End of season fun

My motivation for skiing and updating has been at an all time low for the last few weeks so here goes the end of season in one handy post.

Weds 15th: Tourist lap of the Vallée Blanche

Holly hadn't skied the VB before so I took her up for an afternoon lap to ensure the ice had softened to spring snow. She had been psyched out by a friend saying it was difficult which in turn made me worry she wasn't ready and it was going to be a shit show. Nothing of the sort. Nice easy cruise down the tourist route to skip the steeper pitches of the Rognon. Really cool views of the East face of Tacul. Slowly navigated the huge mogul field (it hadn't snowed in 2-3 weeks) and stopped the other side of the salle a manger for some lunch. A nice easy exit and we were down. Good afternoon.

Not much of note (I'm sure I must've skied just didn't get any photos) until;

Sun 26th: Morning freshies at GM

Charlie and I headed up late after a snowfall as we were feeling lazy. Some good conditions up high with not many tracks. Should've got up earlier but oh well. The snow quickly got VERY sticky so we called it a day after three laps of top bin (two front and one off the back).

Mon 27th: Skiing through glue at GM

Headed up in the afternoon with Lukas to get some spring snow. Unfortunately it was literally impossible to move at all. A few quick laps (including the last Herse of the season )and home. Shame.

Tues 28th: More GM pow (poor base lower down)

Was a little late again due to apathy. Lukas came and Malcolm joined later. Bumped into Gabe and Adam for a bit. The snow wasn't as deep or as good as expected. Yesterdays layer had refrozen and there was 10-15cm on top. Good fun but couldn't completely open up. We saw some people hiking the petite aiguille Verte so I persuaded the others to come. Great choice... It was high and untracked enough to be a perfect 40cm+ of powder. One amazing lap and Malcolm and I headed down, happy to finish on a high.

Didn't want both of his skis...

Weds 29th: Cosmiques in shitty conditions

Joined Oskar for a few Cosmiques laps. The entrance was the best I've seen it but the whole top section had a crust from the day before. However this was infinitely better than the bottom section that had completely slid back to ice. The choice was skiing on hard avvy debris or sheet ice. Did a mixture. Traverse was in surprisingly good nick bar the 1m wide open crevasse that needed jumping and the initial disgusting ice down on the Bossons glacier (full rocker skis without edges...) Oskar begged me to go up again but I flat out refused.

Sat 2nd May: GM rain-crust / soup

Mosied on up to GM for the second to last day of the season with Lukas. We were a little late as the gendarmes were (sensibly) stopping skiers from going up with the 1m+ of fresh unconsolidated snow combined with very high temperatures. Nothing was open really and the snow level was much higher than predicted. Massive avalanches from top bin hammered home how disgustingly dangerous the Midi would've been (and was for those that skied). Jumped on the Bochard to see everything tracked. Lavancher looked clear but I assumed for a reason (Tabe closed). Lukas said he was sure it was open so we headed down. The snow was very hard rain crust. Difficult to ski unless fast and hard turns. Spring snow lower to find the Tabe closed. I whined to Lukas for saying it was open. Walked up and lapped the Bochard a few more times. One lap we traversed all the way over to the Herse (closed) to find equally shitty conditions. Each lap lower down got hotter and stickier. We skied until the late knowing it would be the last real day of the season. Shame to end on such a mediocre day.

Skier triggering the Rond that day - seriously lucky to
escape unscathed - credit Mika Joensu

Can't break through the crust

Big ol' natural wet slides

Two thirds of the Col des Courtes

Mon 13th: Col des Courtes / Point Eales - Consolidated fresh powder

On Col de Cristaux the day before we'd seen two people skin past us late in the afternoon to the Col des Courtes. It had been Oskar. Apparently the conditions were amazing all the way with a tiny section of hard snow at the top.

