TR: Chamonix - 2013 Edition

[Foggy_Goggles]

"A couple of levels"? I figure you go there thinking your an "8", come back thinking your a "4", check some blogs and other tid bits of radness and downgrade to a "2".

Georgio, put some pics up no matter how shitty you think they are. Also, PM me about your moving dreams. You are not the only one!

[Foggy_Goggles]

CarveDude - 'jacking your thread 'cause these pics ain't TR worthy.




The Team - First Run Courmayeur - Top of the Arp



What us 'Mericans Call Side Country - Col du Youla



A Lifetime of Touring, Right Here - Top of Brevant



You Go Here, You Take This Pic - Standard Arete Shot



Itinerary #59 In Your Guide Book

[CarveMan]

CarveDude - 'jacking your thread 'cause these pics ain't TR worthy.

Any stoke is welcome stoke man! Well done, and all pics are TR worthy.

[georgio]

Continuing with the thread-jacking. My girlfriend and I were there right after Foggy. Had a gorgeous stretch of weather but no new snow. Didn't matter though we were finding great snow the whole time.



Yours truly right off the top of Brevent. It continually amazed me how good snow you could find with a 30 second hike off-piste ...This dropped us right back onto a piste at the bottom.



Grand Montets from Flegere.



The lady friend about to get down "inbounds" at Brevent.



More Brevent "sidecountry". This was more south facing and was a little too manky to feel good about getting on by the time we knew what was what.



Starting to think this was the only day I brought my camera... More Brevent.



I would literally never get tired of this view from, guess where, Brevent.



Cheesin' it up in the Vallee Blanche.



Farther down the Vallee Blanche.

We also toured around the area in Foggy's 3rd pic, the Argentiere Glacier off GM, and the same area off the top of the Arp at Courmayeur but I have no idea where all those pics went.

[CarveMan]

Winning!

[CarveMan]

Sorry I'm being lazy. Done the TRs, not the forum version, it's late and I need to go to bed, and won't be in front of a computer until at least sunday night.

So here you go:

Scary Aiguille deepness / Grands Montes Braille Pow
http://aussieskier.com/trip-reports/...rands-montets/

Ermahgerd epic Couloir Rectiligne untracked pow:
http://aussieskier.com/trip-reports/...ir-rectiligne/

[rod9301]

Thanks, sensational.
Btw, your blog doesn't display well on an android phone.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using TGR Forums

[IridePow]

Wow.... to ski the rectiligne in such snow... must be awesome!!!
Nice work.

[jumpturn]

Go get 'em, carveman!

Sounds like a pretty good trip!

[CarveMan]

OK sorry for being so behind on the TRs - I'll start the rest of it now:

Days 13-14 – L’Aiguille du Midi / Grands Montets

After we returned from La Grave the weather was forecast to turn and our bodies were weary so we opted for two days off.

The storm that was forecast materialised in spades and we were hit with powder fever. We hooked up with some old friends from Buller, Christophe & Samala, and her sister Naomi who area all spending the winter in Cham. They regularly ski with the guide ‘FanFan’ so we arranged a ski day after the storm to chase some powder.

It was a weird feeling – after our years working in the US it was common to get powder fever in the morning and race to the first lift. But Chamonix is a little different – if there’s been a big snowfall the lifts don’t generally open. There had been at least 20cm in the lower reaches of town with rumours of much more up high. As the storm had pushed up from the south there was even more on the Italian side but lifts weren’t open so there wasn’t much point in heading there.

Our plan was to head to the Aiguille mid-station and ski some powder in the trees – but as we were waiting at the station we found out that when the lift opened at 11 it would be all the way to the top, and furthermore when we got up there the sun came out! Fanfan suggested skiing the Couloir des Cosmiques but the reception to that was not overly welcomed. With two mothers of 5 total kids in the group the requirement was zero-risk so we elected to ski a more conventional Vallee Blanche line.

We descended the arete which is now becoming alarmingly comfortable for us, and traversed along the ridge to the top of the Grand Envers variation, upon which was had collected a conference of freeriders, each waiting for the other to drop first. 150cm had fallen during this storm up at the Aiguille and avalanche mitigation was front of mind.

