Skiing

Col des Cristaux

/ joelevanschamonix / Leave a comment

DSC01150

James and Luke skiing the Col des Cristaux.

Rappelling the top 15 meters of this face last April I was determined to come back and complete the line. After a few recent outings with James and Luke they were keen to come and have a go at this with me on Monday morning. Taking the high right hand traverse down to the Argentiere glacier it was already getting warm, thankfully there was a nice breeze when we started skinning so things didn’t get to hot.

The bootpack was well established and reconsolidated by three climbers who were heading up just 50m ahead of me, we made good time up the face. The gentle breeze that cooled us on the valley floor had slowly grown in to constant wind with strong gusts that would catch you off guard  if you were not paying attention. The winds coupled with loose snow resulted in constant spin drifts and powder avalanches, which convinced Luke and James they should think about heading down. After they made up their minds they shouted up to me and I didn’t take much convincing to turn around about 100m below the top of the 600m face. Making a platform to put my skis on was a long drawn out affair with the wind filling it back in with snow and things getting very cold. Making my first few turns on the 45′-50′ slope in 6-8 inch high sastrugi was very daunting and it wasn’t too long before I opted to side slip the wind blown snow and neve down to James and Luke who were taking shelter under a cliff.

After a quick stop with the boys I headed down skiers left trying to find some skiable snow. There was some snow that had not been too affected by the wind but turns were seldom as it was so variable and unpredictable. Making my way down with a dozen or so turns and some fast side slipping I was down and over the bergschrund. After picking up all the skins and ropes we left at the bottom I headed towards the sun in an attempt to warm my hands up after only bringing soft shell gloves for this ‘spring’ ski.

Sitting in the sun I waited for James and Luke to get down, they contemplated down climbing but soon changed their mind when they saw that I skied it. Upon their arrival to my sunny spot we headed straight back to Grands Montets to grab a beer in the sun, where surprisingly there was not a breath of wind. A huge change from the face a few kilometers up the Glacier.

Col de Beugeant

/ joelevanschamonix / Leave a comment

There are two things needed for a great days touring, Sunshine and snow, and on Wednesday we had them both. Coupled with a new route in the Aiguille Rouge, Col de Beugeant, Me, Tim, James and Hunter headed up to Brevent at 8:30am looking forward to a day in the sun. With high hopes of nice powder on the north facing slopes down to Buet we made quick progress over to Flegere and were on the Floria traverse passing the crowds at 9:30, and skins on before 10am. Hunter had a bit of a faff with his split board as it was his first time out with it, but once he finally got it together we headed up to the col a few people behind the trail breakers!

Me and Tim were about 30 minutes ahead of James and Hunter when we reached the start of the mixed scramble and with the south facing slopes starting to come alive we decided to push on over the climb and wait at the col. Moving around a group roped together to get to the start, I went first and found the climb quite easy and told Tim it was easy too. It might have been too easy for Tim because when he arrived at the top he didn’t even notice he had lost a crampon on the short climb, which James picked up half hour later! Reaching the top we could see that two people had skied it and not wanting to wait for 10 others to ski it before James and Hunter arrived we dropped in and waited in the sun and out of the wind. The top section was really good and quite steep at above 40′. By the time James and Hunter got there it was chopped up and they down climbed the initial 5 meters.

We all met up at our snow hole/ bench seat and had a little lunch before setting off down the right hand descent path.

The first 50m of skiing was wind affected but then as we came around the corner and into the sun it was perfect boot deep powder. Skiing in a group of four was good fun and there was snow going everywhere and smiles all round. Trying to find our own exit down to the valley we found ourselves boot packing back up for ten minutes. Then following the right hand traverse to get to the safety of the valley floor and starting the long, fun rat run back to Le Buet.

Arriving just after 2:15 at Hotel le Buet we got straight on the bus which was thankfully a few minutes late. A nice tour with some great skiing and accessible to most. Thanks to Tim , James and Hunter for a sun filled Wednesday.

Glacier Rond

/ joelevanschamonix / 1 Comment

Getting a text wake up at 7am is never good, Unless its from Pete and it says “Do you fancy the Rond?”. I was not planning on skiing this morning but it was clear and conditions looked good so I thought it would be good to get up there and enjoy the mountain.

