Grandes Jorasses is a spectacular peak, located on the east ridge of the Mont Blanc Massif. The peak is a sheer rock wall on both its north and south faces. The North Face is particularly severe, rising 4,000 vertical feet from glacier to rocky ridge. Two German climbers, Martin Meier and Rudolf Peters, first successfully climbed the north face in 1935, after some forty other parties had failed, many ending in death.