Its been awesome to kick the winter off out here in the best way we can with what we have. Here’s some shots from our sweet little tour up the Arpette valley in Switzerland. Not loads of snow but super fun skiing none the less and a great little day tour. Well worth the slog up to ski the lines up there. Thanks Ross for another great day.
We could do with some more snow for sure but I’m hoping for more of this kind of stuff throughout this winter!
Pictures speak a 1000 words. Click one to see them in Chronological order in Gallery view.
Some Extra Info
We took the lift up Champex which cost us 14CHF each one way to the top.
Total Height gain for the day was about 1500m
Here’s a handy map I made for the area so you can get to grips with it.
“Fear/Feeling Of Missing Out”. The fear that if you miss an event you will miss out on something great.
A phrase which has only, in the last few years it seems, come to fruition. Most likely because of the massive surge in popularity of social media sites over the past decade. If you ain’t bloggin, instagramin or updating your facebook status with all the rad stuff you’ve been up to how will people know you’ve had the best day ever skiing neck deep pow or climbing a perfect splitter in the sun? Without this huge and constant stream of media coming our way every minute of every day would we even have the sensation of FOMO? Would we live in the here and now more? Would we be happy with what we are doing and where we are?
I’ve had massive bouts of FOMO in the past when I’ve been stuck someplace I didn’t want to be, working a job that I didn’t want to do. I would live vicariously through my friends and those I follow on social media, wishing away my time to something better. I can’t complain though. This past year alone has been pretty damn good with lots of fun skiing and climbing memories behind me. I’ve had a pretty good innings this far!
FOMO is and will always be intrinsically linked to weather and conditions in the place you’d rather be. No snow = No FOMO. Since the end of my autumn of climbing I’ve been working, nearly every day, in somewhere that I wouldn’t necessarily choose to spend my time. I’m back in Cham now and yes there hasn’t been much snow…or ice but times are changing (its dumping). I’m still working for the next week and I suspect that what is typically my most FOMO intense period will in fact pass quite easily. Yeah there’s people getting after it and I would rather be skiing or climbing if I wasn’t working. The thing is, I have to work. I’ve spent too long avoiding it and its caught up with me. I’ve just left one of my worst financial periods behind (all be it self inflicted) and I’ve promised myself that I won’t be back in that position ever again.
The key thing that has changed in my mentality over the past year is trying to live more in the here and now. Wishing I was somewhere else doing something else seems like a complete waste of my time when I really think about it. Better to accept life for what it is and find happiness in the small adventures or moments spent with friends and family. Good times come and go and without the bad (or even not quite as good times) I’d never really appreciate the best days to the fullest. Soon it will all kick off for me and I’ll be out doing the things I love again and it’s the knowledge of that that keeps me happy and sane. Feeling like your missing out? Book a trip to go climbing or skiing or whatever you really want to do. Even if you don’t have the time or money just do it. It will happen if you really want it to. 🙂
……..that I’ll never forget. Great snow, perfect weather, 5* line and good company. What more do you need from a day. I had skied this line before 2 seasons ago in spring corn and always thought I could do one better and get it in pow. Yesterday that happened and after a hesitant start me and Liz Daley were soon ripping down what can only be described as one of the best days I’ve ever had in the mountains. I had decided I wanted to go up a mountain rather than up a boring col and when I suggested this to Liz she seemed pretty keen. Although she also said she was “like a fat girl at the prom…..I’m just happy to be here!”
I knew it was good to have options so we decided to go to the Argentiere so we had a choice of 3 possible ways down, the Milieu glacier (not much fun but an easy enough descent), the Barbey couloir (not done it yet and looks sick) or the Y couloir. After getting our sorry asses to the summit we had ruled out the Barbey due to the lack of snow on that face so decided to look at the Y. At the top of the couloir we looked in and couldn’t decide what it was. Pow, crust, ice? Its hard to tell from above so I had the bright idea to chuck a rock in to see what happened. (Note; it was 2.30pm and we couldn’t see anyone coming up so we were 90% sure we weren’t going to kill someone by doing this) I chucked a fist sized block in and…..pooooff. It disappeared in the pow. It was on……
Ones of those days of endless laps, good snow, and happy faces. Why don’t I spend my winters in Courmayeur? We headed through the tunnel this morning with low expectations and came back through feeling happy with what we had packed in. After a few quick tree runs we skied one lap of the Marbree Couloir from Hellbroner and finished off the day at Courmayeur launching pillows in the trees. The perfect ski day. I’d never been to the Marbree before and I can thoroughly recommend it. The light wasn’t perfect but it was still enough to see what you were doing an the snow was still light and fluffy in places even at midday.
