Before anything else, Best Wishes for 2007 . Health, Happiness, Success, but above all, and as important as health : lots of intense moments in the mountains. Have a lot of fun, as much as you can ! And to be able to do that for many years, BE SAFE !

 

At this time of the year, the very famous off-piste route is deserted despite excellent snow conditions and we appreciate to be alone again. At the Aiguilles Marbrées pass, we have to choose the right place to enter the steep Italian slope. The first 60 meters are quite steep (a good 45°) and a “no fall technique” is strongly advised. The snow is hard and compact but with a very good grip. Soon after, we are skiing faster and with wider turns in powder. Throughout the descent, different quality of snow make us adapt our ski techniques. But apart from a short section in the middle of the glacier with crusty snow, we skied powder and spring snow on this huge and steep route. On the lower part, we stopped for the lunch break in the shade of the forest.

 

Together with Andy, we got back into the altitude world by climbing a small, nice and…pretty dry ice-gully facing the Cosmiques hut. There is not a lot of ice indeed, and I try my best to hook, jam and delicately put my pointy tools into cracks, holes and sometimes ice. Definitely another nice day out !

 

Anyway, when we reach the pass after a few tens of kick turns, the view is breath-taking : the lake, the profile of the Dents du Midi, the Andean east face of La Tour Sallière and the big deep blue sky. Oh, and another 2 small details : the snow on the north side is fantastic (1 inch of “velvet” snow on a hard layer, just heaven) and we are alone, just us and the mountains.

 

Lunch break on the bank of the frozen lake. Back to the valley, with a cold beer at the swiss village of Salvan on the terrace. The temperature ? Above 20°c (68°F)…

 

 

 

This area has 2 mountain huts and offers endless possibilities of ski touring (2 to 4 days) for good skiers as some slopes are steep. But you can be pretty sure you will be the only ones in the whole range. It is quite amazing to still find those places so close from Chamonix.

 

I am sure Yves and myself were not the only ones rushing out with skies and skins to take advantage of this 1st winter day. But we were alone in the italian val Ferret making nice turns on a 20 to 40 cms of fresh and light powder. You too, have a nice winter beginning and see you soon out there ! Alex

-          Basic Ice Climbing Week-End :  Winter’s cold immobilizes water into a frozen, transient mass. Basic Ice Climbing Week-End is a unique opportunity to learn a fantastic sport in a magical environment. You will develop the skills , knowledge and attitudes required to safely climb waterfall ice. Personalized instruction will help you to develop techniques on short water falls, such as crampon technique, tool swinging and placement, setting up an ice anchor and learning how to get confident on steeper ice. On the 2^nd day, you will already be climbing a 2 or 3 pitches climb in the Chamonix valley ! 

 

-          The Chamonix Discovery Ski Course : During 5 days, you will ski on the great Classics of off-piste skiing. Each day, your personal mountain guide will take you to a different resort of the Chamonix valley through its best off-piste itineraries. His goals : to find for you the best snow, to help you with your technique with a few tips, to ski with the sun, and of course before any of that : your safety.

 

 

 

 

 -          “Snow & Ice” 5 days course in Chamonix : I could have named this course “Winter Alpinism” because this is what it’s about : climbing ice gullies, water ice routes and snow ridges during the winter or in winter conditions. Through the ascent of a route in the Mont-Blanc Range, we will develop some important topics of winter climbing such as the preparation & organization of a winter ascent, progression techniques adapted to the terrain, safety of your party, crevasse rescue, etc…

 

A few turns later, just above the moraine where I can see the first rocks emerging in the fog, suddenly there is a ‘hole’ ! In half a second I find myself screaming and holding my right boot between my hands, my right ski stuck deep into the snow which acts like cement. It’s the accident, sharp pain, radio call, evacuation to Sallanches hospital, lots of drugs, an operation…and 3 days later, I am back home with 2 broken bones and 2 crutches, with 3 to 5 months to recover.
 
End of the season...

After an exchange of emails and phone calls with André, we finally meet at the Dahu restaurant in Argentière. I briefly present the program to the audience : a first day touring up to the Conscrits hut, and the second day for the ascent of the Dômes de Miage following by, what is generally accepted, as one of the most beautiful descent of the Mont-Blanc range, the Armancette glacier. I am pretty excited too because I never been up there during the winter. We will meet tomorrow at the beginning of the approach walk.
 