Getting to the Midi for 7:50 and Pete was queuing for tickets. After I saw he had a couple of number 12’s I whipped out a couple of spare number 9’s from last week! First Bin! Getting crammed in with a couple of guided groups and the French Army was good fun and we were first down the arete. Breaking the trail around to the Rond we started down the upper slopes only to find 6-8inches of fresh snow, that sluffed, on a super firm/icy base. After 20m of dodgy side slipping I decided that with no edges on my skis I would be better down climbing, so after a couple of hair raising moments on the transition I had my crampons on and began the down climb. Pete carried on down just below me with his nice sharp edges then I put my skis back on about 50m above the exit couloir.

Despite being first to the Rond we had been overtaken by 3 people by the time we reached the exit couloir. They set off down the exit in what looked like deep cold snow, and by the time we combat skied our way through the rocks we confirmed that it was!

With only 3 tracks down the exit we had lots of fresh and then upon the exit we could see that they had put the traverse to the Para face in for us. This was the first time for me down the west side of the midi this year and after doing it with Tom Grant last year I remembered how good this face was. Huge open fields of nice boot deep powder and no-one else around! Finishing back at the Midi at 12:30 it had taken 3 hours for the descent, Straight home and on a bus to Geneva, now very tired at work! Thanks for a fun morning Pete and I need to go and sharpen my edges, Local CHX i’m looking your way!

Click Here to read what pete had to say about our day up the mountain, also he has a pretty cool short film about the Rond.

This one was for Dave. An amazing guy who will be greatly missed by many. Thoughts go out to his Family and all those that were lucky enough to ski, drink or party with him.

Please read Lornes write up.

http://www.lornecameron.com/2014/rip-david-tapsfield/

Aiguille De L’Ecrenaz, North East Couloir, 2385m

/ joelevanschamonix / Leave a comment

After Mondays big day touring off the Midi we wanted more. I remember reading Lornes write up of the North East Couloir last year and it has been in the back of my mind ever since. Knowing that the north facing slopes would still be in good condition me James and Tim headed up Brevent-Flegere for first bins heading for the Rouge.

Traversing around the floria you get your skins on quickly. We were the only people taking this route and after passing over 50 people at the bottom of the floria all putting skins on we knew we had made the right choice. An hours skinning put us at the bottom of the couloir. The sun was baking hot and hitting our backs as we plodded up the 500m couloir. The snow on this south facing couloir was horrible. Changing from knee deep slush to bullet hard ice where we were glad we brought crampons. The boot pack felt like it went on for ever, The bad snow mixed with the hot sun really drained us and we were happy when we reached the top.

Looking down the North facing couloir we saw some good snow. There is a 40m side slip to get to the rappel then a 30m rap. Putting skis on we had over 500m of nice steep skiing ahead of us. The first few turns came and went and it felt fluid all the way down. The snow varied from nice powder on the sides of the couloir to soft chalky powder in the centre. Out of the couloir and it was more powder skiing down to Buet. Still not convinced by the La Sportiva Spectres, there is now 5mm walk mode play, which does not fill me with confidence skiing, steeps and back country.

Thanks to James and Tim for a great day out.

Breche Puiseux 3790m

/ joelevanschamonix / 1 Comment

I finally have my touring boots back! Having problems with my Spectres has put a hold on my touring over the past 3 weeks but the rep says they are fixed so that will do. The timing couldn’t have been better, fresh snow a few days prior and perfect weather. I was keen to ski the Capucin Couloir with James, Luke and Tim but they had their eyes initially set on Breche Puisex. They both follow the same start so I had an hour of skinning to change their mind. At the split in the route I came around to the mellower ski, as I knew it had been skied and would be a safer bet for nice snow. After the 2-hour skin and 40 minute boot pack we were at the top. Bumping into Charlie Boscoe who had also decided against the Capucin Couloir. This was a good choice then! There is a 30m rap down the back of the col then a small down climb with an insitu rope. The skiing was fantastic. Perfect cold powder and it was deep. After we got Tims ski back (narrowly avoiding a crevasse) we flew down the glacier and we were on the Leschaux before too long. There’s a bit of side stepping to get back on to the Mer de Glace and then the usual walk up to the James Bond. Back in town for happy hour we were all tired and had big smiles on our faces. What a day, Thanks to James, Luke and Tim.

