I gone from hating to loving Les Grands Montets in just one day. Where are the mobs of angry freeriders? "Why isn't there anybody here?" we asked ourselves, standing at the top of a football field's length of powder containing exactly three tracks, in easy view of anybody that cared to look directly down from the cablecar. The handy reservation system made for two runs that could only be described as epic with zero waiting. Could it be that the silly Unlimited vs Le Pass system is actaully working to keep freeriders off the mountain? Is Chamonix just getting some pricy that the ski bums are starting to go elsewhere? Anyway it meant some of the best turns ever at Les Grands for us.
But the highlight of the day was a call from JC to take me up on my suggestion to ski the Poubelles Couloir. The first year I was in Chamonix somebody pointed it out to me and suggested we should think about skiing it sometime. "Are you out of your freaking mind?" I'd shouted back. "there is no way in hell I will ever ski something that crazy." But year by year my perspective has somehow gotten skewed. Gradually things started looking somehow less steep and the Poubelles started catching my attention as something not only possible, but not too difficult even.
And so I found myself ducking under a ridiculous amount of protective wires and danger signs and staring down into the couloir from the other side of the fence. Thankfully it was a quiet day so only a few people started gathering as JC and I uncoiled a rope to rappel into the thing. Changing perspectives aside, I'd still about shat my pants on the ride up the Bochard just thinking about the ride down to come. But now in action I felt in control and relaxed. The first part was well filled in and while we didn't really need a rope, we used it anyway in case something slide or there were some buried rocks - a fall here would be very bad. Very very bad indeed. Unfortunately we only had a 30m rope, which meant three very short rappels to get past a part where the couloir narrows to just a few centemeters. Perhaps you'd like to straightline and jump over a 3-4m rock onto a 45 degree plus slope of untested and unknown conditions... we were glad to have the rope, although it was a shame to only really need it just for a few meters.
Into the couloir proper where the conditions were su-perb and the ambience out of this world. Hemmed in between towering cliffs, making tight jump turns on steep terrain without a lot of breathing room. But not a rock in sight, the couloir well covered. A bit too well covered perhaps... with the ski pole plunging down into at least a meter of gradually consolidated snow, the image of the entire couloir going off was all too present. We took it extremely cautiosly, skiing 100m segments one at a time, trading leads and stopping in sheltered spots. The leader was forever on rock and ice patrol - and often stopping to wait for large sluff avalanches to pass - so unfortunately could not let er rip too much. The second however could really relax and enjoy some fantastic turns.
Eventually the couloir finally started opening up. I wound up in the lead to snarf up the dessert - several hundred meters of absolutely perfect and completely untracked powder to rejoin the Pas de Chevre. Having been constrained in the couloir for so long, I decided to forego turning completely. With both hands in the air and a smile on my face, disappearing in a cloud of snow at warp speed towards the glaciar below, already looking forward to the burgers and beers.