 

The forecast has been constantly changing over the last few days… This morning, we begin to walk with the skis on our pack as the snow is inexistent at this altitude. A fine drizzle and layers of clouds and fog allow us to walk at a reasonably cool temperature which makes this walk far from being unpleasant. I suddenly notice that I forgot my poles at home, so I replace them by a much more typical “alpenstock” found in the forest on the way to the Tré-la-Tête mountain hut. Two hours after we left the cars, we reach the hut and invade the dining room, all for ourselves for a good lunch break. Marielle, the hut keeper, that I know for many years, lends me a pair of modern “telescopic” poles, and therefore, is saving my reputation ! After having passed the “Mauvais Pas” on foot, we reach the glacier , pretty flat and wide but unfortunately with still no visibility. The last steep slope before the Conscrits hut has very soft snow, some of the crew are getting a bit tired, but overall, they are all very used to ski-touring, all in very good shape, and it is a pleasure for me to be with such clients, easy to be and ski with.

 

 

The next day, at 5 in the morning, I get up of bed and, with a smile on my face (which is quite rare at that time) , I realized that in the end, the sky is clear : stars, not a single cloud, and the first lights of  dawn appear in the east. The snow is smooth like a baby’s bottom, but very hard too. For once, I don’t carry the ski crampons for nothing : they are very useful today, especially because  I chose to take the Patogas Route, steeper but shorter variation to reach the Col des Dômes. We are the only ones using it today, away from the “crowd”. Three hours after having left the hut, we arrive at the Col. At this point, we cannot continue by ski, as the ridge to the summit is quite narrow and airy. We attached them on our pack, put our crampons on and replace the poles by an ice-axe. Carefully, we walk on this fine and aesthetic line leading to the highest of the Dômes, at 12.040ft. It is 9.45am. The view on the west face of Mont-Blanc, very close, is breathtaking ; on the other side, the green of the valley accentuates the contrast with the white of the glaciers that surround us…In the distance, we see the Jura and the fog covering the city of Geneva, and just in front of us, the north faces of the Tré-la-Tête amphitheatre…but it’s time now to get our reward : the descent !

 

 

 

And what a descent !! A succession of sustained faces, steep walls, some exposed shoulders. On the first part, we loose altitude in half a foot of powder over a hard base, followed on the second half of the route by corn snow (or “firn”) ; and the steepness of the slopes keeps the same, not too steep, but always requiring a minimum of concentration…. Behind me, my seven friends are following, over-excited by the superb conditions of this unique ski-mountaineering itinerary. We are all so happy to be there, and conscious of the luck we have, again, to be at the right place at the right moment. Just great, just amazing ! Thank you to the swiss-german team, and especially to André. See you soon ! Alex 

4 years ! 4 years of patience and observation of the conditions of this mythical line ! And 2 days ago, finally the telephone rang : il canalone è eccellente, è tutto buono ! Conditions are great, it is time to go there !! told me this local guide, friend of mine. Just arrived from Mont-Blanc, I have just the time to have a shower, repack my pack and we are already driving on the Milano highway after crossing the Mont-Blanc tunnel. 3 hours later, we arrive in Macugnaga, little village at the foot of the giant south face of Monte Rosa. Unfortunately, some clouds hide the face. The surprise tomorrow morning will be even greater !

 

 

 

The weather the next day is excellent : cool and clear. I didn’t need any alarm clock this morning to wake up : the excitation is at its highest point ! Thanks to my friend Antoine who dealt with the pilot, we have the 2^nd flight booked at 8.30am. Already there on the parking lot, I recognize some familiar faces, guides from Chamonix with friends, girlfriends and clients. A discrete sign to say “Hi” but the helicopter is already approaching and we quickly knee next to the pack of skis and poles. Gear and riders hopped in and here we are, enjoying a 7 or 8 minutes flight in one of the most spectaculars areas of the Alps : the face is around 4.3 miles wide and almost 2 miles high !

