NSR: Chamonix Ice Climbing TR

A climber friend of mine - who doesn't like to ski - came to visit last week. So dispite the great snow conditions I was up freezing my ass off, -15 C in the sun... here's some pics from our trips:

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Day 1: L'Arveyron... ice not quite stable/cold enough yet...

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...but a beautiful spot!

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Day 2: Up to the Midi for a bailed attempt on the Chere Couloir:

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...but a lovely view down the valley from the Simond-Abri hut (courtesy of my partner's $5000 digital camera):
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A wonderful sunrise, but high winds and extreme cold turned us back:
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Day 3: Back up to the Midi and finally tick off the Chere Couloir:

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Rappelling off:
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Another stupendular sunset from the hut:
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Day 4: Albinoni-Gabarrou Couloir

Ski approach in the early morning:
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Nice pics!

edg

The first hard pitch:
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Playing around for the camera:
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Excellent conditions and a great climb:
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Prussiking up to retrieve a snagged rappel line = not fun :cussing:
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Another fantastic sunset, unfortunately from a lot higher up on the route than we would have liked... leading to a moonlight ski tour back up to the hut:
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All photos taken by my partner, Jon Griffith. (Thanks Jon!)

sweeeeeeeet!
well done, bb!

Wow, really nice stuff Brian.

Great pics!:yourock:

That should have been your first thread here.

Great work. Hope we run into you for the mico-mini lots of maggots are going to be in Cham in the next couple weeks.

ah, ze lazy american:biggrin: eez not so lazy

Thanks everyone for the compliments! We're headed back up for one last climb tomorrow - a big 10 pitch climb way up the Argentiere glaciar - so should have an update coming soon.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shirk

That should have been your first thread here.

Great work. Hope we run into you for the mico-mini lots of maggots are going to be in Cham in the next couple weeks.

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Yeah should be cool to meet all you crazy virtual people... I'm behind on everything including PMs and emails but I'll get in touch soon as things calm down.

FYI, my first post was far better than this one, IMO --- http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=38504

WAS IT HARRRRRD TO CLIMB WITH YOURRRR POCKET PRRRROTECTORRRR?

COOL PICS, EVEN FORRRR A nnnNNNERRRRRRRDDDD

nice pics! this one is great:

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/a...achmentid=9479

The Chere Couloir is a great line and a great place to take photos from. The setting is amazing with the Mt Blanc right there, it's a short walk from the Midi station, and you can stay in the hut so easily, too. The Chere was one of my first real ice climbs in real mountains and it made a major impression on me. I love Cham.
Nice TR, and nice work!

Ice climbing scares me. Stuck ropes on a rap piss me off.

Sweet pics though man. http://tetongravity.com/ubb/icons/icon14.gif

Nice to see you gettin' some, and something different.

Great pics too.

Makin' me want to try it.

Very nice.

Day 5-6: Attempt on the "Petit Viking" in the Argentiere Basin ~

Skinning up the piste at Les Grands Montets:
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Jon's falling into a cravasse:
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A bergshrund of biblical proportations stopped us cold before we even got on the route:
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But a beautiful, remote area we explored mostly alone:
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More great photos - keep em coming!

Man, those are some really, really great pics. Nice work!

More pics from the same, ordering here is pretty random...

Skinning up onto the glaciar, with one of the most famous ice climbing spots in Chamonix in the background:
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Touring ACTION SHOT:
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More night shots, Jon showing off his $5000 digital camera (top of Les Grands Montets in the top-right:
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The route we had planned to do:
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hmmm thanks. hopefully I'll meet you the next time im in cham. (probably end of march)

so what's the story behind the guy enjoying his personal crevasse?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bbirtle

The route we had planned to do:
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damn that looks scary..

these images rock!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bbirtle

The route we had planned to do:

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That looks hardcore.
Awesome.

Yeah Brian, that's pretty nice, great pics! Your friend Jon has a good sense of humour no?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by greg

so what's the story behind the guy enjoying his personal crevasse?

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Hilarious pic ehh? There was a small gap over a crevass that I deemed it un-jumpable, and hiked up to get around it, but Jon - his first day on skis in a year and a little overambitious - decided to give it a go. Oops. Never seen such a messy fall down a hole! There was actually very little exposure and he was smiling so before hiking down to yank his ass out I snapped a few photos... three people passed us and were laughing their asses off... ahh the fun of glaciar skiing...

Well Jon left this morning and appearently some snow in the forecast so enough of this ice climbing I'm getting back on the skis pronto! :tdo13:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ripzalot

nice pics! this one is great:

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/a...achmentid=9479

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Brian - Any chance I could get a higher res copy of this? Would make a great desktop.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bbirtle

The route we had planned to do:
Attachment 9552

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yea buddy! bummer you didn't get a shot at that. Looks like loads of fun