After about 20 minutes of mexican standoff where nobody dared drop the first 45deg pitch we bailed on that idea and took a more shallow angled route.

After dropping in it was amazing – absolute bottomless pow, so deep that turning really wasn’t necessary at all, just some bounces with token pole plants to make it look like skiing. But at the bottom of each pitch some serious trail breaking needed to be done.

No action shots were taken as it was quite a serious situation – we were instructed to ski one by one from safe zone to safe zone with no stopping, so while I’d love to have proof of how good it was up there you’re just going to have to believe me. We did kick off a few minor slides as we went down but everything was manageable.

The powder was untracked from the top to the glacier below, only in the lower reaches did we start feeling the bottom but even then we could work the aspects and have a smooth run.

Then it was the usual conveyor belt along the Mer de Glace to the lower reaches of the glacier, then the moraine hike and the James Bond trail to town.

We got back in good time and felt like another run, so we headed to the mid-station and traversed far skier’s right and skied some great pow until it got warm down into the trees. Even this area was quite active with avalanches so we obeyed good protocol which again meant no photos!

This sounds like quite a benign day and lack of photos to support the evidence, but it really was quite a remarkable day. There was an unfathomable amount of new snow up on the upper reaches of the Aiguille and on the pitches where it was steep enough to actually ski it, the quality was superb. But the euphoria of the snow was tempered with the graveness of the situation regarding the safety, we were in extremely good hands and never felt particularly unsafe, but by the same token people not under such expert supervision could have been far less lucky.













Day 14 – Les Grands Montets

After the previous day’s blue sky powder bonanza, round II of the storm rolled in. We headed to Grands Montets as the top tram didn’t open the day before but was set to open.

Unfortunately I totally fucked it up by forgetting my beacon, only realising when in the line for the second tram. Jerome had some spares in the car so I headed down but that meant that we were on the 4th top tram instead of the second.

The first run down was untracked but slightly heavy powder in really flat light. It was nice, but I was just not feeling right. In hindsight forgetting the beacon showed that I was not quite with it. I was tempted to call it after that run but there was a Dynastar demo center at the mid station so I went in and asked for some fat skis. It was the second time in two days that I was offered something narrower and shorter than I walked in holding – Dynastar Cham 97 175cm vs my 180cm 98mm Blizzard Kabookies. When I stopped laughing I grabbed a pair of 189cm Cham 127mm and headed back up.

Unfortunately the fog had really rolled in which meant no chance of heading on to the glacier so we had to stick to the beaten track which was pretty chopped powder. The skis helped but it was still pretty average. This pretty much finished me off so I headed inside not wanting to wear myself out further or hurt myself, and Nicole and Jerome headed up for 3 more laps. They said the vis came and went, they found some good snow and did one run where they skied along the tongue of the Glacier d’Argentiere which was fun until it turned into the usual low down combat skiing.

Not a day for photos – here’s one from the first run:



More pics & words at: http://aussieskier.com/trip-reports/...rands-montets/

[CarveMan]

Day 15 – Couloir Rectiligne

Today was a special one.

In fact, I think this was probably the best skiing I’ve done in Cham in 4 trips over about 10 weeks in the area.

We left Grands Montets yesterday during a snowstorm and knew that if we returned early today we would be rewarded. The sun was out this morning and we got there early – I even had my beacon this time – and made it on the first tram to the top which is always a treat. Jerome had an inkling that the Pas de Chevre sector would be good skiing, but we were slightly cautioned by the aspect and the wind direction of the storm. This turned out to be completely unfounded as after 2 turns on wind affected snow it became magically light powder.





We decided to ski the Couloir Rectiligne which is a classic of the area, a direct shot of about 500m vertical with a pitch of about 42 degrees. As the slope rolled over Jerome had us stand in a safe spot while he inspected the entrance to the couloir, there was no evidence at all of windslab so it was safe to ski. The top few metres was a bit of a sideslip, but due to the massive snow this season it was pretty benign, apparently in lower years the entrance can be a bit hair-raising.