 

 

 

 

The pilot, kindly, is showing us the itinerary by flying over the entire couloir, close to the relief. The long white ribbon is stretching out before us. Seracs, spurs, ridges, overhanging glaciers and vertical cliffs make the face appear like in the middle of a huge chaos. But just there, under the machine, is the obvious line, we cannot miss it ! What a moment ! I am moved, I can’t help a big genuine smile opening my face. The pilot is showing me a specific passage that we must not missed on the way down…then some exposed seracs that we’ll have to be careful about…in the end, we reach the last seracs barrier before the pass. After a last tour overlooking the plains of the Pô that we barely see behind the morning haze, the helicopter is suddenly facing the Zermatt valley, dropping us off at the Gnifetti pass. -8.40am- I unload the skis and crouching there, I signal with a thumb up towards the pilot : the machine takes off and literally dives into the south face. In one second’s time, the silence is surrounding us. We are at 14.645ft , just us and the mountain.

 

A few steps on the wind packed snow of the pass lead us to the ridge at the base of the Zumstein peak, on the rim of the face, departure point of the descent. The lack of oxygen at this altitude makes our breathing short and a bit difficult but we barely notice it. The most fabulous ski descent is just there, and we are not going to hesitate anylonger.  A foot of fresh and cold powder snow makes our first turns unexpectedly easy, the slope is actually not that steep in comparison with the feeling we had when looking at the pictures of the couloir. We breath deeply, get relax and laugh : it should be pure pleasure all the way down, guys !! Let’s just ride it !! We ski around a huge serac, pass the bergschrund in a direct line and we finish the long left traverse under the Dufour peak (15.200ft, highest mountain of the Monte-Rosa range, 2^nd highest in western Europe). We are now in the axis of the couloir. There are another 6.560ft to ski, and we are going to fully appreciate each turn of it. We are trying to ski our best, to be in control, to draw nice curves. Regularly, we stop, we take pictures, we look around, appreciating each second of it, and we go on, and on…and on….and on….endlessly. Morning hazes sometimes surround us and the glacier du Belvédère at the end of the descent is hidden. It is not even 10 o’clock, we are still around 12.000ft of altitude but we can feel the temperature rising. I wouldn’t like to be around here much later with avalanches running down the couloir…

Here comes the steepest and most narrow part of the route. Trying to have a rough idea of the gradient of the slope, I imagine myself at the same place but with harder snow….I don’t think it is much over 40°, at the most. Anyway, let’s be careful and concentrate here.  After this bottleneck, we are back on wide open slopes, still sustained, but now the snow has changed and we are skiing on what we call in French “gros sel” or the crystal salt that you put in the boiling water for pasta, the easiest snow condition to ski on ! We arrive at the shoulder on our left with the specific passage that the pilot was talking about…but the axis of the couloir is going on, just under the tips of our skis. It seems a pity to leave this line. I know the direct route all the way down is possible, let’s take it. We end up the last 1700ft skiing all together. The air is getting richer in oxygen and our curves become wider and faster, we jump and have fun, we know it is almost the end of it …

Antoine, Luis, Seb, thanks to have been here : It is definitly going to be one of those unforgettable days...What about going back there for next year ? Anyone motivated ?.... I am ! See you, Alex

Arve is from Norway, in his mid-thirties, he is fit and almost every week-end, he walks or cross-country skies in the mountains of his neighborhood, but he never done ski touring before, and he likes new challenges. Therefore, he applies to join Chamonix to Zermatt by ski in 6 days with a group of Americans. A week later, coming back from Zermatt after having done the Classique des Classiques, the world wide famous Haute Route, he decides to reach the summit of Mont-Blanc and ski down from it….

