TR: Chamonix Redux, 4/2008

[jumpturn]

This thread contains photos from an April 2008 trip to Chamonix.

[jumpturn]

30 cm of fresh snow and an avalanche risk of 2. Not bad for my first day back in Chamonix since January.

After misplacing my skis and gear, Air France managed to deliver it to me at 11 pm the night before. In the morning, decisions were very difficult: Grand Montets pow runs or the Aguille de Midi. Went for the Midi because the weather was good. Pretty big crowd at the telepherique, so I wound up on the second tram.

For a warm up, I hit the Grand Envers. There were still plenty of fresh snow because most people go down the Vallée Blanche. The central exit couloir was interesting; someone had set off an avalanche 3 meters wide that ran the length of the couloir. I skied the avalanche track rather than set off one of the sides. Cruised down to the Montvers and caught the 11:30 train back to town. Not too many photos for this run 'cause its hard to stop when tracking freshies and there's a good posse behind.

Back up to the Aguille de Midi on the 12:30 bin. Headed over to the Col des Cosmiques thinking about the Glacier Rond, but got diverted to the Couloir des Cosmiques when some mono skiers demonstrated that no rappels were needed. Although it was afternoon, the snow was still quite fresh and few people had been down this descent. The entrance was snow covered, but there were some rocks to negotiate. People were mostly side slipping or stepping down to where it opened up. Below, there were a couple of minor rock crossings. The skiing was good.

Lower down, I saw a serac cut loose on the Bossons Glacier and start a good sized avalanche which swept a broad snow slope on the glacier (see photo). There are several choices at the bottom; I chose the left exit because it offered better powder. On the glacier, I kept moving as this section is in the line of fire from seracs, and I had just seen a demonstration of how far the resulting avalanches run. Below the Glacier Rond exit, the serac threading section was basic. One of the earlier skiers had hucked a good drop over a crevasse. Yeeha!

On the return, I broke trail back to the Plan de l'Aguille because I knew the snow would be heavy on the Ancienne Piste des Glaciers (and there would be a good hike and hitch back to town). The powder skiing would have been great in the morning shade. Despite cloudy conditions and low visibility, I made the tram in good style with 20 minutes to spare because I knew the route from the year before.

Although I've been skiing all Winter, my legs were pretty worked from these two 1500m descents. I'm sure acclimatization would help. With a good warm up under my belt, I'm psyched to get on the higher and steeper runs....

30 cm powder day, Aguille de Midi, Chamonix, April 1, 2008.


Exits from the Grand Envers, Chamonix, April 1, 2008.


Pas de Chevre and the Aguille de Dru, Chamonix, April 1, 2008.


Lower couloir on the Glacier Rond, Chamonix, April 1, 2008.


Mont Blanc de Tacul, Chamonix, April 1, 2008.


Mono skier attacks the top of the Couloir des Cosmiques, Chamonix, April 1, 2008.


Mont Blanc from the Couloir des Cosmiques, Chamonix, April 1, 2008.


Looking down the Couloir des Cosmiques, Chamonix, April 1, 2008.


Looking up the Couloir des Cosmiques below the entrance, Chamonix, April 1, 2008.


Rock band (left) on the mid-section of the Couloir des Cosmiques, Chamonix, April 1, 2008.


Lower Couloir des Cosmiques, Chamonix, April 1, 2008.


Left exit of the Couloir des Cosmiques, Chamonix, April 1, 2008.


Avalanche on the Bossons Glacier initiated by a serac fall, Chamonix, April 1, 2008.


Looking back up the mid Couloir des Cosmiques, Chamonix, April 1, 2008.


Bossons glacier with seracs above, Chamonix, April 1, 2008.


Exit from the Glacier Rond, Chamonix, April 1, 2008.


Threading seracs below the Glacier Rond, Chamonix, April 1, 2008.


Track back to the Ancienne Piste des Glaciers, Chamonix, April 1, 2008.

[Hicks]

Count me jealous, nice pics.

[Marius]

bastard!

[thd]

Cosmiques sure has filled in since I looked down there a week ago...

Cool picture of the avalanche.

[splat]

You moved at a good pace to catch all that in one day.
Glad to see you caught some fresh.

[ulty_guy]

damn, great line, in great conditions!

[jumpturn]

You moved at a good pace to catch all that in one day.

Gasping for air the whole way! Reminds me of the dudes from Santa Barbara that drive up and climb Mount Whitney on a weekend! (We had been at 8k for months and our heads were spinning after 13.5k) Fitness should improve pretty quickly skinning around at altitude....