Once we were in it became apparent that we had totally scored. We were the first people to ski it since the big snowstorm. Jerome couldn’t believe his luck – we have had a joke over the years that in Cham you’re never first – there’s always someone fitter, faster, more motivated or crazier than you who will get it before you.



But here we were standing at the top of an untouched couloir, no more than a couple of hundred metres from the top of a ski lift.

There was only one thing to do – rip the shit out of it. Once Jerome had checked out the top section he pulled over and let me ski the bulk of it first.





It was quite simply the best skiing I had done in Chamonix, and perhaps the best pitch of skiing of my life. Hundreds of vertical metres of steep, untracked, bottomless powder, all in a stupendously aesthetic setting of a dead straight, perfect couloir with enormous walls on either side and a great view ahead.







When I pulled up at the end of the couloir I literally had a tear in my eye I was so taken by the quality of what I had just skied. There are no words.

From the top of the lift to the bottom of the glacier we skied 1000m vert of perfect powder where the only tracks we crossed were our own.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Not by a long shot.

We had a think about what to do next – we could race down to the bottom and then head somewhere else for sloppy seconds, but we looked around the valley we were in and there was not a track to be seen & we knew we could do something special. So we skied down to the bottom of the glacier and then put our skins on with the objective of climbing up to the base of the Dru – the massive monolith that towers over Chamonix & one of the most challenging mountaineering ascents in the Alps.











Everyone opened the taps and had an absolute blast all the way down to the moraine.

Despite the Pas de Chevre being a Chamonix classic it was our first time in this area, there are a number of reasons why but the condition of the exit to the Mer de Glace being one of them. On the three occasions earlier this trip where we have skied down the Mer de Glace and climbed the moraine or to the Montenvers train I’ve looked across at the final descent from the Pas de Chevre and not been particularly excited, But it really wasn’t that bad.

More pics & words at: http://aussieskier.com/trip-reports/...ir-rectiligne/

[lynchdogger]

^^^ sick bird! Yeeehaw!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using TGR Forums

[CarveMan]

Day 16 – Col du Passon

After yesterday’s epic on the Rectiligne we were keen for more high alpine fun. The weather forecast was for clear skies but warming temps ahead of a weekend of average weather. We made the decision to do a classic Chamonix ski tour – the Col du Passon. It’s a great option as you get to ski from the top of Grands Montets which is a lovely descent in and of itself, then after a 700m vert skin/bootpack you have a 1500m descent to Le Tour. Last year I had skied the Tour Glacier in spring conditions and loved it so it was a good chance to give it a go in some pow.

We started early and got on the first tram at Grands Montets, and after a quick coffee it was time to get stuck into it.





We went wide skier’s right on the glacier and found some lovely powder snow. It’s not for the faint hearted out there due to the crevasses but as usual Jerome found a route that was entirely safe and with untouched snow. 900m of virgin powder to get the day started is always nice.





You then cross the Argentiere glacier and put your skins on & climb up the opposite side. The first section was the hardest with steep kick turns on the moraine, and then it was a pretty pedestrian 600 or so metres of climbing. The weather certainly warmed up and the heat sapped our pace a little bit, but there was no need to rush so we took it all in our stride.





It’s nice exploring new areas as you get new views and perspectives on the classic Chamonix features. This time it was a great view back to Grands Montets and no doubt these photos will be studied to find some nice lines.



We reached the base of the couloir and transitioned to bootpacking, Nicole elected to be short-roped with Jerome whereas I preferred the freedom of going solo with Ice Axe and Crampons. The snow was perfect and the crampons were probably overkill but they don’t detract from the climb so it was good to have them. Before long we were at the Col and ready to ski down.



The skies began to turn grey in anticipation of the incoming poor weather for the weekend, but while the light was a little flat you could still see well enough to have a great time.







The last few hundred metres were a pretty sloppy affair, but before long we popped out on the beginner piste at Le Tour. This ski tour is unusual in that you aren’t punished for an epic descent with a horrendous combat ski along some creek bed which is often the case over here. Even though the snow was pretty snotty for us, this has the potential to have epic powder right to the valley floor in the right conditions.