 

I am his guide for this new challenge. I never reached the summit with skies, despite two attempts. The first one was with the alpine troops during my 12 months military duty, we got caught in the bad weather, and the second one with some clients that were exhausted at the col de la Brenva, 1600ft below the summit. So I am quite excited about the idea. But before taking him up there, I have to see this tall and strong Viking on skies. So I take him to the Beugeant pass for a first day together. A tricky traverse illustrates that he is at ease on this kind of terrain, and I am impressed, despite his heavy drinking the night before, that he can still keep up with the sustained pace that I took. During the descent, he knows how to adapt his technique and speed to the changing snow. He is definitely a good skier. He is a nice guy, fit and technically ok, we should have a good time up there !…

After a short but comfortable night at the luxurious Cosmiques hut (reached in 15 minutes from the upper station of the Aiguille du Midi cable car) the alarm clock rings : it’s 3 in the morning and I know that this moment and its next 30 minutes are going to be, for me, the worst moment of the whole day…Anyway, after a breakfast where we barely exchanged any words, packs on backs, headlamp on, we leave the comfy warmth of the hut : the snow is good and I follow the ski track up the Mt-Blanc du Tacul, 1^st mountain to climb on this “3 mounts route” on the way to Mont-Blanc. We are alone, I like that. Other parties have left the hut 2 hours earlier and we can see now small white dots almost reaching the shoulder of the “Tacul”, some 1800ft above us. Their pace is good, they are on time. And this is partly thanks to the good snow conditions encountered : no climbing with crampons required, we did the entire ascent with the skies and skins on. After a short pause at the “Shoulder”, we continue towards the base of Mont Maudit, the 2^nd mount. There, with the Aiguilles du Diable just behind us where the sun is going to make his 1^st apparition of the day, soon…but the moment is not precisely to the contemplation. The snow became hard and even icy at some points. No doubt : we have to change our mode from “ski-tourer” to “alpinist” : we attached skis and poles on our pack, an ice axe in the hand and I put the rope between Arve and myself. We are passing one party and joining two others at the bergschrund (big crevasse separating the glacier from the rock of a mountain) just below the Col du Maudit. Colours and hazes in the sky are very beautiful and we stop a minute to watch the sun rise before climbing the steep icy step of the shoulder. Arve is still doing very well, enjoying each moment of it, especially this technical steep part to reach the col at 14.270 ft. But I know that the critical time is to arrive soon. It is usually soon after the Brenva pass that people begins to suffer seriously from the altitude. Of course the altitude is the main problem as the air is getting poorer in oxygen, the breakfast is a very old souvenir, and already 3500ft have been climbed, and at this altitude, a feet is a feet ! So at that time of the ascent, it is the ones who have the strongest stamina that will reach the summit, it’s all in your head ! not anymore in your lungs nor your legs !! The passage called the “Mur de la Côte” is definitely a place where people become weaker, and Arve was not an exception to the rule, but feet after feet, with some pauses, the distance which was separating us from the summit somehow got shorter….and shorter….and suddenly, the curve of snow in front of me is getting less steep….flatter….and flat !!! I take Arve in my arms and congratulate him, he is tired, he gave a lot in that last endless slope but he never complained nor insist to stop. He just did it in a very honorable way. Bravo Arve !! Look where we are, at the top of Mont-Blanc, 15.777ft of altitude, and it is not even 11 o’clock, a bit more than 7 hours to cover the distance and height from the hut to the summit ! Well done !

It must be the 15^th or 20^th time that I reach the summit of Mont-Blanc, but again today, I am overwhelmed by emotion, for the pleasure to be up there, and also to see the joy of Arve to have reached this unique and magical place…which always reminds me of the phrase from Gaston Rebuffat : Un monde au-dessus du monde. We eat, drink, take pictures. I walk towards the north face to have a look at the conditions. The snow is a bit hard but skiable for the first 4 or 5 turns and then it seems that the rest of the descent is in powder snow ! Let’s just go!!

It is the 1^st time I can ski the north face. Because of  low temperatures and strong winds at this altitude, the snow is often icy. But today, except for those first turns, it just looks amazing. More than the ski itself, I was impressed by our surroundings : huge towers of ice, seracs, cliffs and, at our left, the two gigantic “meringues” called the Bosses ridge. I keep looking for the safest way, avoiding some more fragile structures. I feel more relax when Arve and I finally join the Grand Plateau. We turn back and, looking at our tracks, we are both realizing the beauty of the route…We continue towards the Petit Plateau on wide and easy slopes and we are suddenly facing the biggest and most chaotic avalanche of seracs I ever saw. It happened just yesterday afternoon and debris are spread out over the entire surface of the Petit Plateau. With a long distance between each other, we traverse the chaos as fast as possible, and 3 or 4 minutes later, we are off the danger. We breathe again.  The rest of the route is more relaxing, thankfully. We find some nice powder on some hidden slopes, away from the main route. An hour and a half after having left the summit, we are at the altitude of the Tête Rousse mountain hut, some 5900ft further down. From here to the middle station of the aiguille du Midi, our final destination, we are going to cross numerous groups of ski-alpinists going to the hut in order to attempt the summit tomorrow, on Sunday. It feels so good to have all the efforts behind us ! The traverse of the Jonction still requires some attention as crevasses are quite enormous around here. After continuing this long traverse, we are ending our day at 1.30pm at the snack-bar of the cable car station among tourists who have come up here to admire the view. A pint of beer later, we are just the happiest people around !

