TR: Chamonix Redux, 4/2008

[jumpturn]

Think you could get a me a side angle shot of the Bros while rappeling that shows the topsheet?

What's wrong with the one of Sam at Grand Montets?

OK, I've got dangerous partners now, so if the visibility gets above 1 meter, we'll be sure to get a shot for you.

Of course, we're mostly down climbing rather than rappelling.

[neck beard]

Sweet Jesus Jumpturn, you have showcased one of the greatest places on Earth brilliantly. Like others have already said, fuck this gig, I'm going back to Cham... for good (just have to convince my wife to quit her job)

Mont blanc du Tacul looks a bit broken up this year.

I would not have the balls to downclimb the Cosmiques without a rappel.

I like the arcing line of the heli ride home on your GPS track.


Finally, amongst many others, thank you for this shot.

[Tap]

you do a good job cropping your pictures

this one is tits

[jumpturn]

Skied the Grand Envers with Greg in surprisingly good visibility.

A few local pros were on the first bin. Most went for the Rond or the Cosmiques, but we opted for the Grand Envers. The top was great powder with reasonable visibility. We didn't have very much stop-and-wait for clearing. The lower part offered some crust skiing, and finally the central couloir down to the Mer de Glace was wet snow. Boulders were falling into the couloir due to the warm temps. Straight lined the Mer de Glace with surprisingly little polling. We were psyched to be down to the Montvers by 12:30 and to have avoided the nasty afternoon weather.

After regrouping, we hit the rock gym in Les Houches for a work out.

Greg ripping powder on the Grand Envers, Chamonix, April 11, 2008.


Jumpturn skiing the Grand Envers, Chamonix, April 11, 2008.


Greg hitting a drop of the Grand Envers, Chamonix, April 11, 2008.


Greg showing some mountain form on the Grand Envers, Chamonix, April 11, 2008.


Descent of the Grand Envers, Chamonix, April 11, 2008.

[jumpturn]

Skied powder at the Grand Montets for a "rest" day.

Greg was not psyched to buy lift rides and ski "groomers," so I went up to Grands Montets a little late at 9:00 for a few Pendants. Skied three runs on the Combe de La Pendant in fresh powder and then went to the top and skied off the right side of the Glacier du Rognon to get some photos. Powder was good higher and bottomed some into rain refreeze lower down.

Not that great a rest day, but the skiing was fine, if not as epic pow as the last few days skiing in the clouds off the Aiguille de Midi. Nice day! Visibility is definitely a plus!

Mont Blanc and the Aguilles, Grands Montets, April 12, 2008.


Start of the Pas de Chevre, Grands Montets, April 12, 2008.


The 350m Couloir Chevalier, Argentiere, April 12, 2008.


Booting up the 500m Couloir Gigot, Argentiere, April 12, 2008.


Parties skinning up to the col de Passion, Argentiere, April 12, 2008.

[jumpturn]

Skied the Combe de la Noire over to the Pente Nord de l'Aiguille de la Noire.

Americans are always having issues in Chamonix (unless they are clued or local). After I manage the first tram and yell at Greg, he fails to come up to the Aiguille de Midi or skin up to Pointe Hellbronner, according to plan. So, I ride across the Vallée Blanche on the Gondola and head for the objective, the Pente Nord de l'Aiguille de la Noire. This should be a good north facing powder run sustained at 45º. I figure there is a chance that Greg will demonstrate his acclimatization, Denali prowess, and fire over on skins, but there is also a good chance he just randomizes (too cheap to ride and more talk than skinning prowess) -- which turns out to be the case. I ski across the top of the Glacier Noire to the rock wall and crampon up the left couloir, because I have seen the descent from there. The standard approach is to climb the couloir 2nd from the left to get another 100m and some mandatory turns over the void.

