5 laps, 4 routes, 3 hours of Plan greatness

Tues 24th: Plan de l'Aiguille - 40cm+ soft up high. Mostly poor exits

Woke up early to work out where to ski. Plan was the choice until the website said closed for the day - what the f... OK, GM instead. I picked up Lukas and we waited outside Oskar's for 25 mins whilst he got ready. In that time I happened to check the CDMB site and the Plan said it had opened... Seriously?

We all agreed to go and check it out. How right we were. First lap we chose skier's left. It was rather good. Rather. There were only 4-5 tracks in front of us in the whole bowl and it was deep and hadn't caught the wind. We flew down, bouncing off boulders and rollers. The traverse was much better than expected (to start) and we exited in time to see the next bin leave the station.

Pillows errywhere

Lukas was having boot problems so excused himself and joined Bob. Oskar and I headed up as a duo with the intention of lapping every lift. We traversed off skier's right into the mellow terrain only stopping to take the steeper sections in turn. We flew down the moguled exit to reach the next lift. The snow was better, but the moguled exit was much longer than the traverse out.

The snow was deep enough to hit anything and everything

After bumping into lots of friends in the lift we chose skier's left again sticking to the far left shoulder. The heavy snow falling was filling in tracks and it was almost as good as the first lap. We stopped to watch the other group hitting a nice rock drop but we were too low to have a go. Silly mistake, we missed the lift by under a minute.

Fourth lap slightly skier's right found the deepest snow and the best terrain of the day. We were careful to dodge the steepest terrain and move one by one. The section we chose hadn't been skied much before and so the snow was crazy good. We lost two minutes when I clipped a root and took a heavy fall onto a large, smooth rock straight to the side of the thigh. My leg was completely dead. We lost five more minutes to an interesting rocky/shrubby section in the middle that two other skier's had scraped completely, necessitating an interesting straight-line + rock-dodging move. Then we were back to sublime powder right down to the main path. Once more we missed the lift by under a minute.

Trying to work out a way down

Probably not that way...

What we found after...

For the last lap we traversed to the next bowl over on skier's left. It hadn't seen any traffic and was in just as good condition as the first bowl. Incredible run to end on, just as good as the first. The exit was pretty poor by now and I almost managed a knee twister on a tree root. It was time to call it. Afterall I did have work in 45 mins. Amazing morning.

Best day of the season so far exploring Courmayeur

Sun 22nd: Courmayeur - 40cm+++ blower powder - blue skies

Rasmus had been in Courmayeur with Bob on Saturday reporting 20cm+ fresh snow in the day. With more on the way we decided to head through the tunnel in search of the white stuff.

We got to the Val Veny to find the top section closed. We turned around for a quick lap off Hellbronner mid-station. We got in the second bin of the day. The snow was deep and soft, but in sections the base was all too present. Deep snow in the middle and a rather bare exit. Excellent, but it was getting baked quickly so we headed back to the main Courmayeur station.

Looking down on Courmayeur from the mid station

There had been quite a bit of fresh and there were plenty of lines left to be had. I was outvoted and we dropped off into the trees above Bertolini (I fancied the untracked parts of the main face). We found good snow but the tracks from previous days hadn't filled in so it was somewhat choppy. We tried the trees under the Bertolini; not enough snow to fill in the ruts / traverses so a very bumpy ride. After a quick traverse off the Gabba for three powder turns we noticed the Youla running... The choice was obvious for Lukas and I and Rasmus got outvoted.

We arrived to a big queue and to the news the Arp was open. A 40 minute queue (Rasmus wasn't happy - he likes trees) and we were on the lift and set on the Arp. Lukas and I had never done it so Rasmus led off. After a quick traverse we found the most ridiculously deep and soft snow. Unbelievable. We passed multiple groups with no backpacks (and at a guess no transceivers...) The snow was holding well, but it boggles the mind that people do that with no gear at all... We hit the untracked, steeper, second section and carried on down via the main couloir. There were a handful of tracks in front but every turn was still fresh with playful features to hit. A slow exit and we headed back up. Rasmus admitted it was the right choice. No doubt.

The Col off the Arp

Deep.