Jean est un fidèle and each year, he is motivating the troops around him, friends, cousins, brothers in law….to come and have a 3 or 4 days ski touring trip. This year, they are 4 of them including Jean and they have agreed for the Tour of the Grand Combin, a massive mountain isolated between Chamonix and the col of the Grand Saint Bernard, natural border between Switzerland and Italy.

 

 

That morning, we all meet  Bivouac Napoléon, a café on the side of the road in Bourg St Pierre. After a quick check of the gear and after having distributed the common rescue and repair kit to each of them, we put our skies on the track and begin the tour… The Valsorey hut is high  and far away from the road….especially during a very hot day. Unfortunately, there was no other option but to continue through fields, canyons and at the end : an endless slope topped with the hut itself  : I think they just hated me at least once during this ascent to the hut, but that’s the way it is guys : 1^st day, long day, hot day : difficult, not easy, painful, doubt, what the f*** am I doing here, etc… 

 

The next day, we have to climb (the slope is quite steep) to the col du Meitin, above the hut. Definitely, we are going to practice kick-turns. And after the long day of yesterday, the ascent is quite demanding and despite the ski crampons the balance is not always easy to keep. 2000ft further up, the col…and the bad weather. In one hour’s time, clouds have lost altitude, touched the highest summits and soon after they were on us, with drizzle and a strong wind. I guess we will have to enjoy the descent as much as we can, but without visibility. I take out compass, map and altimeter from my pack. Again, this area is unknown for me, first time here. I try as much as I can to ski or climb in unknown areas. It makes my day so much interesting and exciting, and here, the noble qualities of a mountain guide are required. Finding the route, optimizing the terrain, being always very aware of what is going on all around him. They are nice feelings, it can be some times challenging (finding one’s route in a white out on a unknown glacier for example is not just challenging, but it also can gives strong headaches !) because of the conditions such as the bad weather or a complex itinerary of a climbing route.

 

Jackets zipped-up, hood and goggles on, and off we go. The first 200ft are steep and icy, except a narrow stripe on my left. We side-step this bit before entering a big flat area, the plateau du Déjeuner. Instead of shearing a lovely pique-nique with 30 mi. of wind, we continue our descent towards the cabane de Pannossière, word used in Switzerland to describe a mountain hut. The visibility and the poor quality of snow might not help to qualify this down-hill of the Corbassière glacier as unmemorable.

 

 

I wake up at 5 and as I try to remember where I am, I already listen the howls of the wind outside. After a quick check-up at the window, I go back to bed, with a certain delight as some might understand. It’s the storm out there. But 2 hours later, some rays of sun are entering the guides’ room. Excellent, let’s have a good breakfast and we go. After the bad weather, the mountain is always more beautiful, contrasts and colours are sharp, and the people are in great mood, ready to go for it ! I like that. 

 

 

Silence, white of the snow, almost-dark sky, 5 black ants are traveling along the glacier. First pause. It’s hot, but it is so beautiful. We are alone on this huge glacier, there is a layer of  fresh snow, immaculate and shining in the sun and that is the material I have to open the track into !! Everyone seems to enjoy that. Approaching the col de Boveire, clouds are surrounding us again with some light snow falls. The last small slope to the col is steep and has the “bad” orientation : a small avalanche is not impossible here. I don’t like that. I tell the group to stop away from the trajectory and to have a look on me while I am crawling into the fresh snow towards the pass. All right. Nothing has moved. One by one, they join me at the pass. Same story, wind and no visibility again. But this time, I’ve done the descent 2 weeks ago,…heliskiing.

