird peak cushions a nice fall just above the belay. After this fall, I forget about attempting to free climb the section and switch to repeated bolting mode. Once the next belay is established, it's my partner Melvin who will free this crux pitch, composed of numerous locks worthy of any Chamonix crack.

Time is ticking away, and we get out our headlamps. Melvin climbs 15 meters of beautiful rock up a superb corner before reaching the ice tongue that we had been dreaming about. The rope unravels, a first ledge is passed, and then he climbs a magnificent vertical ice tube that will conclude our new gem. As I second, I free the section once again. Another epic pitch.

It's almost 8 p.m., our drill is running low on batteries and we're running out of bolts. Tired but happy to have made this superb discovery, we begin the abseils we equipped for the climb.

Melvin and I have known each other for almost 10 years. We discovered rock climbing together, as well as mountaineering, ice climbing, caving, and so much more. The icing on the cake is that we're also in the same guide training class, so you could say that Une histoire d'amitié is a beautiful story of friendship, right?

For those interested in repeating the line: it is certainly possibile to continue on up to the summit. But for us it was late, we'd run out of bolts and the battery had given up, so we descended. Since we won’t be going back soon, we decided to share information about the route, because it's so exceptional!

- Kilian Moni, Chamonix, France