After 20 days of solid work over the Christmas/New Year period I felt ready for an adventure. Not the kind of adventure where your surrounded by other people or doing something close to something you’ve done before. Oh no, we had a different idea and an ultimately more rewarding plan. The Dents Du Midi is a steep skiing haven away from towns, roads and people and far enough away from Chamonix that the cool kids don’t come and mess up your day. The north face sports 4 impressive Couloirs, each one as aesthetic as the last and all providing different levels of difficulty. They weave their way down through Eiger style rock formations and steep sided chutes and spit you out on the high alpine meadows above Val d’Illiez which was the finishing point for our two day tour. We Started in Les Marecotes, a small and quaint ski resort which is easily accessible from Chamonix by train…..if the train is working…… which is wasn’t. We actually drove to Martigny and embarked the Mont Blanc Express from there. From the top of the highest chair lift at Les Marecotes you hike up to the col immediately behind which takes about 30-40 minutes. From this col you can see the Dents Du Midi in the distance with the obvious glacial shelf just beneath the summit ridge. We skied down the diamond encrusted pow to the lake and poled our way across to the other side where we re-skinned and began the sweaty slog up to the hut @2882m, just short of the small glacial shelf.
We spent a relaxed night in this, the Dents Du Midi Hut and watched the sun set over the Mont Blanc Massif smug that we were all alone in the awesome place and with a good plan for the next day. We had planned to ski the North Couloir of the Breche Du Doigts and then hike up the Dent Jaune Couloir. We were going to skate across the glacial plateau to then ski either of other two Couloirs on the lookers left of the face. Unfortunately we ended up just skiing the North Couloir of the Breche Du Doigts as the snow was firm and windblown with deep runnels – less than ideal for steep skiing. It was still an awesome adventure in a totally new region that I will be visiting again in the near future. Here’s some shots…..
At the top of the first hike with an awesome cloud inversion below.
The hut was like the Tardis….
But well kitted out on the inside with wood burner stove and 20 beds. Oh yer and a great view.
The team, left to right, Me, Ginger Ben (O’Connor Croft) and Ross Hewitt.
On the hike up to the Couloir the next day.
Ross with his hip abscess.
Getting ready to Ski the firm chalky snow.
Steep and firm. Not good for the first line of the year!
I wasn’t sure how I would feel coming back to civilization after nearly 8 weeks away. I’ve been back from my latest trip to Nepal for a week now a I can tell you its good to be home. 8 weeks living out of a rucksack: 6 of which were in tents and 4 of those were on one of the worst glaciers I have ever been on or seen.
The frustrating part is we didn’t manage to do a single pitch of climbing. I wouldn’t blame anyone if they stopped reading this blog post now. It goes against my morals to write about an obvious failure, but for me this trip was so much more than a climbing expedition. It was my first (of many I hope) expeditions so there was always going to be a lot to learn. Some lessons I learnt the hard way and some were glaringly obvious.
I have heard many stories from my Grandfather, who used to be a trekking guide out in Nepal for many years and who also set up a school in the Annapurna region. Its been the country I have wanted to visit the most for over 15 years. To finally get the chance to go was pretty special and I feel very lucky to have been given that opportunity. The country and the people certainly lived up to expectations. I feel very refreshed from seeing a totally different culture and way of life which is so far detached from the world I grew up in and inhabit now.
“Why didn’t you manage to climb?” I hear you ask. The short story is that our only chance was hampered by the wind. Had it settled down in time, we would have been in with a reasonable shot of climbing a route on the right hand side of the north face; clearly it wasn’t meant to be. We had originally planned to climb the North Pillar on the left hand side, it looked in great shape apart from the first 50m which was steep (overhanging) snow ice. The protection looked extremely sparse and the bergshrund looked very dangerous beneath the bottom of the route. We knew the consequences of any mistakes in this remote location were severe, so we soon sacked off this route.