 

 

After an instant of hesitation because of a complete white-out “Should I take the rope out ?” , it suddenly clears up and we manage to ski pretty much all the way in between fog’s layers. The snow was excellent on the 1^st great part of the way, but then, because of bad freezing conditions during the night, we ended up in a wet and sticky snow, difficult to ski. But anyway, those 3 days were made of  such a pot pourri of colours, terrains, weathers, blue skies, winds, powder, drizzle, rotten snow, but above all of good moments shared in the mountains, en bonne compagnie.
 
Thanks to the 4 of you.

Huw & Alison take advantage, once more, of a magnificent powder snow at the Grands Montets, followed by a nice and easy ascent towards the col of Chardonnet. A few days later, Huw is by himself ascending with me the nice and remote and charming Combe de la Moline in Italy. It was one of those perfect days of spring where sky, snow and landscape were offering us the best of themselves. Just gorgeous !!

Neil, Julien and myself meet Manu and Dimitri on their way to the Gervasutti couloir at Tour Ronde, where we were going also. Unfortunately, the sun had already damaged the snow in creating a thick crust on the surface of  it making the descent not as enjoyable as we would have thought. As it was still early, we decide to go all together towards a slope that we never done before at the aiguille de La Noire…

  
The route is just above the Vallée Blanche, on its right bank, facing the Requin mountain hut. During the ascent to the col des Flambeaux, we met another friend (the range is like a village !) who told us that, thanks to the amazing good snow conditions of this winter, there is the route on the right of the slope which is apparently do-able. Thanks Dude ! We’ll check it out, definitely as this variation is a bit longer and steeper than the original route… After having climbed the steep couloir giving access to the top of the slope, we seat there for a bite to eat, facing a never tiring panorama : the upper part of the Vallée Blanche. Under our feet, the slope “dives” at 40° of steepness, freshly covered by around a foot of powder. Just us around, and off we go ! Conditions are just exceptional, the snow is so light, the slope steep enough, and wide, until a small 10 feet cliff. Not a jumping pro, I quickly decide to put an anchor and abseil the obstacle down soon followed by my friends. But Julien, the youngest of the crew, IS a free-rider and gives us the most amazing and perfect jump over the cliff : we look at him finishing his curve at full speed, applauding !!

a ski touring week with Neil and his English clients that I know since last year. Every evening with Neil, we try our best to find a solution for the next day : weather forecasts are disastrous all around the area with rain at high altitudes, strong wind, etc… But let me tell you that we ended up the week being quite happy with what we’ve done ! We had to be very flexible and therefore, to adapt our plans to the less worst weather forecast, we moved to 3 different places : Chamonix first for a few days, then Arolla for 2 days in the storm (but good snow, a lot of snow as Neil and myself opened the track in 2 feet of it sometimes) and the Simplon Pass to finish the week with some blue sky and excellent snow !! In other words, a great varied week !

 

Alexandra and Cyril are with me for 2 days of ski touring around the Hospice du Grand Saint Bernard located on the border betwwen Switzerland and Italy. It is their first experience. And despite the common minor problems such as blisters and a few falls in a wind crusted snow, they were happy to be away from the crowd and the city, above an amazing sea of clouds, enjoying the effort, pushing their limits, and above all having big laughs ! I think they will come back next year ! 

Eric and myself are guiding this happy and charming group of young free-riders from Scandinavia, living in Verbier, a ski-resort close by. Unfortunately, the wind blew strongly last night and the obvious itineraries on the resort are wind packed, not good to ride. But thanks to the expertise of the local guide, Eric, we could ride some amazing sheltered bowls and steep faces. We will ski non stop all day, doing our own track at each run. This resort is just unique : 1 single gondola covering the entire 2800ft of the mountain, a snack-bar in the old building at the base, and never more than 15 cars in the parking lot (to avoid during week-ends). This is such a fantastic spot. I know used it several times with friends or clients and it never been a bad choice. Grande vie à Super St Bernard !!

 

And once more in the valley, this magic moment electrified the riders : excitation, adrenaline, joy to be at the right place and at the right moment. But enough talk now, I let you imagine the rest with those few pictures... See you later,

Alex