Chatelard & Pissevache

With some sunshine finally arriving here in Cham, I've been unable to resist a few days out in the sunshine despite having lots to be getting on with. I'm obviously keen to ski, but Peter is around, and any ski talk was instantly dismissed in favour of getting the rock climbing season going.

We started off with the excellent "Cacao Girls" (400m, 6a+), perched high above Chatelard in Switzerland. The route isn't in a guidebook, but there are topos online and they're well worth seeking out. The route is 10 pitches and whilst only one pitch has any really tough climbing (the first few metres of pitch 8), each pitch has at least a few "proper" moves, and the quality is absolutely superb all the way. A great day out.

Peter at the end of pitch 5, probably the best one on the route

The route takes the obvious clean sweep of rock in the middle of the photo

Today we had plans to head to Annecy but the bad weather was forecast to hit that area first, so we changed our minds last minute and went over to Pissevache, near Martigny. 

The approach is pretty involved, but good fun  - 

Whilst approaching the crag, a rock fizzed past about a foot away from my head, instantly killing any desire to go rock climbing, but Peter (a quarter of a century older than me) has enough psyche for 2 people, and saved the day with his keenness and willingness to lead the crux pitches, leaving me to get my mojo back! Cheers Peter.

The route we did (Miles Devisse; 6a+, 300m) was excellent, and the views are incredible. The only slight let down is that there is a brief aid section which is brutal even with 2 handily placed bolts. The top slab pitch is desperate too, and whilst only graded 6a it is so thin it makes Victoria Beckham look obese, and it fell only after the use of some underhand tactics.

Me near the top. Photo Peter Riley.

One of the highlights of the day was when we reached the top of the route and came out at the legendary "treehouse" area, which has an amazing crag and a little hut underneath. I couldn't get off the floor on any of the routes there, but I might go and stay for a night and quaff a load of wine - it really is a great spot.

The treehouse hammock

Peter doing his best Monty Python Lumberjack impression

Although there are some thunderstorms forecast over the next week or so, it looks like there will be some good weather, so summer may finally be arriving. There is still a vast amount of snow up high though, so I suspect that anything other than snow plodding and ski touring might have to wait a few more weeks yet. Stay tuned for updates as conditions evolve.

June 2nd, and yet more powder

Looking back at this winter, one of the recurring themes has been just how late in the year we've been able to ski powder. Mid April seemed great, late May seemed ridiculous, but surely June 2nd is some sort of record. Best of all, we weren't even skiing the N face of the Midi (although the Glacier Ronde looked incredible judging by the guys we saw skiing it), we were skiing the Petit Envers, bathed in sun. 

The VB is well filled in and we only hit the slush once level with the Requin Hut. Pretty unbelievable all round.

Current conditions at the Plan de L'Aiguille

Sharon in the powder

Me half way down, and still with plenty of powder to come

As far as climbing goes, things are not looking too promising I'm afraid. The quantity of snow up high means that routes will either be plastered, funnels for spindrift, or both, and the approaches are really tough going. The snow level is low too (around 2000m) so even the classic rock climbs at relatively low altitude on the peaks like the Peigne are still weeks away from being dry.

If you've booked a climbing trip here for sometime in the next week I would definitely think about some of the long rock routes in the Arve Valley (the Valley between here and Geneva), or some multi pitch cragging at Barberine, Les Contamines, Gietroz or the Aosta Valley. South racing routes up high may well be accessible in a few days, but for now I would let the mountains dry out and enjoy some sun in the Valley.

Grand St Bernard & Pointe de L'Ifala

Yet another couple of non-glaciated touring days in the final week of May!

With only a couple of good days forecast I wanted to make the most them, so yesterday Sharon and I went through the Mont Blanc tunnel into Italy, bound for the Petit St Bernard Col.We were surprised that the internet said it was open, but figured that they must have cleared it despite the reports of masses of snow.   Well, either the internet site was wrong or they'd closed it overnight, because the barriers were down when we got there, and so we decided to go and explore the Italian side of the Grand St Bernard Col. We knew it was closed but we wanted to just drive up and see if we could find somewhere to ski.

Luckily for us we found some random back roads which took us to the snow line from and there we toured up in a freezing cold wind for about 500 vertical metres before skiing back down. I've absolutely no idea where we were, but it was great to be out, and even better for the fact that we didn't see another person all day.

Heading up, the peaks of Gran Paradiso behind.

Me on the ridge of Godknowswhat Peak, above Godknowswhat ski area.

Today (Monday) was due to be a beautiful day, but after a few really cold days of touring, I was determined to be properly equipped today and so took a flask and some mittens. Ironically enough it was one of the hottest touring days I've ever had, and the biggest worry was heat exhaustion!