[Idris]

Nice one, especially after they didn't get round to opening the lift till gone 9....I had been there since 7.45!

I put the first tracks down the Vraie Valley and followed that with an untouched Italian variant.... Mellower than your day. But untouched goodness all day.

[samthaman]

let me get this straight, you left NH for that ^^^^^^? why? i don't understand

[Ripzalot]

looks like crusty mank.

at least that's what i have to keep telling myself. damn work!

[mtcham]

I always enjoy your Cham TR's. Very nice photos.
Someday I would love to hit Cosmiques sans the rappel and filled in with some powder. And a very cool shot of the avalanche.

Keep the pics coming.

[jumpturn]

Awesome photo! Very artistic!

Pays to be local!

Yea, the first bus got me to the 'pherique at 8 and I got stuck on the second bin. Gotta take the earlier train next time!

My day wasn't too tough; just need some acclimatization. On Mount Washington, we're skinning 3 miles up (1200m) and climbing up only to ski ice or wind slab over ice..... So, riding up is great!

...I put the first tracks down the Vraie Valley and followed that with an untouched Italian variant.....

[jumpturn]

Fortunately, the weather sucked today so I got to make my upper body feel like my legs in the rock gym at Les Houches. It's a pretty good gym with a burly overhang!

Everyone to whom I spoke reported braille skiing at all locations. Maybe braille around in the pow at the Grands Montets tomorrow, or if there is some visibility ....

[jumpturn]

let me get this straight, you left NH for that ^^^^^^? why? i don't understand

Yea, as soon as I hear you've done Central Gully, I'm quick changing my ticket and flying back! Not! (But, be sure to snap a picture hucking the ice bulge.)

Actually, there's usually plenty of iced up 50º+ stuff here without the runout problem; they often have gaping bergshrunds to stop any slide quickly and nice trailing avalanches to fill it in! (video)

Anybody want to do the NNE couloir on the Courtes (video)?

[samthaman]

Yea, as soon as I hear you've done Central, I'm quick changing my ticket and flying back! Not! But, be sure to snap a picture hucking the ice bulge.

Actually, there's usually plenty of iced up 50º+ stuff here without the runout problem; they often have gaping bergshrunds to stop any slide quickly and nice trailing avalanches to fill it in!

wow, they've automated the grave digging and burial process? europe really is way ahead

looks like sunday might be a go, almost 50 and sunny

[hemas]

Actually, there's usually plenty of iced up 50º+ stuff here without the runout problem; they often have gaping bergshrunds to stop any slide quickly and nice trailing avalanches to fill it in!

If you do end up in a gaping crevasse/bergshrund, be courteous to the residing Swedes... Them Swedes are actually really handy in the early season, as they fill them crevasses up much quicker than the snow, plus they won't melt and them gals are almost always great looking...

[salida]

Sweet stuff mang. NH and Sam's central ski will beckon soon enough.

[Arelius19]

Very nice…
I love the avi shot.

[jumpturn]

More snow and resort skiing due to shaky weather today. Unfortunately, I slacked off and didn't make it to the Grands Montets until 8:30. Ran into Idris and GF; we took the chairs up to avoid the big line for the tram. Somehow they got lost on the way to the gondola; powder rules! No worries. I got first tracks (well third) on the Combe de la Pendant. Reserved the upper tram for 11:45 to avoid the monster line (should have reserved the night before!). Did another run on the Combe de la Pendant in fresh, and then, did the Chamois bowl, meandering around to hit fresh sections. The powder runs were on about 15-25 cm over refrozen moguls, which made for bottoming out if you didn't choose your line carefully. By 11:00, the pow was pretty well tracked, so I hit the cafeteria for water and brunch.

Caught the 11:45 tram to the top. I was hoping to hit La Face in fresh condition, but that was pretty hopeless as the resort powder hounds had been busy tracking everything out all morning. So, I waited for a clear spell, and then, went down the Couloir Rectligne. This was an exercise in sprinting between white outs when the clouds came in. Great snow! Followed some tracks of a Pas de Chevre group, and then dropped into the Couloir. Fresh tracks! Kind of slidy at the top; careful slope cuts were called for. After the entrance, the slide factor went down and I could open it up a little. Great skiing in about 30-40 cm of fresh, except there was some bottoming in the middle on hard avalanche debris from a week ago. The glacier exit is tricky and requires navigating around some big crevasses and seracs. Since visibility is essential, there were some extended waits for enough clearing to make progress. When the clouds rolled in, visibility would drop to 3 meters. It's a good thing that I have the whole line and the glacier exit dialed. Killer pow after the glacier down the moraine. At the end, I got suckered by some chamois and went too far left above the cliff band guarding the descent to the Mer de Glace. Being too lazy to hike back up, I down climbed a little 3 meter overhanging cliff. After clicking back into my skis on a shelf at the base of the cliff, I skied down the exit gully and over to the Montvers, arriving at 2:45. Tried to snap some pix of the chamois, but the little devils bolt when you pull out a camera without a model release!