Monday…

/ joelevanschamonix / 2 Comments

Monday was a mixed bag of skiing. Waking up early for first bin at the Midi at 8am then having to wait until 10am to get on a bin, Already behind schedule… After getting to the top and reversing the upper section of the Cosmiques Arete to go and ski the South Couloir we found ourselves waiting again. A guide was taking two clients up the couloir and they were unbelievably slow. The guide wanted us to wait, but after 20 minutes of hanging around watching the sun slowly melt the snow and start to sluff off we told the guide to move his clients to the side and we skied it one by one. He gave each one of us a mouthful as we skied past! Nice skiing but the snow was not 100%.

Next delay! After skiing the south couloir we then arrived at the right hand rappel of the Cosmiques west Couloir. Waiting another 20/30 minutes here as some guys tried to pull their rope down and got it stuck we were becoming very impatient and we were watching some big movements across the Gouter face and the snow was starting to change and become heavy. Watching Pete and Grant finally rap in, James and I decided we would just go and do a Gros Rognon as we couldn’t be bothered with the exit after al this time we had taken. Such a good choice!

Thigh deep, cold powder awaited us all the way down Gros Rognon and with the James Bond track in perfect condition. We were back to town pretty soon. Grabbing some beers and Luke we were on last bin at 4pm going back up the Midi. Chilling with a beer on the arete soaking up the views we were the only 3 people skiing Gros Rognon at 5pm! The snow was still perfect and after stopping for another beer at les Mottes hut we skied the James Bond at dusk to return to Elevation for 6:30pm. All in all a great day despite the waiting around! Thanks to James, Luke, Pete and Grant for another great day up the Midi!

Click HERE to watch a video from Monday!

Plan laps and GM hikes

/ joelevanschamonix / Leave a comment

Waking up to blue skies and fresh snow has become a rarity this winter. So when I woke up at 9am on tusday morning after getting home at 4:30am I was quick to get ready. Showering and downing a pint of berrocca I was out the door for 9:30 heading to meet Rich at the Midi.  I had done skiers left from the mid station a week before and was keen to give it another go in blue skies.  We had nice deep cold snow all the way down the the valley and only a couple of tracks could be seen. Heading up for another and we were treated to another 1200m of powder!

With 2 plan laps in we fancied heading to Grand Montets to see if the little bochard hike was still good. It paid off. Skiing it 3 times after 2p,m with fresh deep snow all the way. Although it is a short ride its fun and steep and always less tracked than the rest of GM! What a good day, we have been waiting a while!

Click HERE to see a video from Tuesday!

E.N.S.A

/ joelevanschamonix / 2 Comments

Over 8 inches of lovely cold snow fell in Chamonix yesterday. This put a hold to my Cosmiques first bin idea as I knew I couldn’t make it home for work at 1pm if the midi was late opening. Change of plans. Ally Swinton and I were at Brevent for 9am. Waiting until 10:15 when they finally opened top ticket, we were in the first group heading towards E.N.S.A. Watching 3 balls-out riders huck the 3m cliff into the narrow couloir while we set up our rope for the rap! The snow was perfect. Nice and cold, deep powder. Charging down the couloir we found nice snow all the way back to town where we headed home. As quickly as we were in, it was over. Both with big smiles and plenty of snow on our faces! Cheers Ally for the photos and for being nice and quick!

Picked up some alpine boots yesterday from Footworks. I have never worn a pair and they are nowhere near as comfy as my La Sportiva touring boots! What a baptism of fire they had! Should be able to charge harder than in my touring boots, and they wont fall apart as quick now!