The chosen objective was the N couloir of the Pointe de L'Ifala (a summit which I climbed last autumn), above the Emosson Dam. Matt was keen, and so was Mooresy, despite having driven overnight from Wimbledon! True dedication.

The skin up was frankly horrific, with the searing heat sapping every bit of energy. Despite the relatively small height gain, I was as buggered as I've felt for years on the way up. Eventually there was nothing for it but to shed some layers...

Matt and Tom with some (artificially?) large packages

We eventually finished skinning, and did the final 100m to the top of the couloir on foot. 

This is how I looked for about 3 hours today. Me at the top.

The views were absolutely stunning from the top, and from there we had a superb ski down. Unfortunately everyone who had skied the couloir before had side slipped and left a huge trench, which meant that turning was impossible and so we had to side slip too, but after that it was great skiing all the way. We picked a pretty interesting way down and though the snow was slightly soggy, it was really fun, rip-able stuff.

Chamonix Valley, 27th May. Looks like March!

Matt leaving the trench in the Couloir.

Onto the first good section of skiing.

It might not be glaciated, but it's big country above the Emosson Dam.

Matt lower down

We took the line on the left, and our tracks are just about visible if you click on the photo. 

Never has a Coke tasted so good. 

There is still an incredible amount of snow above the Dam, and touring looks possible virtually everywhere above 2000m. The weather looks poor for next week, but there should definitely be some options if we do get some sun.

For the first time this year I saw some British climbers in town today, and I can't help thinking that they'll be disappointed this week - winter still reigns here for now. Sorry, climbers! I'll keep updating the blog as things progress but if you are coming out this week, bring your skis. 

Queyras Ski Touring

Yes, you did read that post title correctly - non glaciated ski touring, below 3000m, in the final week of May. I know that summer will come eventually, but winter really is putting up a hell of a fight this year!

The weather in Cham over the past few days has been pretty desperate, and with me having sat in front of a computer for 3 days, and Matt having spent a week on an oil rig, cabin fever had well and truly kicked in and we spent Wednesday evening studying forecasts around Europe in search of some sun. The best bet looked like the south of France, and we set off with kit for just about every mountain activity, but with plans to ski if possible.

Morale received a big boost when we emerged from the Mont Blanc tunnel into perfect blue sky, and despite wondering briefly  if we should just go touring in the Gran Paradiso, we stuck to the plan and headed for Briancon. From there we followed pretty rough roads to the tiny settlement of Les Fonts, from where we had 2 excellent days touring (separated, inevtiably, by a couple of pints in the big smoke of Briancon).

SKIING!!! We only had to walk for about 10 minutes before we could skin.

The Sommet du Grand Vallon. We climbed this peak on our second day, and had planned to ski the N couloir (the obvious line directly off the summit), but the cold tempeartures and icy snow eventually sent us down the nice, mellow slopes on the right.

Matt arriving on top of Pic Lombard on our first day

Alpine Clownery

Summit panorama. I made Matt face the camera - his nose took up most of the shot the first time I tried it.

Planning further missions

Me in the spring snow. Photo Matt Livingstone

It's mighty quiet in Les Fonts! The van looking lonely in the vastness of the Ecrins.

Sante!

Briancon - possibly not the best venue for a stag do, but a lovely place all the same.

Skinning up in freezing temperatures on our second day

Shredding it!

Me enjoying summer!!! Photo Matt Livingstone.

Matt with the Sommet du Grand Vallon behind.

I'm now back in Cham and the weather remains pretty awful. It apparently snowed up in Le Tour today, and has tried to down here in Les Houches, so the Midi will be great if we just get some visibility. 

Just to finish with some outrageous boasting, I worked out that my first day of touring this winter was on the 21st November 2012 (report here), so I have now been ski touring for 6 months and 3 days so far this winter! Given that the 4000ers of Switzerland are often really good throughout June, I reckon I can easily manage a 7 month ski season. That's still about 5 months too short for my liking, but not bad :)

20th of May Powder

Straight off the lift! As ever, Compagnie du Mont Blanc didn't manage to get the Midi open on time, but by the time we did finally get up to the top, there was still a huge amount of fresh snow, and Sharon, Ian, Joe and I skied deep, cold powder on 20th May. Result! 

I think the photos say it all. Thanks Joe Juvet for the ones he contributed. 

As is to be expected in late May, the air temperature meant that the powder didn't last long, but there is still an incredible amount of snow above 2000m, so the touring season is far from over. Needless to say, I've got plenty of projects...