After chilling on top, I cross the snow field before me and drop down a chute on the right side onto the main snow field. As I am skiing this, I notice a fracture line across the top, and some slabbiness, so I bang a right turn to exit the zone. As I am heading right, a mid-thigh slough (class 1 avalanche) catches up to me on my 45º down and right trajectory and rips off my downhill ski. Nonetheless, I make it out of the line of fire minus a ski. Afterwards, I boot back up and probe around for the ski for about 15 minutes, but this looks like a multi hour search. I descend the probable line taken by the ski probing but no luck. It could be anywhere in 100m of slide zone and under a meter of snow. The slope is sketchy and the sun is coming around to work it. Since I don't want to be around to find out if the whole slope will cut lose, I set off on one ski. The BRO Model 174 stiff remains buried on the terrain for which they were made. RIP!

The powder is awesome, though on the edge of cutting loose. I used typical climber improvisation to make the best of the equipment that I have. Falling leaf descents on the steep stuff with the ski on the down hill foot. Lots of traversing to lose height. On the bottom snow field leading into the Vallée de la Noire, I go for a sitting glissade with a ski and poles for a brake. At the bottom, I see good size sloughs coming off the bottom cliff guarding the line. I hope my ski will miraculously be ejected and land right next to me, but no luck. Three skiers emerge. They seem pretty oblivious to the risks of this slope, taking lines that could rip out under them... Needless to say, they do not stop and inquire about where my other ski might be.

As I descend to the Montvers along the Vallée Blanche on one ski, only the guides stop and ask if I am missing something with a smirk and where I lost it. One guide offers to lend me his skis for a bit, but they don't fit. I tell them that this is good training and they agree. The lower angle terrain proves quite fun! I fire for 500m shots until a flame one leg, and then, switch feet. By the bottom of the Mer de Glace after 10+ km and 1200m of vert, I am making turns with both feet. I get some applause from people and some razzing from youth who mimic one-ski technique for 5m. Now, the irony is that I am getting down faster than the clients in the guided parties!

Not such a great day at the Montvers either. The train keeps derailling, so now they are running one train down to the middle, having the passengers hike 100m, and then taking them down the rest of the way in another train. Amazingly, some guides are getting in two laps off the Aiguille de Midi with their clients.

I have been planning to buy or make some powder leashes for quite some time now, but I kept failing to fill this equipment void. Some guides were commenting on the merits of powder leashes, but we all agreed that it was better to lose the ski than take the ride. Ideally, a powder leash should break under the stress of an avalanche like this or larger. In this case, I was probably better off to loose the ski. Hopefully the barons of capitalism at PMGear will smile on me, so I can finish off the season in NH.

As it turned out, Greg booted up some couloir on Mont Blanc de Tacul (no. 270 in the Neige, Glace et Mixted guidebook) near to his camp and reported skiing 60º that had previously sloughed. He talked about throwing himself on the Jager on Monday even if it would be sloppy 4ths, until I pointed out there was a snow storm coming..... Whatever, dude!

Morning on the Pente Nord de l'Aiguille de la Noire, Chamonix, April 13, 2008.


Couloirs accessing the Pente Nord de l'Aiguille de la Noire (left access below hanging glacier, 2nd from left above), Chamonix, April 13, 2008.


Straight lining into the Combe de la Noire, Chamonix, April 13, 2008.


Mont Blanc with its gendarmes the Tour Rond and the Grand Capucin, Chamonix, April 13, 2008.


Combe de la Noire, Chamonix, April 13, 2008.


Mont Blanc de Tacul from the Aiguille de la Noire, Chamonix, April 13, 2008.


Mont Blanc with its gendarmes the Tour Rond and the Grand Capucin from the Aiguille de la Noire, Chamonix, April 13, 2008.


Pro skiers on the Jager Couloir (skiing above the cone and waiting above) on Mont Blanc de Tacul, Chamonix, April 13, 2008.


The Couloir du Diable on Mont Blanc de Tacul, Chamonix, April 13, 2008.