Lukas agreed to join me and we set off early doors. I had my reservations and had made them known. So did he. Usually I'm with someone with more mountain experience than me but this time I was the experienced one. The second top bin left us with plenty of time as the face never gets any sun. Still we made quick progress. We arrived at the base to find one person on it about half an hour in front. We transitioned and began the boot pack.

Glacier gal Lukas

Col des Courtes / Point Eales is a very steep and imposing face with a nice big rock band in the middle. It also currently has a monstrously big open bergschrund at the bottom. We crossed the large snowbridge + step over the bergschrund and began up. The long boot pack gave us plenty of time to think about where we were. It didn't matter that the conditions were perfect - the no fall zone was definitely playing in the back of our heads. Lukas was increasingly nervous and as we reached the rock band said he wanted to turn back. I'd been keeping my nerves in, but was actually a little relieved to turn back. 

We made it up to where the red
line crosses the rock band

The transition was interesting. The slope was even more convex due to the rock band so was over the stated 50 degrees. Lukas was bricking it (moi aussi) so I told him to make a step and wait for me. I built a step, buried my axe as an anchor for some confidence and carefully transitioned. It took a good few minutes and some interesting stretching moves to clear the balls of ice from my tech inserts but I made sure I was safe, packed my gear and then set about getting Lukas ready. Using my shelf, with some help clearing the large amount of ice off his boots and clipping in and he was sorted and much happier now on skis. So was I.

Getting sluffed from above

The descent was epic. One of my best ever. The only blip was nerves getting the better of me on the first turn and managing to slightly cross my skis. I recovered easily but still, not easily forgotten. What followed was the steepest sustained terrain I've skied, in fantastic snow. Wide linked turns all the way down, stopping only to let my sluff go by and to take a few snaps. Lukas followed with some proper wide freeride turns. We crossed the Bergschrund and got clear of the face with massive grins.

Me enjoying the wicked snow

Lukas following down

Looking back on our tracks on
the mellower section

Lukas crossing the bergschrund

In hindsight I wish we'd kept going. The snow was sublime and the boot pack wasn't technical, just exposed. The part that had scared me most - the transition - had been easy in the end, if incredibly nerve wracking. Still, I wasn't going to push Lukas / myself with the lingering doubt in my mind. We still got well over half way up with some wicked turns on the way down. And well... hindsight is most definitely a cruel mistress.

Col de Cristaux

Sun 12th: Col de Cristaux - refrozen / powder

Ryan and I had been talking had turned back on this pretty much a year to the day ago. It is a pretty wicked line but gets blasted by the morning sun. Colin and Craig joined us. We got to GM early doors, Ryan and Craig bought tickets. Ryan's suddenly stopped... his face darkened. He'd only forgotten his skins... He went back solo, poor bastard.

Craig with Colin in the distance

The remaining three jumped on the Plan Joran and made the third top bin of the day. I knew how much sun the face got so kept the tempo high. Colin started skinning first and we kept a decent pace with Craig lagging behind. I started well behind having completely stripped off but caught up quickly. Colin's chosen track turned out to be a bit of a bugger and took us round too high and we lost a lot of time navigating around / over snowbridges. We arrived at the face to see that it had already sluffed heavily the day before and refrozen. Good stuff. 

We'd finished transitioning and had a snack by the time Craig arrived. It was already later than we'd planned for and Colin and I pushed on not wanting to let the snow soften further, advising Craig to come either right away / to leave it. We crossed a snow bridge over the bergschrund and started the boot pack. Craig followed half an hour later and managed to break through the bridge... A sobering moment and a big lesson to all of us. He turned back and met up with Ryan who had caught up. 

Colin being baked alive

Long way down, long way to go

The boot pack was absolutely scorching in the sun. Mercifully the middle section was in the shade where the temperature dropped to almost too chilly... The final third was spent longing for the chilly shade once more. The boot pack was longer than I expected after the dog leg but we got up pretty fast. We met two scandies at the top and three french climbing down from the rocky col above (unskiable at the time). We opted to let them all go rather than rush down. Instead I rigged an anchor and we grabbed a bite to eat whilst enjoying the spectacular view. The break ended up being quite long as the group in front of us faffed for ages, but eventually they made it down and we transitioned.

