Feeling the love. 7:45 battle plans, finally decide to head over to Brevent with a vague plan to avoid the crowds and traverse over to Flegere. Not sure what to expect, with the Aiguille du Midi like a crystal palace, plastered in snow - beautiful, but could high winds have ruined our powder day? One look at the snow at Planpraz and I knew we were in for a good time. Brevent cablecar not yet opened - interesting. Cut some corners heading down to Col Cornu - holy hell is it good. Light, completely unaffected by wind, knee deep goodness. And ho-ho - Col Cornu chairs are running with nobody on them. So we rock up just as it opens on chair #5. Three or four runs that could only be described as awe-inspiring. Interruped, annoyingly, by a call from The Boss telling me he really really needs me to fix a few bugs before his meeting this afternoon. Watching people carve fresh turns trailing long tails of pow, attempting to wrangle my way out of it. In the end agree recluctantly to be there at three. So the clock is t...
I went into town to grab a coffee and drove home with 1300 euros worth of new ski equipement. Like I have money growing in my backyard garden. But it had to be done - I finally made the switch to Dynafit boots and bindings. They weight 25% that of my old Freerides and if today is any indication, they ski just as well if not better. Agnes and I fired up the Twingo and ventured into Switzerland to try out my new skis and a new resort over there. The morning was slightly dissapointing as it was beginning to look like we paid 45 francs to ski sliced up sloppy seconds. But by the afternoon we had found some freshies and we finished off the day with a fantastic little descent off the backside ending up at Grimentz, way down the valley. Mushroom cheese fondue and white wines finished off the day nicely. And now we have know a new resort to play in - Zinal has some potential.
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 ...
Decent conditions at Les Grands with nobody there. All trashed from yesterday, but a little bit of fresh last night plus a lot of wind made it interesting in places. Unfortunately I demoed some skis which made every turn a fight (I won't be buying them), but it still made for a nice lazy morning with friends. Back into town to take a long lunch break then up the Midi with JC to do the Grand Envers. Not the best conditions there either - what wasn't tracked out ranged from slightly wind affected to massively so. From waist deep wind loaded blower to boilerplate in one turn. But I love the ambience up there and we did manage to find a few fresh turns. JC showed me a nice little couloir down low though - a few hundred meters of pure bliss, making the first two tracks down, and the highlight of the day.
Quite a mission getting on the hill, due mostly to trying to link up too many people. Decided to head over to Courmeyeur to try and escape the Chamonix crowds. Unfortunately it didn't seem to get any of the snow Chamonix got the night before. Duh! But thanks to the Italians' fixation with staying on pistes there was still plenty of stuff to entertain us. Had a beautiful run down from the Youla all the way to the valley, although the exit couloir had avalanched - not entirely recommened. So the next time we did the same put headed right to get back on the Plan de la Gabba. Rocky and thin on the entrance, but in parts up to waist deep - smilies all around. Back up and the Arp was open, so decided to open up a direct line in a couloir just under the cables. Fantaculous. Marching over rocks to get in, but once in the chute it was full speed pow turns up to our waists in parts in the most perfect light powder snow I have skiied in a long while. A nice lasagna lunch and cappuchinos down at Val Veny topped off th...
...is not really recommended. Actually the snow was perfect - we made the first two tracks down in bottomless, although somewhat wind-affected powder. Slight fear of wind slabs, but in general the best conditions I've ever skied the thing in. The problem areas are numerous however. Getting around the corner from the Abri Simond to the start of the glaciar is never very easy, but today there were far more rocks than usual, and a lot of bare glacial ice. I put on crampons straight away and was very happy with that decision. Richard stuck it out and had to traverse what was in my mind some pretty hair-raising icy terrain with horrendous exposure. Once on the glaciar proper, the snow was fantastic. We ripped turns at full speed without finding any icy/bare spots. It seems like last night's snow added around 10cm, weakly bonded - that stuff flaked off and you hit the wind crust. Below some very quick ski pole tests and some quick digging with the ice axe didn't reveal any particular weak layers. I could see the ...
Surprise bluebird powder day in Chamonix with excellent conditions skiing off the Midi. The forecast had clouds and rain so I was surprised to not see nothing but blue skies when the alarm went off this morning. Unfortunately work meant missing the morning, but linked up with Idris for a quick afternoon jot down a vallee blanche variation. I was able to easily push my ski pole down about a meter without hitting anything hard. Ever so slightly wind-affected however basically powder turns all the way down to the Requin refuge. "Woo hoo"s all around.
Courmeyer with Mat, Tish, JC, and Claire. 20-30cm fresh and light. Coverage from town to summit and a new off piste gully that made the day epic.
at Les Grands Montets with Agnes & Claire
December 18, 2007 - December 25, 2007 - Dayton
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