Looking down the Pente Nord de l'Aiguille de la Noire, Chamonix, April 13, 2008.


Skiers on the last snow field of the Pente Nord de l'Aiguille de la Noire, Chamonix, April 13, 2008.


The Pente Nord de l'Aiguille de la Noire from the Mer de Glace, Chamonix, April 13, 2008.


Detail of the Pente Nord de l'Aiguille de la Noire from the Mer de Glace, Chamonix, April 13, 2008.


Descent of the Pente Nord de l'Aiguille de la Noire, Chamonix, April 13, 2008.

[jumpturn]

Rest day. Surprisingly, my legs aren't any more worked than usual!

Projects for the day are to find a descent pair of rental skis and hit the rock gym. After checking 4 places, I find the rental gear to be pretty lame, intended for punters on 10º slopes. But, I did locate some G3 El Hombres. I'm not sure how psyched I am to throw myself on the Jager with Greg when the sun comes out again and find out exactly how good the rentals skis are.

It is snowing like a banshee in Argentiere. The forecast is calling for 30 cm at 2000m. It looks like I'll have to suffer more powder skiing at the Grands Montets tomorrow....

Footnote: Nobody appears to be skiing the Couloir Rectiligne. Curious.

[neck beard]

Your shit keeps getting better. I love this TR.

So French digital topo stops at the national boarder???!

[jumpturn]

Your shit keeps getting better. I love this TR.

So French digital topo stops at the national boarder???!

Yea, and it takes 4-5 days of crashing your computer to make it work!

Now, one has to shop the italian side for the rest of the terrain.

Should have got a few photos of my stylish one-ski linked turns on the Mer de Glace....

Crazy snow outside now. Not exactly bomber Spring conditions with everyone schralping Mont Blanc during weeks of perfect blue sky .... got to work for it, and let the pro skiers set of the slides before you.

[cocavaak]

Your accounts and GPS maps are much appreciated. I'm headed there April 21 for a few days. It looks like the Alps have a good snow pack this year. What are the good shops in Cham to check out the gear. My wife and I may check around for some guides as we have never been there. Can you recommend any?
Thanks much for any info.

[skier666]

Stoke meter broken from this pic....

[jumpturn]

Stoke meter broken from this pic....

Yea man, I had talked to the Jager team on the first tram. So, I kept taking photos of the thing during the day even though I could not see them. Finally, when I blew up the 12 mpx images on the computer, there they were.

In the photo you are looking at, the skier is a dot exiting the couloir proper on the right, heading for the cone, and the other two dots are waiting above under an overhang on the right. This descent gets a 5.4 technical rating, a 3 danger rating, and offers 45-55º skiing for 700m. I have been told that it is pretty sustained at 51º with sections of 55º. Although there is no serac hanging over head like the Gervassuti couloir (left), the Jager Couloir gets a 3 danger rating because any skier fall will probably be your last and the possibility of rock or ice fall. Naturally, two ice axes are recommended...

Here are some pix that will pin your stoke meter.

Of course, the Couloir du Diable is just as rad, if not more so.

[p0wd3r]

Here are some pix that will pin your stoke meter.

Breathtaking shots!

Could you share some information on how to produce route maps like these? What software you use after retrieving track data from GPS unit?

[skier666]

Before I die, I will descend this fucker!

[jumpturn]

Skied "groomers" at the Grands Montets with the local powder hounds.

Six runs off the Aiguille des Grands Montets (7800m or 25,740' of vert) offered knee to mid-thigh deep powder, but visibility was often limited or non-existent. My first and last runs were down La Face and the other four were on a diagonal of the Glacier du Rognon. Awesome low angle pow! Didn't manage any photos as I was too busy schralping the one time the Rognon Glacier cleared for a good shot.

Six powder runs off the Aiguille des Grands Montets, Argentiere, April 15, 2008.