Not bad for a shaky day! Weather is looking up for a couple days....

Aguilles Rouges peeking through the clouds from Combe de la Pendant, Grands Montets, April 3, 2008.


First tracks on the upper Combe de la Pendant, Grands Montets, April 3, 2008.


First tracks on the lower Combe de la Pendant, Grands Montets, April 3, 2008.


Combe de la Pendant, Grands Montets, April 3, 2008.


Chamois Bowl, Grands Montets, April 3, 2008.


Looking up the Couloir Rectiligne towards the entrance, Chamonix, April 3, 2008.


Looking down the Couloir Rectiligne from the middle, Chamonix, April 3, 2008.


Looking up the Couloir Rectiligne from the middle, Chamonix, April 3, 2008.


Looking up the Couloir Rectiligne from the cone, Chamonix, April 3, 2008.


Couloir Rectiligne, Chamonix, April 3, 2008.

[Superstar Punani]

Good shit! I miss my happy place.
Allow me to recommend a soundtrack

[Dhelihiker]

OMG, I am going to Cham, thats all there is to it

[jumpturn]

Did the Glacier Rond and the Vallée Noire with Jimmy today. We were planning to skin over to Italy, but we decided on the arrete to check out the Glacier Rond. We were the first down it after the storm, although some die-hard locals skied it in clouds the day before. The hanging glacier on top was icy hardpack, but Jimmy worked down a powdery line on the left until we could traverse back into the main line. The exit couloir was really good although there was some old avalanche debris under the middle. A party of four Scandis skied the Cosmiques and wanted to pass us on the contour back. No problem, we like following a highway back! They aimed for a moraine with some steep powder shots. Jimmy (right) and I (left) put down the tracks on lookers right (see photo).

We got to the Plan de l'Aguille about noon and beat it back up to the Aguille de Midi hoping the Heilbronner would be open, but it was not. So, we skied the Vallée Blanche right variation down to the skin track to Italy. We climbed this for perhaps 400 meters of vertical and then skied the Vallée Noire back to Montvers. It was pretty flat and the snow quality was not what we were hoping for: wind affected with a burly crust.

After hiking up and waiting in line for the Gondola, I found out that the train had derailed and it would be an hour before it ran again. Tons of people and general confusion encouraged me to ski to town. When I got back down to the ice cave, I ran into a couple Norwegians on tele gear. We skied to town on surprisingly rock-free conditions. There were several walking sessions, but probably not more than 15 minutes was spent hoofing it. Naturally, packed trains began arriving just as we finished skiing the left overs at les Panards.

Got to start thinking about what to do next ...

Jumpturn surveying the exit couloir on the Glacier Rond, Chamonix April 4, 2008.


Jimmy working up some stoke on the Glacier Rond, Chamonix April 4, 2008.


Jumpturn shredding the freshies the upper part of the exit couloir on the Glacier Rond, Chamonix April 4, 2008..


Jumpturn enjoying freshies on the Glacier Rond, Chamonix April 4, 2008.


Jimmy reaches the cone on the Glacier Rond, Chamonix April 4, 2008.


Scandis coming off the Cosmiques breaking trail back to the Plan de l'Aguille, Chamonix April 4, 2008.


Returning to the Plan de l'Aguille, Chamonix April 4, 2008.


Sporty moraine pow shots on the return to the Plan de l'Aguille, Chamonix April 4, 2008.


Mont Blanc from the skin track over to Italy, Chamonix April 4, 2008.


Skinning up by the Tour Rond, Chamonix April 4, 2008.


Cirque Maudit, Chamonix April 4, 2008.


Descending towards the Seracs du Géant on the Vallée Noire, Chamonix April 4, 2008.


Super Couloir on Mont Blanc de Tacul, Chamonix April 4, 2008.


Vallée Blanche variations are all tracked up by 2pm, Chamonix April 4, 2008.

[BigDaddyLionfish]

I'm confused... Are they skiing UP?????

[A Random Skier]

Lay of the pipe man
That monoskier in the chute is simply too legit.