To The South Side

The Montblanc Star Legacy Grey Capsule is a reminder that nature is beautiful and enduring, dangerous and captivating, simple in its complexity, and an invitation to wear that knowledge on your wrist

- SUFFIAN HAKIM

THE MOST DIFFICULT CLIMB to the summit of Mont Blanc is a trail known as the Peuterey Integrale. It is one of very few climbs from the Italian side of the great mountain and is the one least attempted. It’s the longest route up, a highly technical climb covering 4.5 km of ground, pushing mountaineers up and down the summit of other lesser mountains in the massif before even getting to Mont Blanc itself. Many have described the path as “ridiculous”, “overly difficult”, and perhaps most poetically considering the route up and down mountains – “Sisyphean”.

But as you reach the top of the rocky towers of the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey (a lesser peak in the Italian Alps at 3,762 metres), you get an incredible view of Mont Blanc itself. Most don’t get this view. Because most summits and descents happen on the French side, most casual mountaineers will never get to see the majestic southern face of Mont Blanc from this vantage. In summer, when the ice recedes, the cold exposed rock is a distinct grey, deeply striated from eons of glaciation. This feature is central to the Star Legacy Grey Capsule series.