[splat]

You're just fukkin killin it over there, John.
Those are some awesome shots.
Just got your email. I was in AK.
You got a phone? I'll call you.

[jumpturn]

You're just fukkin killin it over there, John.
Those are some awesome shots.

Not really killin it; just doing some intermediate "groomers." Need more stable weather to get on the sick stuff.

Rental skis are a good lesson on how well the BROs handle this terrain.

Had a big photo shoot today on a "groomer," complete with hucking and craziness. I'll put it up once I sort through 200+ photos...

The nasty weather has us skiing low angle pow over and over again.... Going to have to come back and get off the "groomers" in better weather.

"groomer" = anything you can get to from a lift in decent weather without actually earning your turns.

[jumpturn]

Before I die, I will descend this fucker!

Greg and Ryan were making noises about hitting this one today. So, I was talking to a french dude in the tram who had skied it. He reported that the bottom is 45º, there is lots of 50º, but the 55º is limited to a 3-5m section where it necks down in the middle. Sounds more basic than it looks. When they saw another party already on it and observed some heavy wind loading in the morning, Greg and Ryan did a bear run instead. They reported that powder stash (SE aspect) under the Gros Rognon slid with a level 4 avalanche last night some time. (Love the level 2 avi forecast....).

[Dave R]

thanks jumpturn for the photo of us skiing the jager. pleanty of people got photos of us climbing up it, but this is the first i have seen of us on descent. (not that it looks any different). and just so you know, "highly recreational" is more accurate then pro skier, at least for me.

[splat]

Your accounts and GPS maps are much appreciated. I'm headed there April 21 for a few days. It looks like the Alps have a good snow pack this year. What are the good shops in Cham to check out the gear. My wife and I may check around for some guides as we have never been there. Can you recommend any?
Thanks much for any info.

Contact Idris here. His roommate Michel is a good guide and might still be around.

[jumpturn]

Skied the Glacier Rond with Daniel twice.

By the time I got up to the Aiguille de Midi on the first tram, Greg and Ryan were long gone from camp. I grabbed a coffee and waited for Daniel to arrive.

Cleverly, Daniel had left his crampons and ice axe at home so he couldn't be talked into anything too burly to telemark. He was really psyched for the Glacier Rond, and so, we headed down to ski it after the 1st tram powder hounds had taken their pass. Plenty of good knee to thigh deep powder remained. Even the top 50º section on the hanging glacier held a good coat of powder. The exit couloir naturally had good cover, and so, this was a fine descent.

There are very few telemarkers seen on higher angle descents at Chamonix. Daniel is one and I am impressed (of course, I don't know much). Not only that, Daniel is able to take his time and get great photos, unlike many who don't think of bringing a camera or can't stop whatever the reason. As a result, we shot over 200 photos between us.

On the return to the Plan de l'Aiguille, I dropped a high angle powder shot above the tram station, which is good fun. We hung out at the Buvette and took in the view for probably 45 minutes, and then, went back up and repeated the Glacier Rond.

By the second run, skiers had chopped up the snow much more, yet there remained powder to schralp. Regular skier traffic "grooms" these descents and reduces the avalanche hazard by compacting the snow. Pretty much everybody and their brother was hitting the Rond or the Cosmiques. We had looked over into the Cosmiques, but the sight of 4 parties struggling to rap in killed that idea. When you see the UCPA on a run, you know it's a piste!

Coming from a Utah and California background, Daniel can't resist a good huck. First run, he fired off a rock on the exit couloir, but I only caught the landing. On the second run, he jumped a serac and I caught it with continuous shooting. A British guy named Steve saw the action and launched himself off the serac as well.

After eating some snacks above the Acienne Piste des Glacier, we schralped some great powder for a long ways, and then suffered some crusty wet snow before hiking down to the Tunnel de Mont Blanc from abandoned base building.