We then jumped on the bus back to Grands Montets to get the car and Jerome drove us to Vallorcine so we could take the train to Verbier for the weekend. Jerome had a long-standing booking with clients for the weekend so we thought we would do some sightseeing and we were fortunate enough to find a gap in the bookings for legendary Australian Mountain Guide John Falkiner who would show us around his adopted home area of Verbier.

More pics & words at: http://aussieskier.com/trip-reports/...col-du-passon/

[sqikunst]

Thanks for the amazing stoke!!! got me motivated to power through afternoon class.

That couli sounded like a true score.

[grump]

Nice write ups Carveman, you did well with the timing of your trip. Apologies for holding you up at the start of Grand Envers, wading to the start took a while, then the 1st 2 pitches needed skicut on a rope before we were dropping, def above average conditions though....

[ridefree]

Awesome write up! I wonder if it might be the same Jerome who guided me? ( Fairly common name though)

[yellofin]

^^^ Jerome para. Excellent guide and a great guy to spend the day with

[CarveMan]

Nice write ups Carveman, you did well with the timing of your trip. Apologies for holding you up at the start of Grand Envers, wading to the start took a while, then the 1st 2 pitches needed skicut on a rope before we were dropping, def above average conditions though....

Haha yeah I heard that's what you guys were doing.

We had a pretty risk averse group so we took an easier line - Fanfan wanted to drop Cosmiques but nobody was listening.

[CarveMan]

^^^ Jerome para. Excellent guide and a great guy to spend the day with

Indeed. He's actually getting quite a following from the ski.com.au/TGR forum members, which he's stoked with as he says they all ski well.

[CarveMan]

I've decided to skip a few days that were a bit pedestrian - you can check them out on the blog if you're keen but they weren't much to write home about.

This day however was the opposite.

Day 21 – Breche Puiseux

With Nicole’s depature set for an ungodly hour on Friday morning, and poor weather forecast for Thursday and beyond, it was becoming quite apparent that the window of clear weather on Wednesday was our last opportunity to get stuck into a big objective.

Jerome suggested sleeping in the Argentiere Refuge and climbing the Milieu Glacier which cleaves the east face of the Aiguille d’Argentiere, but I suggested a ski tour in the Vallee Blanche up to a location called Breche Puiseux. Given our relative lack of climbing this trip due to the abundance of powder skiing straight off the lift Jerome was a little concerned that the 1100m climb including a 300m bootpack could be beyond us, but it was definitely a location that was worth the effort, and we could also turn back at any time.

I was drawn to the Breche Puiseux simply because every guidebook and blog I had read states that it’s one of the most stunning ski tours in the Mont Blanc Massif. We weren’t disappointed.



We weren’t the only people gunning for the Aiguille du Midi in the morning – it was clear that it was going to be the only sunny day for the week so everybody earmarked it as their day to go to the Vallee Blanche – even with a 7:40am arrival we didn’t get in the first cable car, but that was partly due to some signature French lack of organisation and queueing protocol. We raced down the Arete in record time which probably bought us back the 15 mins we lost by being in the second tram and we were soon on our way.



We decided to ski the Moyen Envers line as that would take us to the Salle a Manger where we would cross the glacier and commence skinning up the other side. It was a game of aspects, as is often the case in spring. There was a lovely coating of fresh snow on top but the consistency underneath varied and we veered way skier’s right to a more shady aspect that led to some lovely skiing.

It was another line we had not yet skied in the Vallee Blanche so it was good to see a new angle on the features and lines we had previously skied.







From the Salle a Manger it was time to put on our skins and begin the 800m vert skin up to the base of the bootpack. Nicole forged ahead into the maze of kick turns set by the first people up the track whereas Jerome and I chose to go wider on to the glacier to avoid the wasted effort of so many switchbacks.







It soon became apparent why this tour is a true classic of the area – the valley we were climbing was capped on one side with the imposing Dent due Geant and the finer features of Les Periades on the opposite flank. It was truly stunning. Also the breeze kept the temperatures somewhat cool which undoubtedly aided our pace.