Delightful place for a spot of lunch

The scandies ripping it

The snow at the top was heavy spring snow and so the turns were fun but hard work. The middle section was amazing consolidated powder that had been shaded from the sun for the last few days. Excellent big turns. Great fun. The bottom had refrozen and was nothing interesting. The scandies' tracks were clearly visible meaning we were only slightly too late. We jumped the bergschrund and begun the long descent, happy with the great line behind us.

Colin's drop in POV shot

Colin enjoying the good cold snow 

Jumping the bergschrund to finish

A great day but there were errors and plenty of time wasted. Need to make sure it doesn't happen again. I also had an interesting chat with myself up the boot pack wondering whether anything much more exposed is worth it. A question I'm still yet to answer...

Touring for the sake of it

Thurs 9th: Pierre a Ric - Mush

Was going to tour up from the mid station to the glacier after work just to get the legs moving but it turned out I'd forgotten my pass. Up to mid station and straight back down. Pretty steep slushy uphill and hard work.

Fri 10th: Col de Tour Noir - Crusty / spring snow at the bottom

Met Craig early doors to sort out the mess that was his skins. Craig wasn't acclimatised so headed up Col de Tour Noir to reccy some bigger routes. I set off at a normal pace with frequent breaks for the holiday boy. In the end we turned back 100m from the summit as Craig struggling with altitude and quite a way behind. I got high enough to spot what I'd wanted so was happy to turn back.

Party of two on the NE face of Courtes

Craig the dot in the centre. Time to turn around

Variable crud for most of the descent

Cosmiques + Petit Envers

Mon 5th: Cosmiques - very icy entrance, good below / Petit Envers - sun crust  

Our detour from the day before. Short but took forever

Headed up with Oskar with the thought that there would still be leftover snow in the Cosmiques. The wind had affected the plateau above, but not the couloir at all. We carefully entered on the right and set up a 30m rappel. At the same time three people started side slipping down the other entrance. We packed up and decided to wait for them to pass not wanting to be taken out from above. One of the people looked borderline close to losing it the whole way. A fourth started entering but way behind. Oskar side stepped down and called up that it was very icy. I've never seen him sidestep so was a bit nervous and got my axe out as there was a narrow section my skis wouldn't negotiate well. Stepped down slowly, using my axe for the icy bulge. By this point the fourth guy had crossed over to directly above me. He lost his edges and starting sliding down, stopping only with the help of my planted axe... Not impressed. Told him not to *$%*ing move and continued down. The snow was much better on the sheltered left, fine to turn. The guy who had almost taken me out joined the guy who looked like he was about to go at any time... figures.

We carried on down fast, finding grippy snow up high and crusty powder below. The exit couloir had the best snow - even a few powder turns. Fast exit jumping the open crevasse and a quick traverse and we were back at mid station early. I had already been lagging behind and was pretty tired. Told Oskar I wasn't up for another especially with the entrance like that. Decided to head back up and do the first Grand Envers of the season.

Oskar's POV shot

Oskar dropped in first and went straight past the traverse to Grand Envers. Oh well, the wind was howling anyway so we split off and did a nice Petit Envers. The snow was sun crusted but good fun bouncing down the cut up snow. A few nice drops in the Requin exit bowl and we were down. Good day and we were finished early too! Perfect.

Enjoying the features on the Requin exit

Traffic jam in the Rond

Sun 5th April: Rond x 2 - Bottomless blower in places

Down the Midi for 7:50 to get a reservation. Get handed number 25... What the f... They skipped 11-24 - reserved for guides? Thanks entirely to Steve and some of his friends Oskar and I managed to wangle two 9s. WINNER. We were still 6th bin of the day and there were a lot of people in front of us.














