Time to enjoy the view, which is really great on this route. Glacier du Trient, Aiguille d'Argentiere and Mont Blanc loom in the distance. Also, the view down to the Rhone valley more than 2500m below is great.

For the fourth pitch (5c+) that Kathrin is following here, one has to traverse around a corner, so it's in the shade again. The climbing is cool: steep but with very good hand-/footholds and excellent friction - like made for us rock athletes.

Silver grey rock in the sixth pitch (6a+). Here, a first little test is waiting, a steep but very well protected section with a steep traverse below a roof, followed by slab climbing in rough, superbly structured limestone.

After traversing the big ledge, the going gets clearly steeper and more difficult. The ninth pitch (6b+, visible here) harbors prefect yellow dream rock with numerous gouttes d'eau first, before the first crux follows: an overhanging fist crack that has to be mastered by jamming and laybacking.

Kathrin is fighting her way up. Protection in the route is generally good to sometimes even very good, with just a few more demanding passages. Strangely, one of them is this first crux, where the three bolts are each 3-4m apart. You have to climb this fist crack, it cannot be aided on the bolts (maybe with some medium/big cams, but I don't really know...).

As if the just mastered crux wouldn't have resulted in an adequate adrenaline level... probably better to climb around this missile and don't touch it ;-) The Dent de Morcles is in a strategically important position, so there are numerous military installations on this mountain (see below). It really reminded me on the Tofana de Rozes in the Dolomites.

One crux isn't enough - Kathrin following the tenth pitch, another 6b+. It offers very varied climbing, with the (a little easier) continuation of the fist crack first, followed by a difficult traverse on a slab with tiny holds, and some layback endurance climbing on a steep crack last.

After the white rock, which hosts the steepest and most difficult passages of the route, the color changes to a deep purple, sometimes almost black. This is Kathrin, who has finally removed her hat, following the 12th pitch (5c).

Aiaiai, the 13th pitch (6a+) holds a nasty off-width surprise with again a little distant protection. Plus, I tried to tackle in the dumbest of all modes... I struggled (much) more than actually necessary, almost got psyched and fell, but finally made the bold move and pulled it off for a clean on sight of the entire route :-) Here, Kathrin is exiting the 14th pitch, a short 5a.

An exclusive place to be, without an easy access to the summit: Petite Dent de Morcles. Forteresse du Vide ends on the left ridge, about halfway between the summit and the left edge of the picture. The summit can be reached by some 3 minutes of scrambling from there. It was nice and warm on top, with a perfect view to the mountains around and the sea of fog below us.

The way down then is the next challenge: though it seems like a trip around the world, it only took us one hour to get down to the base. The terrain is often very exposed with lots of scree, and the most difficult passage is the "20m slab", which requires "real" climbing (3a), but can hardly be protected at all (we soloed it).

The right way was/is surprisingly easy to find. There is mostly an evident trace, and some faint red streaks help with the route finding, too. Here, Kathrin is on the long traverse below the Grande Dent de Morcles.

An old military shack which is built into the rocks. It's surprisingly big inside with about 60 places to sleep. It must have been a hardship in this often harsh environment for the poor souls who were on duty here...

A look back to the SW-face of the Petite Dent de Morcles from the base. The rock layers with their different colors are clearly visible in this light. Forteresse du Vide runs in a straight line, almost exactly in the center of the picture.

What a contrast: while it was sunny, calm and warm for the last couple of hours, we entered the thick fog layer on the way down, just above Rionda. It got almost dark, it was chilly with strong wind, and the humidity gave the rest... but somehow, this abrupt transition made us savor the day even more - even though we have already done 39 awesome multipitch routes this year, Forteresse du Vide ranks among the very top of them.