It was great to look behind us at the Vallee Blanche and check out one of our favourite lines, the Grand Envers du Plan.



800 metres was gained in a reasonable time of 3 hours meaning we were a little behind the 300m vert/hr that we often aim for. We had a quick bite to eat and it was time to put our skis on our packs, put on our crampons and grab ice axes for the long bootpack up the couloir.





Jerome made sure that we had the gas in the tank for the climb, as it was easy enough to turn around where we were, but downclimbing the couloir would have been horrid so we needed to make sure we had enough to get to the top. We didn’t hesitate so he put us on the rope and we started our way up





I never find bootpacking particularly attractive but we were lucky in this occasion in that the track was set by a petite, but totally bad-ass mountain guide, which meant nice small steps. Being a shortass, long steps in a bootpack are the bane of my existence, so despite it being 300m of pain going straight up, the conditions themselves couldn’t have been better.

After the suffer-fest we had made it, 1100m ascended which was our biggest ever ascent in a single ski tour. There was a whipping wind at the top which meant for a quick addition of layers, and our gloves which had become wet in the climb froze absolutely solid.



Somewhere along the way nobody had warned Nicole that there was going to be a rappel after the climb. Not sure what she was expecting after booting up a massive chute, but after admonishing the boys we waited for a couple of skiers ahead of us and made our way down. It’s becoming quite comfortable and I went down so quickly that I ended up going off-line which was interesting, if the rope unhooked itself from the rock that I diverted it over that could have been an interesting, but all worked out well.







At the bottom of the rappel we raced to get our crampons off and skis on so we could get out into the sun and get some feeling back into our fingers, at which time it dawned on us the sheer, completely and utterly stunning setting that we were standing amongst.





The delicate towers of the Periades reminded me of the National Parks in Utah that I frequented during my time in the US but the imposing feature on the far side of the basin was the immense monolith that is the Grandes Jorasses. The North Face of the Grandes Jorasses is one of the prized mountaineering ascents in the Alps and just as when we climbed to the base of the Dru earlier in the week it was a privelege to see such an enormous climb up close. It dominated the landscape and occupied our camera lens!





Forgoing a steeper exit to the Mont Mallet glacier that we were ascending, we veered skier’s right in order to chase some more consistent snow conditions. There were about a dozen ski tourers ahead of us on the climb but their tracks were nowhere to be seen and we laughed our way to the valley floor with hundreds of turns in the fresh.





For some reason I decided to do some Powder 8′s in Jerome’s tracks, this kept on going for literally hundreds of turns, Nicole was in hysterics as she came down behind.



After what seemed like an eternity of fresh tracks we made it to the flat glacier floor of the Leschaux Glacier where the vista to our right began to be occupied by the Talefre Basin and the Aiguille Verte.

In fading sun we cruised along the flats to the junction of the Mer de Glace and finally began to see some other skiers who were late in their descent on the Vallee Blanche.

The shadows were lengthening and the slush was refreezing, it was quite late in the day and we narrowly missed the last train to Montenvers. I was quietly very happy with this, I don’t mind the hike up the moraine wall and it was such an epic day I felt that the only true way to complete it would be to ski to the valley floor. The track had deteriorated in a couple of spots so we needed to take off our skis and walk a little. I didn’t care in the slightest.

It was an absolutely epic day. I was so glad I had insisted on this itinerary, even given Jerome’s doubts we would make it up the climb.

It had absolutely everything I look forward to in a day in Chamonix – express lift into a high alpine glacier, gut-busting ski tour to a remote location, endless powder turns and amazing scenery. Everything that I had read about the Breche Puiseux ski tour was correct and if anything understated. While the pure powder in the Couloir Rectiligne was probably the best skiing of the trip, this was easily the best day.

A true classic and a privilege to have completed it.

More pics at: http://aussieskier.com/trip-reports/...reche-puiseux/

[hoarhey]

wow, thanks for sharing that day and the most memorable days of your trip
chapeau!

you've shown one who's never been to cham some amazing experiences in the alpine.

cheers, mate.