From the Arp station we spied people dropping straight back onto the Youla face. Ever since I first skied at Courmayeur I've wanted to do this but it is incredibly rocky. The ridiculous amount of fresh snow had made it more possible than I'd seen it so I persuaded the others and led off. We skied the first couloir as there were clearly rocks barely/ completely hidden on the other more tempting lines. I led down carefully; petrified of finding a submerged rock. At the bottom there was a nice big drop into the bottomless powder field below. With the knowledge that I was out of the rocky section I opened up. The powder was sublime and ridiculously deep, more so than off the Arp. Rasmus followed down cheering. Lukas dug his tips off the drop. Giggles were had, then more incredible powder down to the station.

First lap

Rasmus ready to follow

Lukas wallowing in the soft stuff

It was so good we repeated it twice. The couloir got a bit choppy by the end but the snow below easily justified it. A few photos and drops, a lot of face shots, cheers and big smiles. I eventually clipped the only rock of the day lower down on a shoulder which sent me into a tumble. Luckily it was buried deep and only caught my tails.

Traverse in from the Arp

Nicely coated thanks to the submerged rock

We changed up and dropped off the back of the Youla following a lovely route we'd found the other day to another untouched gully (to be fair most of it was untouched... People only seemed to be skiing the Arp). Another lap and we found that it was 15:30. We made it back just in time for the very last Youla of the day. The pisteurs were stopping people dropping off the back as the Gabba was closing soon. We headed down the couloir under the Youla intending to traverse out but we still had 5 mins to get to the Gabba. We flew down for our final powder turns of the day.

Knackered. Big day.

Remnants of the powder on my face

The ski back to the car was pretty shitty but that couldn't take the shine off the incredible day. We'd been out for 8+ hours and hadn't stopped apart from to queue. We'd also skied bottomless, untracked powder for virtually the whole day. Rasmus (full time ski bum for this winter - jealous) said it was his best day yet. We agreed, enough said.

Another day another lap

Fri 20th: Gros Rognon - Wind affected powder and chalk

Very similar to Tuesday's run so I'll keep it brief. Joined Rasmus and Ali for a quick run (on skis) as no one was interested in touring. After some discussion about Grand / Petit Envers we decided just to do a quick Rognon. The weather was still perfectly clear but much colder. 

The remnants of the guided parties

Busy busy

We found grippy chalky snow up top. Rognon itself was good wind affected powder turns. Seracs du Geant down was back to uniform chalk.

Checking out the back of Tacul

Constant stream of people down to the Salle a manger

The other two were pretty tired but we kept a fast pace and after a 10:15 up lift made Montenvers by midday (wanted to save the core shots from the James Bond track). We got half way up to realise that the lift wasn't running. Quickly checking the CDMB website revealed Montenvers was closed due to technical difficulties... Fantastic. We walked down and exited via the JB which was actually great for the most part.

Neither of the others fancied a second lap with me so Ali and I popped up to Le Tour for a quick piste cruise as it was his last day. It felt damn strange skiing without a transceiver and heavy pack. After 4-5 laps we got bored of the queues and headed back where I once again got ready for work... A recurring (and pretty irritating) theme...

Technical Snowboarding Pt. 2 - learning to traverse on Gros Rognon

Weds 18th: Gros Rognon - tracked slightly wind affected powder

Yesterday's lap was so good I went on the hunt for people to join me for an afternoon lap between shifts. Lukas agreed to come along for the first time this season and his friend Ali joined us. The only difference was I was coming on a board in my ski boots (the second time on a board since I dropped it 6 years ago).  Due to delays at work and me having to run back up to Brevent to get my poles we arrived at the bottom of the arête at ~14:30. We also bumped into Angus, Adam and Gabe and ended up leapfrogging each other the whole run down.

The prospect of dropping straight off the bottom of the arête scared the pants off me. The snow was very firm and I was on Arvid's snowboard which is both too small and has no edges. 35-40 degrees of hard chalky snow had the adrenaline flowing and is almost certainly the steepest I've boarded. I put in a handful of turns - none of which were pretty - struggling desperately to get the edges to bite. I descended lower than usual then straight-lined it in an attempt to cut down the poling through the plateau. I reached the waiting spot before the Rognon easily enough. Getting to the top of Rognon was less fun. Uphill heelside traverses are just ridiculous. No idea how to do it, I had to unstrap 1 foot and do some weird motion which took forever considering it was such a small distance.