For this day, I rented some of last year's BD Verdicts in 180 cm. Billed as too stiff for punters, I found that these worked just fine, and certainly much better than the G3 Hombres on steeper terrain. The only issue was too much side cut; when stepping down into the exit couloir, the skis were only making contact on the front and back edges. Although side cut may facilitate turning on groomers, it adds sketch to even "intermediate" couloirs. Nevertheless, this ski seem really great and I bet the model is even better.

Bit by bit, I am starting to figure out this skiing thing.... Even though the Glacier Rond and the Cosmiques are 45-50º, they feel pretty basic in reasonable conditions and rate as intermediate extreme skiing, according to Anslem Baud. Since you can access them from a lift and everyone is doing them, they fall under Greg's "groomer" label. Maybe next year I'll get the conditions and partners to up the level a notch. In any case, lapping these "groomers" is really fun.

Mont Blanc de Tacul with the Refuge des Cosmiques, Chamonix, April 16, 2008.


Greg's camp under the Abri de Simond, Col des Cosmiques, Chamonix, April 16, 2008.


Jumpturn schralping powder on the upper Glacier Rond, Chamonix, April 16, 2008.


Jumpturn skiing over the void on the upper Glacier Rond, Chamonix, April 16, 2008.


Daniel schraling on the upper Glacier Rond, Chamonix, April 16, 2008.


Jumpturn skiing steeps on the Glacier Rond, Chamonix, April 16, 2008.


Daniel ripping on the exit couloir of the Glacier Rond, Chamonix, April 16, 2008.


Daniel skiing the exit couloir on the Glacier Rond, Chamonix, April 16, 2008.


Daniel telemarking on the Glacier Rond, Chamonix, April 16, 2008.


Jumpturn smokin' the Glacier Rond, Chamonix, April 16, 2008.


Jumpturn dropping the Glacier Rond, Chamonix, April 16, 2008.


Jumpturn hits a steep drop on the return to the Plan de l'Aiguille, Chamonix, April 16, 2008.


Daniel tracks the steep upper Glacier Rond, Chamonix, April 16, 2008.


Daniel skiing the upper Glacier Rond, Chamonix, April 16, 2008.


Local skier attacks the exit couloir on the Glacier Rond, Chamonix, April 16, 2008.


Daniel hucks a serac on the Glacier des Bossons, Chamonix, April 16, 2008.


Jumpturn schralping on the return to the Acienne Piste des Glaciers, Chamonix, April 16, 2008.


Daniel schralping on the return to the Acienne Piste des Glaciers, Chamonix, April 16, 2008.


Skiers on the descent to Chamonix along the right side of the Glacier des Bossons, Chamonix, April 16, 2008.


Jumpturn schralping next to avalanche debris on the Ancienne Piste des Glaciers, Chamonix, April 16.2008.


Two descents of the Glacier Rond, Chamonix, April 16, 2008.

[jumpturn]

thanks jumpturn for the photo of us skiing the jager. pleanty of people got photos of us climbing up it, but this is the first i have seen of us on descent. (not that it looks any different). and just so you know, "highly recreational" is more accurate then pro skier, at least for me.

Hey Dave,

PM me an email address if you want a series of 12 mpx photos from my angle.

Did you guys get some photos on it?

How about some description of the difficulties, angles, etc...

Yea, "pro skier" is a technical term, like "groomer" ...

Anyway, way to slay!!

[jumpturn]

How long you there for Senor Jumpturn? Awesome trip so far man.

All done for this season. Back at the office. Time for the corn harvest at the local rock pile!

We'll now have to rely on others to provide some Chamonix stoke.... Who will step up to the task?

[tomw_n]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3264/...4907c781_o.jpg

Great pics. This 'local skier' works at footworks, i believe!

[jumpturn]

Great pics. This 'local skier' works at footworks, i believe!

If this local skier wants higher res pics, PM me an email address.

BTW, This local skier was really stylin' the afternoon chop, whereas the partner was having a few issues...