Adventure buddy Ryan is back. We had big plans for the good weather window. However I was still very ill from a gastro bug and he wasn't acclimatised. We figured a tour up the Midi would be a good test of where we were... We chose a route we'd turned back on last year - Breche Puiseux - which drops you down below the north face of the Grand Jorasses.
The ski down Gros Rognon was pretty uneventful, nice chalk all the way down to the refrozen cruddy moguled choke point. Over the seracs du geant, a quick changeover, and the effort began.
The skin track was very slippy meaning a lot of lost energy fighting for grip. I put in my headphones and set off at my own pace, jumping two guided parties and only stopping for a rest when I broke into the sun. Whilst waiting for Ryan (who was having a lot of trouble with grip) I had a long chat with one of the guides who'd caught up and was waiting for his party. Finding out Ryan didn't have ski crampons I donated mine which I hadn't been using anyway. We carried on up, playing leapfrog with the guided group. After 850m vert of skinning we reached the couloir and transitioned for the bootpack. It didn't look too long...
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| Losing |
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| Fighting for grip |
It was. The couloir has a dog leg and then continues on for far longer than expected. My energy had been deteriorating exponentially through the day and by the top of the couloir I was spent; only averaging 30 steps between rests. In the last three days I'd only been able to stomach two small meals and anyone that has seen how much I usually eat will understand how bad that is. Ryan was clearly struggling with the altitude and had lagged well behind the guided party. I topped out and sat around making the most of the amazing view of the Dent du Geant whilst chatting to the group in front of us. The guided group joined us, eventually followed by Ryan making for a very busy col. Ryan was in clear pain and dizzy from the altitude but we were last in a queue of seven for the rappel.
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| Ryan now fighting the altitude |
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| Dent du Geant looking spectacular |
After a long wait we rappelled down. A quick transition and we headed down fast in the hope of alleviating Ryan's altitude problems. We stopped only occasionally to take in the view... which was incredible. The Grand Jorasses is just monstrously big. We chose to ski the nice steep chalky couloir to skier's left. A long flat exit down the Leschaux glacier and we made Montenvers with plenty of time to spare.
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| Getting down fast |
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| The dot in the middle is Ryan |
On the train down we made a unanimous decision to forgo our big plans for Tues / Weds. I was still far too ill and Ryan had suffered more than expected from altitude. For now they're on the back burner...
With the low crossing over the seracs du geant this year it turned out to be 1160m vertical to the col which tops out at 3432m. I have some serious respect for Ryan for making it up with absolutely no acclimatisation. A massive first day to say the least... I was also pretty happy with my own performance, managing it in the lethargic state I was in. My fitness is clearly well up this year and I cant wait to be back to normal. Roll on spring touring!
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