Pas du Chevre Central Couloir & E.N.S.A

/ joelevanschamonix / Leave a comment

Another early start on a monday morning saw me and Ally Hurst heading towards Grant Montets with the hope of sunshine and deep powder. By the time we had our skis on in was 10:30 and the wind was blowing up high. This didn’t stop us from heading straight down towards the Pas du Chevre (Topo Here)  with the main aim of skiing the central couloir. Neither of us had done it before but working from a topo from Dave Searle we roughly knew where we were heading. Keeping skiers left down the normal route we found hundreds of meters of fresh deep snow with only a handful of tracks down it. Only pausing for a couple of photos we were down in no time. Fast, steep and deep is the only way to describe that run! Getting down into the play ground at the bottom we were jumping and slashing our way down to the dodgy icy rock step that we encountered last week. Here we met up with James and Josh who had just skied the Rectiligne and said it was pretty good too. We skied back to town on the James Bond track where both Ally and Josh decided to go home to get ready for work. Me and James were no where near ready to call it a day at 12:30! We got straight on a bus and as we had ropes in our bag and harnesses on E.N.S.A was the next point of call. Quick to the top after a nice double drop to the entrance we had finished the 30m rap in a matter of minutes and were looking down a tracked but surprisingly nice couloir. Getting back to the Brevent lift in 30 minutes after 1000m of nice snow we headed back up to have a look at hotel face. This had been in the sun all day and was not very enjoyable with a crust and some very heavy snow. We then decided to call it! With over 5000m of vertical in it was a good day and we both enjoyed a well deserved burger and a few pints! Thanks to Ally, James and Josh for the fun day out and LocalCHX for the ski service, they are running like a dream! Hit a few rocks later on in the day so you will be seeing me again shortly!

Couloir Rectiligne

/ joelevanschamonix / 1 Comment

Waking up to a beautiful sunrise in Chamonix is one of the many reasons people find it hard to leave here! Another reason is the fact that you have some of the best skiing available in the world right on your door step. Making the most of my last day off work I was heading to Allys house bright and early this morning to see what we were going to do. I had one thing in my mind, Cunningham Couloir on the Aiguille du Midi west face. This has been on my list for a while and its only now that I feel confident enough in my skiing ability to be able to get down it in one piece. Ally was less keen on this route. After speaking to his house mate, Dave Searle who skied the Glacier Rond and Rectiligne yesterday ( read about it here), he knew that it would be a shit storm trying to negotiate the Bossons Glacier if the clouds came in like the forecast said it would!

After much debate and a cup of tea I agreed to go and Ski the Couloir Rectiligne which is accessed from the top station of Les Grand Montets. I knew it would be tracked out but having not done it before I was still super keen. Heading up to Argentiere on a bus about 9:15 we were straight in the queue for top ticket which was only about 15/20 minutes, got to love quiet season!

I was first with my skis on and while Ally was sorting out his kit I headed down to try and find the entrance as we only had a rough idea of where we were going. Upon finding it I saw that it was a narrow side slip for about 20 meters before you enter into the couloir. I started the slip without Ally so it would be free when he got there. After we got home he said he didn’t know where I was when he was looking for the entrance, only to hear the sound of skis on firm snow and rocks then followed the scratching to find me!

We took turns leading, half each, so we could get a few photos. The snow was still pretty soft but well tracked out. There was the occasional area of untracked powder on the sides that was good fun. After completing the couloir we were both pleased to have skied it reasonably well and saw it as training for when conditions are not perfect. Its nice to know where it is now for future powder days, maybe one day we will get it like Dave did yesterday.

After exiting the couloir you are still in a reasonably dangerous place. The Dru is towering above you and there are hanging seracs pointing down on you so we had to move fast. The snow on the lower part of the Pas du Chevre was still soft and untracked but it did feel a bit wet. We had another few hundred meters of descent before joining the track to Montenvers. On this track is a short abseil,  there is some in-situ rope but it is not quite long enough to get you over the ice underneath, as one Swede found out climbing back up and asking us to use our rope! A quick 15m rap and your past this difficulty and heading down the rocky chutes towards the glacier. Another day and another 420 steps back up to the train! What a week it has been, 4 days and 4 amazing couloirs. More snow forecast for the weekend so lets see what next week brings!

Thanks to Big Man Ally Hurst for the company and photos, Maybe I can build up his Psych for Cunningham next week!