Boarding with poles out, like a boss (taken by Lukas)

I eventually reached the others and we chose to drop further skier's right. There there was still powder there between fewer tracks. Great first pitch of powder, instantly reminding me why I used to board in my teenage years. We carried on over to the shoulder and traversed around further right. At one point on the traverse there was a narrow 1.5" hole further uphill, where someone had inadvertently broken through a bridge when skiing over it (and not gone in). We gave it a wide berth but it was still pretty sobering. The snow we found had had more wind, but this had blown the previous tracks flat. Great fun and easy to cruise the wind affected snow on a board. We exited along the traverse put in by the guided parties the day before.

Cant even tell I'm boarding (taken by Lukas)

Ali crusing (taken by Lukas)

No need to sit down when you have poles...

Ok, just a little sit to take in the view

Mid-turning round (Taken by Lukas)

The descent to the Requin was easy; no need to pole and some good chalky snow. Only a 100m walk (not on glaciated terrain) to the hut was necessary. Another quick bootpack and some scrambling and we dropped onto the glacier via the Requin bowl. A long push - having to briefly remove my trailing foot twice - and we were down at Montenvers. We made the last train down with time to spare. The others went for a pint in Elevation whilst I headed to work.

Requin exit bowl (taken by Ali)

The whole thing had taken about an hour and a quarter (three hours including lift and train). We hadn't rushed, but I hadn't stopped once due to the taking longer on the traverses. The quads on my leading leg were utterly knackered. I chatted to Lukas on the way down and he admitted he'd been unsure of me doing it on a board, but was impressed with my pace and ability. I shamelessly admitted I had been pretty worried too. It was much more challenging for me than any of the skiing I'd done recently but that's exactly why I wanted to do it. I'm happy with my level of boarding and felt fine doing the whole thing with poles out. At one point on the steeper part I was apparently pole planting... oh dear. Brilliant afternoon between work shifts. 

Unexpectedly awesome Gros Rognon between shifts

Tues 17th: Gros Rognon (Midi) - 30cm slightly wind affected fresh

Agreed with Jon to head up the Midi for the first time since our adventure a month ago. He still hadn't broken his white cherry and was getting desperate... Anyway... I had an early work run but a quick turnaround got me to the Midi for 9:20 to meet Jon, Sam and Ariane. We had booked three different bins just in case, but there was no need as we just walked on... Crazy how quiet it was, still a lot of people avoiding it clearly.

Sam looking all angelic

The plan was for either Petit Envers / Gros Rognon, depending on where most traffic was going, preferably the latter. We arrived at the top to find a blank slate with a handful of tracks in Petit / Rognon from the previous bins. The storm that had hit Courmayeur had reached most of the way across the valley. Awesome.














I dropped in high to chalky snow and the others followed from further down. We kept the pace high despite Sam + Jon being on boards as I had work at 14:00 and to ensure some decent fresh lines. On reaching Rognon there were only a handful of tracks. Perfect. The guides had been taking people down far skier's right where it is much flatter but we opted to go skier's left. We skied down in fantastic, slightly wind affected, powder. Totally unexpected and wicked fun. We continued in long pitches, dodging the rollovers and seracs until the traverse out. By the top of seracs du geant the fresh snow had disappeared and we were left with good, firm, chalky snow.

Gave up waiting for the skier to move

Taken by Jon

We traversed to the Requin hut, had a quick break whilst we took in the scenery and then headed off. The lower traverse ended in a 2-3m step. In glacier mode I didn't even think about jumping it (which would've been far easier) so I did some weird downclimb. Sam followed and jumped it making me feel like a right...

Poor boarders

Why didn't I just jump...

We traversed round to the Requin exit bowl. More chalky goodness. Great fun. Ariane and I had work so we split off to to do the James Bond track whilst Sam and Jon took the train down. A quick ski down to the glacier, a fast pace on the boot-pack and a easy exit down the James Bond and we were home with plenty of time to spare. Perfect way to spend a few hours between shifts.

In search of pillows... fail

Mon 16th: Montenvers - Heavily wind affected snow

Oscar and I popped up the last Montenvers train in search of pillow lines. What we found was some crappy wind affected snow - the wind had been much higher than forecasted. The pillows were out so we quickly built a mini jump and messed around. Nothing interesting. We left a bit late which made the shit skiing and bushwhacking down to the James Bond somewhat more difficult. I tried to jump the train track blind and landed on the snow-less gravel afterwards. Apparently the sparks were pretty impressive. Ooops.

Following the piste basher home