First down the arête, dropped in high and we were at the Rond in a big queue from the previous few bins. Everyone in Chamonix had had the same plan. The traverse at the start of the Rond was very hard / ice in places - a bit nerve-racking but oh well. We jumped past the group in front and skied down fast. The snow was grippy on skier's left and tracked powder on skier's right. Did the whole face in under a minute, Oskar far less. I was a little unsure of my new skis in the variable snow and felt I could quite easily sink a tip. Need to get used to the centre mounting.

No rappel was necessary for the exit couloir. The snow depth varied, mostly blower powder with a few harder turns. Good fun but burnt the thighs failing to keep up with the straight-line machine Oskar. The bottom half of the couloir was in light cloud. The exit to para was easy until we hit the thicker cloud band below.

The high traverse to mid station out took over two hours. Everyone was following everyone else in the whiteout. The guide at the front eventually shouted up that he had lost his way and was skiing down to town as we were now too low. Oskar and I decided to sidestep back up and everyone else followed. Oskar's friend turned up and took over. More joined us and eventually someone confirmed the route. We had just dropped too low. A tricky bit of climbing on the third moraine involved no handholds and skis in the hand. I slipped as twice as foot holds gave way - I was VERY worried I won't lie. Next time ski's on the pack. I helped Oskar up leaning down and taking his poles and skis, held Oskar's foot as he leant down and took his friend's and then let down a multi sling rope to the guys behind us. They thanked us and we carried on to the final sidestep up to midstation.

Oskar attempting to get up before I took his gear

I was shot from a 16 hour shift, no sleep and the heat from the effort on the traverse but agreed to go up and see what the weather was doing. Our plan to do Grand Envers / a normal variant fell through instantly when we saw the high cloud band from the bridge. Quick discussion and we decided to get down the Rond again as fast as possible, wanting to be off the traverse early. Much easier to not fall into a crevasse in the whiteout.

Clouds even higher

Another lap of the same. I actually preferred it to the first as I had a little more confidence in my new skis. My thighs were on fire with the really quick pace we set on the ski and traverse. The latter was MUCH easier second time. Worse visibility to start but it was easy to follow our own tracks. We were back at the mid station just over an hour after getting to the arête and down in town by 2pm. I was completely spent but more importantly we'd got off the face early.

Already heavily tracked

A great day but I was in work hangover mode; entirely exhausted and on a bit of a downer. The first traverse really put me off but I'm glad we went back up again. The entrance was no worse and the skiing fun. Getting my first two laps of the Rond this year in great (if tracked) snow was pretty epic. The night in and early bedtime felt totally justified.

Mini tour + more filler days

Fri 27th: Col above Index - Dusting of powder + nice corn

Met Greg for a quick late tour. Lateness + cloud band meant we didn't want to drop over the back so we skied the couloir far looker's left above Index. Nice easy tour made more difficult by my hangover. The couloir had a dusting of fresh but as I went second there wasn't much left. Nice corn below to open up the giant GS turns. Fun afternoon!

Greg traversing

Couloir on the left

Mon 30th: Flegere - Bottomless heavy fresh

Title gives it too much credit. GM was completely closed so a u-turn to Flegere with Oskar. We were expecting the goods as it had been snowing for two days. What we found was bottomless heavy snow and only the two bottom lifts open. It was kind of fun at the start when untracked but quickly became pretty bad. Had to sit right back and blitz it. People were digging tips left right and centre. After 5-10 laps I called it and went down.

Backseeaaaating

Tues 31st: GM - Slightly heavy to reallllly heavy

More snow had fallen and some higher lifts were open. Skied quite a few laps off Tabe. Good fun and even some visibility. The lower magic forest was vile so we only did one lap of the Retour Pendant. Back to Tabe for more heavy but fun snow lapping every direction off it, thighs burning the whole time...