After this we set our sights on the right hand line on the face but the mountain wasn’t having any of it and whipped up some 100mph+ winds to show us. We spent three long hungry nights at the bottom of the face waiting for the wind to abate which, unfortunately, never happened. We had to get out of there or we’d be missing our flight. A bit gutting if I’m honest but its easy to dwell on the negatives. As I said earlier, I’m super happy to have had the chance to go to Nepal and also to come back in one piece. I’m super motivated for this winter, which is already shaping up to be a great one for skiing with huge amounts of snow out here at the moment. I’ve already had some epic days skiing in Verbier and Courmayeur in Italy. I’ve got lots of ideas of stuff I want to do this winter and I’m looking forward to getting stuck in with some big projects and skiing some steep fresh pow.
I’d like to thank Loben Expeditions and in particular Lila (cook) and Asta (helper) for all their hard work and help during the trip. Without them, it would have been much harder and far less enjoyable trip. We were all super happy with the service that Loben and his crew provided all the way through out stay and I would defiantly recommend them to anyone looking to do any trekking/climbing in the Himalayas.
Lorne Enjoying some good snow on the Leschaux Glacier with the north face of the Grandes Jorasses in the background..
Its days like these that remind me why I live in Cham. It feels so good to be back out ripping around the mountains again. Yesterday myself, Rob Stokes, and Lorne Cameron headed up for the Breche du Tacul. This isn’t the first time that I have skied this route but I had such a good day on it last time around I knew it would be a good day again. Its been a week since the last snowfall and its been warm in Cham since so a lot of the snow has been destroyed by the sun. The couloir that you ski on the Breche Du Tacul faces almost directly east so fortunately the sun softens the snow up enough in the morning to make the skiing very pleasant. With an easy skin, bootpack and some fun easy mixed climbing up to the Breche this route is constantly interesting and even held the interest of Rob who has the attention span of a Gnat. When you get to the Breche you need to traverse along the ridge to the left about 20m and the couloir drops down the East face and joins into the Breche Puiseux descent. After skiing the Couloir (45degrees for 350M) we hit the upper Leschaux Glacier and found some weird but fun snow back to montenvers. All in all a great day had by all followed by that special kind of tired and satisfied that only a day in the Mountains can bring.
Showing the line to take on the way up to the Breche. The Low point is the Col du tacul and the breche sits a bit higher on the right.
The Team on the way up the bootpack.
Rob putting in some turns near the Top, we had to downclimb into the couloir about 30-40 feet as the snow was a bit hard near the top.
Lorne Catching some air near the bottom of the couloir.
Pistes are OK, for a bit, but I personally get feed up of them pretty soon. I’ve been hammering about in the resort quite a lot recently trying to build up the muscles in my legs which had all but withered away since my accident. Everything was feeling good this week and with a good snowfall behind us over the past week it was time to take things a step further. Time to go touring!! Me and Michelle Blaydon headed up to Flegere to ski the Glacier Mort on Pointe Alphonse Favre. The first hike up to the Col Des Aiguille Crochues was a sweaty, busy and generally tedious experience which could have been avoided had we got there a slightly earlier. At one point I got wiped out by a punter who decided to fall on top of me whilst I was changing from ski’s to boots becasue my knee couldn’t deal with the slippy kick turns. Apparently it was my fault? I think not buddy . After the second sweaty hike we got to the top of PAV and found some great snow which lead us down to the Berard valley and on to a nice cold beer in Le Buet. Watch out for the cliffs on the descent if you head up there to do it. We had to hike back up 30m or so after we started to ski because we got cliffed-out following a track.
Showing the way to get to Pointe Alphonse Favre photo taken from Col des Crochues.
Michelle displaying good color co-ordination and technique on the last hike up to the summit. MT Blanc in the Background.
The view from the summit down to the Berard Valley. If you look closer (Click to enlarge) you'll see a shuffle track back up. We should have taken notice of that.
Jordan Manley and the Arc’teryx boy’s have been at it again! Awesome work guys, watching your videos is helping to keep me sane! Enjoy.
As a quick update, my knee is doing well and I hope that I can start physio on it after my next consultation on the 25th. I can nearly bend it all the way and it becomes more comfortable everyday, so fingers crossed things are progressing well and I might even get some proper skiing done in the spring. I’ll need to learn to walk again first though!
This short film by Jordan Manley is one of the most inspiring ski films I have seen. This is the kind of stuff I like to watch and what I want to get into too. Friends skiing in remote places in amazing settings. Looking forward to skiing again. 😉
